The House of Fëanor was comprised of Fëanor, Nerdanel and their seven sons: Maedhros, Maglor, Celegorm, Caranthir, Curufin, Amrod and Amras. Curufin had a son, Celebrimbor, but he was killed in the Second Age, after forging the Rings of Power, and did not enter into the tales of the First Age. They lived in Valinor, in the time of the Two Trees, but after the death of the Trees and the murder of King Finwë (Fëanor's father), Fëanor and his seven sons led their people to rebellion against the Valar, the Powers that ruled Valinor. They swore an unbreakable oath to regain the Silmarils, the great Jewels made by Fëanor, that Morgoth the dark Enemy stole. When they attempted to capture the ships of the Teleri in order to cross the ocean, battle broke out, and this was the Kinslaying of Alqualonde. Nerdanel would not participate in this rebellion, due to her devotion to the Vala Aulë, and she alone escaped the terrible curse that the Valar laid upon the House of Fëanor:

"Tears unnumbered ye shall shed; and the Valar will fence Valinor against you, and shut you out, so that not even the echo of your lamentation shall pass over the mountains. On the House of Fëanor the wrath of the Valar lieth from the West unto the uttermost East, and upon all that will follow them it shall be laid also. Their Oath shall drive them, and yet betray them, and ever snatch away the very treasures that they have sworn to pursue. To evil end shall all things turn that they begin well; and by treason of kin unto kin, and the fear of treason, shall this come to pass. The Dispossessed shall they be for ever.

"Ye have spilled the blood of your kindred unrighteously and have stained the land of Aman. For blood ye shall render blood, and beyond Aman ye shall dwell in Death's shadow. For though Eru appointed to you to die not in Eä, and no sickness may assail you, yet slain ye may be, and slain ye shall be: by weapon and by torment and by grief; and your houseless spirits shall come then to Mandos. There long shall ye abide and yearn for your bodies, and find little pity though all whom ye have slain should entreat for you. And those that endure in Middle-earth and come not to Mandos shall grow weary of the world as with a great burden, and shall wane, and become as shadows of regret before the younger race that cometh after. The Valar have spoken."

-- The Doom of the Noldor

The Fëanorians were undaunted, and still pressed on; but a disagreement arose between them and the followers of Fingolfin, Fëanor's half-brother whom he disliked. Then Fëanor in his anger crossed the ocean with the people loyal to him, leaving Fingolfin and the other Noldor stranded on the shore. They landed at Losgar in Middle-Earth, and Fëanor burned the ships he had taken. In this, Maedhros his son disagreed with him, remembering his friend Fingon son of Fingolfin, and would not participate in the burning.

Soon after, they made war with Morgoth in Beleriand, and drove his forces east before them. Fëanor was killed by Balrogs, demonic spirits of fire, and Maedhros was captured in a parley. Morgoth demanded surrender for Maedhros's return. The other brothers refused, knowing that Morgoth would not keep his word. Therefore Morgoth hung Maedhros from a cliff by his right hand.

At this time, Fingolfin's followers arrived, having braved the Northern Ice. There was enmity between the Houses, but Fingon rescued Maedhros from Thangorodrim by cutting off his right hand, and Maedhros in turn surrendered the Kingship of the Noldor to Fingolfin. Shortly afterwards, the seven brothers moved into East Beleriand, where Morgoth was most likely to attack, so that they could defend the other lands and also avoid their relatives.

Many years passed, and the House of Fëanor guarded East Beleriand and the passes so that Morgoth could not take them. After the fourth battle of Beleriand, Celegorm and Curufin were driven out of their lands and took refuge with their cousin Finrod in Nargothrond. When Beren and Lúthien sought to regain the Silmaril for Thingol, these two brothers, driven by their oath, tried to hinder them, and were in turn driven out from Nargothrond. They then went to Himring, Maedhros's fortress on the borders of Beleriand.

Maedhros, seeing that Beren and Lúthien had successfully thwarted Morgoth, proposed war in hope that Morgoth was not unassailable. This mighty alliance of Elves, Dwarves and Men was called the Union of Maedhros, and it would have succeeded, but Uldor of the Easterlings betrayed the Union and gave false information. The great hosts were defeated, and the hopes of the Noldor crumbled.

The oath still drove the House of Fëanor, and they sent letters to Dior, son of Beren and Lúthien, asking that the Silmaril be returned to them. Dior refused, and war rose between them. The House of Fëanor, though no longer in the days of its glory, was still great, and Doriath was defeated, though Caranthir, Celegorm and Curufin died in the fighting. But Elwing daughter of Dior took the Silmaril and fled.

Fëanor's sons forbore attacking again out of pity, but in time the oath rose again. They sent messengers to Sirion, where Elwing lived, offering her friendship, and asking for the Silmaril. Elwing refused again, and the House of Fëanor attacked Sirion. Amras and Amrod died in the attack, and Elwing jumped into the sea with the Silmaril, leaving behind her two young sons. The two remaining brothers, Maedhros and Maglor, took the children in and raised them as their own.

Elwing had been turned into a bird, and flew to her husband Eärendil's ship. Eärendil sailed west to Valinor with the Silmaril, asking that the Valar make war against Morgoth. The Valar agreed, but Eärendil was set to sail the skies as a star, never returning to earth. The forces of Valinor sailed to Beleriand and defeated Morgoth, regaining the Silmarils. Now Maedhros and Maglor, despairing but driven, demanded the Silmaril from the Valar.

[Maedhros and Maglor] prepared, though now with weariness and loathing, to attempt in despair the fulfilment of their oath; for they would have given battle for the Silmarils, were they withheld, even against the victorious host of Valinor, even though they stood alone against all the world. And they sent a message therefore to Eönwë, bidding him yield up now those jewels which of old Fëanor their father made and Morgoth stole from him.

--Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath

Eönwë, representative of the Valar, refused them. Therefore they prepared to take the Silmarils.

And they disguised themselves, and came in the night to the camp of Eönwë, and crept into the place where the Silmarils were guarded; and they slew the guards, and laid hands on the jewels. Then all the camp was raised against them, and they prepared to die, defending themselves until the last.

--Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath

But they were not slain, and they fled; but the Silmaril, hallowed by the Valar, burned Maedhros's hand, and he threw himself into a fiery chasm and died. Maglor threw his Silmaril into the sea, and wandered by the lost shores singing in pain and regret, and passed out of the knowledge of the Elves. So ended the story of the House of Fëanor in Middle-Earth, in beauty and tragedy.