rocky41_7

I really don't know where Turgon gets this reputation for being staid or "straight-laced." He was right alongside Fingon in wanting to press forward after Alqualonde ("Moreover Fingon and Turgon were bold and fiery of heart, and loath to abandon any task to which they had put their hands..." The Silmarillion); he took off in the dead of night with a third of his father and king's forces to build a secret city because he heard it in a dream; he never even hints at making a fuss about his daughter marrying a mortal and in spite of Gondolin's isolationism befriends mortals ("the meeting of Turgon with Hurin...was glad in the midst of battle" The Silmarillion); his ferociousness in battle is described quite vividly ("Turgon the terrible towering in anger" Lay of the Children of Hurin/ "hewed his way to the side of his brother" The Silmarillion); he is the Elf Morgoth most wants to capture ("from his trap had sprung Turgon the mighty" Lay of the Children of Hurin / "One thought troubled him deeply and marred his victory with unquiet: Turgon had escaped his net, of all his foes the one whom he had most desired to take or destroy" Children of Hurin) and his escape is the reason Morgoth does not consider the Nirnaeth a total victory despite having control of virtually the entire continent at that point...Sure you can interpret him that way and it's not necessarily countertextual I just wonder how it became such accepted fanon and I suspect it is entirely based in his commitment to keeping Gondolin's secret

Fandom: The Silmarillion

Characters: Idril, Tuor, Turgon, Maeglin

Summary: An exploration of the various interpretations of the fall of the ancient Elven stronghold of Gondolin as told through popular culture.

Length: 3.7k

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Excerpt:

Not much is remembered of the famed Elven stronghold of Gondolin, but of a few things we are relatively certain: It was ruled over by King Turgon, son of high king Fingolfin; it kept itself hidden from the forces of the so-called “dark lord” Morgoth for centuries through a policy of careful isolationism; and it was eventually betrayed by Turgon’s nephew, his sister-son Maeglin Lómion.

Current Mood: okay

Fandom: The Silmarillion

Characters: Earendil, Idril, Turgon

Summary: Earendil is left with his grandfather for the afternoon.

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Excerpt:

None had been sure how Eärendil’s mortal blood might affect him, but thus far, Turgon had not found him overly different from most babies.

Current Mood: okay

There seems to be an assumption among parts of the fandom that Turgon neglected or wasn’t interested in Maeglin and that always baffles me? First, I think Silm makes it very clear that Turgon loved his sister Aredhel and was devastated by her death--if anyone would understand Maeglin’s grief at her loss it would be Turgon--and so the assumption that he would discard or ignore her only child doesn’t make immediate sense.

But second, Maeglin is in a respected position as an adult! He sits on Turgon’s council and Turgon listens to him, even when Maeglin’s advice is calculated to bring about the end of Gondolin through its destruction by Melkor. This suggests that they did not have a cold or indifferent relationship and that it’s more likely Turgon took on or attempted to take a mentoring role with Maeglin, and that he trusted Maeglin and his opinion enough to follow his suggestions (again--even when Maeglin had deeply sinister motives).

“But Maeglin prospered and grew great among the Gondolindrim, praised by all, and high in the favor of Turgon...And he gathered about him all such as had the most bend to smithcraft and mining...” (“Of Maeglin”, The Silmarillion) (emphasis added)

Here we see that not only is Maeglin respected and appreciated (and I would anticipate, loved) by Turgon, but that he’s in fact rather popular in Gondolin. He may have had a rough start, but he clearly rights himself (up until the whole betraying them to Melkor thing) and establishes a solid reputation and a good life for himself there (setting aside his unrequited desire for Idril). He even had his own little group of smiths and miners who worked with and followed his teachings.

“Thus all seemed well with the fortunes of Maeglin, who had risen to be mighty among the princes of the Noldor, and greatest save one in the most renowned of their realms.” (“Of Maeglin”, The Silmarillion)

Near the end of the chapter is this, noting Maeglin (at this point in the story) among the great princes of the Noldor, which also suggests he was not considered an outsider, either among the Gondolindrim or in the family of Finwe.

Current Mood: irritated

There are so many lovely and wrenching depictions of Fingon’s body after the Nirnaeth, but one of the things I always come back to with that scene is that, based on Tolkien’s description of Fingon’s death, there probably was no body left.

