Silmarillion Blues : Quenta Silmarillion : IX. Of the Flight of the Noldor

The Trees are dead, their light existing now only in the Silmarils wrought by Fëanor.  So, of course, they ask Fëanor to release the light within his Masterwork so that Yavanna might heal the Trees.  Of all the Valar, only Aulë the Maker understood exactly how much they asked of Fëanor, the destruction of his life's work and a piece of himself, and being asked by beings of greater power and authority so that a request weighs as heavy as an obligation.  During this debate of action, Melkor slips into the home of Fëanor, killing his father and Silmarils.  In his anger and grief Fëanor curses Melkor, naming him Morgoth, and holding Manwë in part responsible for keeping him away from his father and his home in a time of need.  In this grief he claims the kingship of the Noldor and calls on his people to leave "the kin of my father's slayer and of the thief of my treasure."  And in this he calls for freedom from the Valar, speaks of what the Noldor lost by coming to this place, and swearing along with this seven sons to pursue with vengeance most terrible any being who should hold onto the Silmarils.

Standing out in all this is Galadriel, who swore no oaths but who yearned to see the the lands to the East and rule a realm of her own.

And so the Noldor leave, the Valar offering no aid nor hinderance, though Fëanor is forever exiled.  Death and grieving is truly new to Middle Earth, something alien to the Valar and the Eldar both.  I cannot fully blame Fëanor for the words he speaks in anger and belief of his rightness.  But in his grief he brings grief to others, battling the Teleri, Eldar themselves, in order to take ships by force to make their own way.  And so the Eldar split yet again, those following Fëanor becoming the Dispossessed for the slaying of kindred, and those who followed after Finarfin turning back to the Valar to receive pardon.

Meanwhile, Ungoliant, the great dark spider-creature, still hungers, and Morgoth must fulfill his bargain to her.  So she consumes the great gems of the Formenos, attempting to hold back the Silmarils for himself, though they burned him.  If you ever wonder at Shelob's unchallenged stronghold so close to Sauron's domain, remember Shelob is the offspring of Ungoliant whom Morgoth himself feared at this time.  It is only his cry that roused the still loyal Balrogs that drove Ungoliant away.  And so she creeps  into the shadows, continuing her line with other great foul spiders, and then vanishing from all but myth.  Morgoth himself returns "home," to the ruins of Angband where he rebuilds and forges a great crown of iron in which he sets the Silmarils.

And so Fëanor leads his people into hardship, burning the ships they stole on the shores, while Morgoth rebuilds and plots.