The Sons of Feanor and Violence
The Sons of Feanor and their relationship (or lack of it) with violence.
Maedhros isn't a violent person by nature, not before his capture and not after either. He's a politician, with passive aggressiveness the closest and more egregious of the violence others accuse him of. He's kind, definitely kinder than all his brothers, and the necessitated violence against Morgoth and the orcs only comes out of a duty to his family and his people. He is and never was a violent person - not during the first, second, third, and even the accused fourth kinslaying - and he finds the acts that constitute violence terribly constricting, in the same way the Oath is.
Maglor, for all that he was hailed as the mildest of Feanor's sons, has far too much of his father's fire. Perhaps, had they been less hated and more understood, people would have eventually realized that the reason Maglor was said to have less of that hot-headedness that ran in the family is because he was far too similar to the sea. His songs start out as laments and odes to those he considers his, and they devolve ultimately, involuntarily, and inevitably into battle songs. He's not proud of it, not ever, but he is comforted by the power of his voice on the field; he is thrilled by the black blood of their enemies seeping out of their eyes and ears before his sword removes their heads from their bodies; he is angered by the traitors, the ones who drown themselves in guilt for their choices and actions, the ones who shame others for actions they too would have taken. He is far angrier than his brothers, and far angrier at them in turn, than anyone would ever understand.
Celegorm the Cruel they call him, and they are not wrong. He was named for his hastiness, his temper, his impulsiveness. He was hailed a hunter, a friend of Orome the Vala. It's funny that they don't connect the two and realize how contradictory the statements are. A hunter can't afford to be impulsive or hasty, not when they stalk their prey, wait and watch, and follow, as it goes about unknowing of the danger following it. He enjoys the hunt in a way perhaps only those of Orome's train understand. He's been impulsive occasionally, hunting under time constraints, and even then, something in his blood thrums against it. He earned his title of The Cruel, he knows that well, and sometimes, pride is the only emotion he can muster up at the thought. He is a hunter; he enjoys the slow, taunting, cruel violence of the hunt; he enjoys the kind, merciful, speed of the kill. There is no crueler torture in the hunt beyond that of a prey trying to outrun the predator, even when they know they'll lose. He might be hot-headed, but he has never been violent when he loses his temper, and perhaps, that causes others to be warier around him.
Caranthir valued brute strength to the slow taunting that Celegorm preferred, or the gruesomeness Maglor did. He was perhaps more a fan of efficiency than violence, as concepts. He did not care for the kill; he did not care for the adrenaline. If it furthered his goals, and made for a quicker resolution, then he was willing to engage in nearly anything to achieve it. He cared little for the guilt associated with it, nor with the regret. It mattered not to him if they called him apathetic or cold-hearted, he was well aware of what he was, well aware that they were right.
Curufin, contrary to popular claim, wasn't a violent person. He never advocated for violence, especially not when he had to commit it, although he certainly incited the urge in others. He much preferred words. The sight of them seeping into others minds, of them questioning and doubting and acting rashly based merely off rumours, of them being affected enough that they would resort to the kinds of acts they never would have dreamed of being capable of, that thrilled him far more than the acts themselves. He never wanted to be the cause of violence, although he rather enjoyed being a voyeur of it. 'Adding fuel to the fire' is what Maedhros once accused him of, and Curufin had never bothered trying to refute that statement.
Amras and Amrod took no joy in violence. They participated if it was demanded of them. They were more explorers and adventurers than hunters, and they while they had participated in the Hunt of Orome on occasion, they had never enjoyed it as much as Celegorm had, and they doubted they ever would. They didn't kill anyone at the first Kinslaying, despite what they were accused of, and although they participated in both the second and third kinslaying, they took no joy out of it, nor were they asked to. Perhaps, of all their brothers and cousins, they missed the peace of Valinor the most.
