Curufin

Lineage

Curufin was the fifth son of Fëanor and Nerdanel. His father gave him his own name, Curufinwë, because he alone of the brothers inherited Fëanor's genius for craft, and his mother called him Atarinkë, little father, because he was also the most like Fëanor in face and mood. He was a smith and a maker, and his son Celebrimbor inherited the gift and surpassed him. Curufin swore the Oath with his brothers and was, with Celegorm, the most active in pursuing it by cunning rather than by open war.

Himlad

In Beleriand Curufin and Celegorm held Himlad, the land south of Himring between the rivers Aros and Celon, and kept the Pass of Aglon against Angband. Their lands bordered Nan Elmoth, where the Dark Elf Eöl lived. When Eöl pursued Aredhel and Maeglin toward Gondolin in F.A. 400 he was stopped by Curufin's riders, and Curufin, who despised him, let him pass with a mocking warning that he would be better off returning home. In the Dagor Bragollach Aglon was forced and the brothers fled west to Nargothrond.

Nargothrond

In Nargothrond Curufin was the planner behind Celegorm's ambitions. When Beren came with the ring of Barahir to claim Finrod's help, it was Curufin who spoke to the people of the horror that the Oath would bring on any who aided the quest for a Silmaril, and it was his words that frightened Nargothrond into abandoning its king. Afterwards, when Celegorm held Lúthien captive, Curufin supported the scheme to marry her and take Doriath. Huan undid it, and when Finrod's death became known the people of Nargothrond rose against the brothers and Orodreth expelled them.

Riding north through the forest of Brethil, they came on Beren and Lúthien. Curufin was pulled from his horse by Beren and would have been killed, but Lúthien asked for his life; Beren took his horse and his weapons, including the Dwarf-made knife Angrist that afterwards cut the Silmaril from Morgoth's crown. As the brothers rode away Curufin took Celegorm's bow and shot at Lúthien; Beren stepped in front of the arrow and was wounded, and Huan carried the news of the deed to all Beleriand. The brothers rode to Himring, where Maedhros received them coldly.

Celebrimbor

Curufin's son Celebrimbor had come with him to Nargothrond. When the brothers were driven out, Celebrimbor refused to go with his father; he repudiated Curufin's deeds and stayed in Nargothrond, and the line of Fëanor divided. This is the only case in the histories of a son of the house of Fëanor renouncing it, and it saved Celebrimbor from the Oath, though not from Sauron.

Death

Curufin fought in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad and escaped south with his brothers. In F.A. 506 he took part in the assault on Menegroth to seize the Silmaril from Dior, and he was slain there, with Celegorm and Caranthir.

Legacy

Curufin's legacy passed through the son who disowned him: Celebrimbor's Rings of Power and his death in Eregion belong to a later age, but they carry Fëanor's blood and craft. Curufin himself is remembered as the shrewdest and least honourable of the brothers, whose scheming lost Nargothrond and Doriath to the Union of Maedhros.

Slain in Menegroth during the Second Kinslaying, F.A. 506.