"At last Fingon stood alone with his guard dead about him; and he fought with Gothmog, until another Balrog came behind and cast a thong of fire about him. Then Gothmog hewed him with his black axe, and a white flame sprang up from the helm of Fingon as it was cloven. Thus fell the High King of the Noldor; and they beat him into the dust with their maces, and his banner, blue and silver, they trod into the mire of his blood."

(emphasis added)

The balrogs seem to have done their level best to obliterate the high king of the Noldor; Fingon was a bloody smear on the battlefield with the shrapnel of his armor stuck into the dirt by the time anyone was able to try to recover him.

And I think that only adds to the trauma of his friends and family. Elves value life so highly and each death to them is a great tragedy because of their immortality so I’ve always felt that for them some kind of proper funerary service is extremely important. But for Fingon, they have nothing to bury, nothing to burn, nothing to set to sail out in the ocean. Maybe they’re able to recover his weapon, or scraps of his standard, or warped, bloody chunks of his armor, but probably not much more. For Elves who are so reverent about life, to have a body desecrated that way must have been horrifying.

This, to Maedhros, is the result of his best push against Morgoth. In the wake of this, Turgon, the last living child of Fingolfin and Anaire, takes up the crown of the high king of the Noldor. This is the legacy of the Nirnaeth to the Finweans: the annihilation and gross violation visited on Fingon.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: sad

Relationships I want to know more about:

1. Turgon and Maeglin. What’s up with these two? Turgon took him in and accounted him among his house, and I can easily imagine putting a lot of effort into out of love and grief for Aredhel, even when it became apparent his own daughter did not get along with Maeglin. He even trusted Maeglin’s advice when shit started to go sideways for Gondolin--and Turgon’s not an idiot, so either Maeglin worked very hard to deceive Turgon as to his true intentions, or the job was easier because Turgon already trusted him. Did Maeglin feel guilty for what he did? Did he regret? Did Turgon feel he had failed his nephew if Maeglin had been turned to the service of Morgoth?

2. Finwe and the other grandkids. I’ve seen a fair bit of speculation of Finwe’s relationship with Maedhros and I tend to agree Maedhros takes a lot after him, but what about the others? Finwe’s whole thing with marrying Indis was out of a desire for more kids, so I have to assume he was a very involved grandfather. What did he talk about with Maglor? With Finrod? With Aredhel? I can totally see him as the type of grandparent to want to have a special little activity for each of his grandkids that was “their” thing, but then he ended up with 16 and started running out of time in the day lol

3. Fingolfin and Lalwen! We know almost nothing about Finwe’s daughters (they don’t even appear in The Silmarillion proper), but Tolkien elsewhere says that Lalwen went to Middle-earth because Fingolfin, her favorite brother, went. That’s a lot of love. Fingolfin and Feanor have the most prominent and explored relationship among Finwe’s kids, and not without cause, and we know that the Nolofinwean and Arafinwean families were very close, but please I really want to know more about Fingolfin and his little sister.

4. Fingon and Finrod. The text doesn’t give us much explicitly on their relationship, but we know the Nolofinweans and the Arafinweans are very close, and I firmly believe that even if these two were not particularly close back in Tirion (Fingon being closer with Maedhros, Aegnor, and Angrod, and Finrod being closer with Turgon), that changed on the Helcaraxe. I think the Helcaraxe changed the relationships for all of them, and made them far closer than they ever might have been otherwise, but for Finrod and Fingon, who both essentially operated as Fingolfin’s second-in-command, I think there would have been a particular sense of sharing responsibility. How did that impact their relationship and their interactions later on in Middle-earth? And what did they talk about on the Helcaraxe?

5. Tar-Miriel and Sauron. We can assume, I think, that Tar-Miriel does not get along with her husband Ar-Pharazon, but what was her take on Sauron? Did she also buy his claims of repentance and servitude? Did she think serving her husband a fitting fate for someone who had caused so much trouble in Middle-earth? Or was she skeptical of his intentions? We know she tried to flee the sinking of Numenor, and that her father had been devout, but we know very little about Tar-Miriel’s own beliefs. Did she follow her father’s path and resent Ar-Pharazon for his blasphemous acts? