Fëanor and SHC
 

I don't know if this has been discussed before.

It says that when he died, his fiery spirit burned in him, but mabe Tolkien was thinking about the idea of Sponatneous Human Combstion. As we know, though he was a devout Catholic, he liked hearing stories of strange events and the occult.
Maybe he was just playing with the idea, as the phenomenon had never actually been proven, and maybe he was adding his own readon and a case for it.

Just an interesting thought.

Nerwen the Nitpicker claims another victim...
 

Well, clearly it wouldn't be Spontaneous Human Combustion, would it?;)

Ok, OK, we'll call it SEC (Spontaneous Elf Combustion)



PS. It could also be Elven or Elvish, but that's not the point.

Hmm, I never took it that way at all.

I think he was just showing the fire in Fëanor's fëa, and I don't think that there was really any other meaning to it than that...

Oh, and BTW, why do you think Catholics are more interested than anyone else in the paranormal and the occult?

I don't think so (but wouldn't know, being more Protestant-like)

But maybe the old saing is true:

Opposites attract