It should be obvious that just being a Maia, or being a Vala, doesn't make one more powerful in every respect than all beings of a lower order.

There are other examples of this in Tolkien's writings; for example of the Maia Eönwë it is said:

Chief among the Maiar of Valinor whose names are remembered in the histories of the Elder Days are Ilmarë, the handmaid of Varda, and Eönwë, the banner-bearer and herald of Manwë, whose might in arms is surpassed by none in Arda.

Yet Eönwë is a "mere" Maia; but despite that he's still a mightier warrior than either Tulkas or Oromë.

It's well-established in the Silmarillion that Ilúvatar gave gifts to the Children that the Ainur do not have; for example it's said in the Ainulindale of Melkor:

But he desired rather to subdue to his will both Elves and Men, envying the gifts with which Ilúvatar promised to endow them...

It's crucial that this was before Melkor's fall, and that Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but yet he was envious of these gifts.

Furthermore, and despite both Sauron and Saruman being in origin Maiar of Aule ("the maker"), Tolkien is quite clear (in Letter 131) that the function of the Valar is not the creation of new things (my emphasis, aside from the "not" which is in the original):

These latter are as we should say angelic powers, whose function is to exercise delegated authority in their spheres (of rule and government, not creation, making or re-making).

It should therefore be not surprising that Feanor was able to make things that a Vala or Maia could not.

It should be obvious that just being a Maia, or being a Vala, doesn't make one more powerful in every respect than all beings of a lower order.

There are other examples of this in Tolkien's writings; for example of the Maia Eönwë it is said:

Chief among the Maiar of Valinor whose names are remembered in the histories of the Elder Days are Ilmarë, the handmaid of Varda, and Eönwë, the banner-bearer and herald of Manwë, whose might in arms is surpassed by none in Arda.

Yet Eönwë is a "mere" Maia; but despite that he's still a mightier warrior than either Tulkas or Oromë.

It's well-established in The Silmarillion that Ilúvatar gave gifts to the Children that the Ainur do not have; for example it's said in the Ainulindalë of Melkor:

But he desired rather to subdue to his will both Elves and Men, envying the gifts with which Ilúvatar promised to endow them...

It's crucial that this was before Melkor's fall, and that Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but yet he was envious of these gifts.

Furthermore, and despite both Sauron and Saruman being in origin Maiar of Aulë ("the maker"), Tolkien is quite clear (in Letter 131) that the function of the Valar is not the creation of new things (my emphasis, aside from the "not" which is in the original):

These latter are as we should say angelic powers, whose function is to exercise delegated authority in their spheres (of rule and government, not creation, making or re-making).

It should therefore be not surprising that Fëanor was able to make things that a Vala or Maia could not.

It should be obvious that just being a Maia, or being a Vala, doesn't make one more powerful in every respect than all beings of a lower order.

There are other examples of this in Tolkien's writings; for example of the Maia Eönwë it is said:

Chief among the Maiar of Valinor whose names are remembered in the histories of the Elder Days are Ilmarë, the handmaid of Varda, and Eönwë, the banner-bearer and herald of Manwë, whose might in arms is surpassed by none in Arda.

Yet Eönwë is a "mere" Maia; but despite that he's still a mightier warrior than either Tulkas or Oromë.

It's well-established in the Silmarillion that Ilúvatar gave gifts to the Children that the Ainur do not have; for example it's said in the Ainulindale of Melkor:

But he desired rather to subdue to his will both Elves and Men, envying the gifts with which Ilúvatar promised to endow them...

It's crucial that this was before Melkor's fall, and that Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but yet he was envious of these gifts.

It should therefore be not surprising that Feanor was able to make things that a Vala or Maia could not.

It should be obvious that just being a Maia, or being a Vala, doesn't make one more powerful in every respect than all beings of a lower order.

There are other examples of this in Tolkien's writings; for example of the Maia Eönwë it is said:

Chief among the Maiar of Valinor whose names are remembered in the histories of the Elder Days are Ilmarë, the handmaid of Varda, and Eönwë, the banner-bearer and herald of Manwë, whose might in arms is surpassed by none in Arda.

Yet Eönwë is a "mere" Maia; but despite that he's still a mightier warrior than either Tulkas or Oromë.

It's well-established in the Silmarillion that Ilúvatar gave gifts to the Children that the Ainur do not have; for example it's said in the Ainulindale of Melkor:

But he desired rather to subdue to his will both Elves and Men, envying the gifts with which Ilúvatar promised to endow them...

It's crucial that this was before Melkor's fall, and that Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but yet he was envious of these gifts.

Furthermore, and despite both Sauron and Saruman being in origin Maiar of Aule ("the maker"), Tolkien is quite clear (in Letter 131) that the function of the Valar is not the creation of new things (my emphasis, aside from the "not" which is in the original):

These latter are as we should say angelic powers, whose function is to exercise delegated authority in their spheres (of rule and government, not creation, making or re-making).

It should therefore be not surprising that Feanor was able to make things that a Vala or Maia could not.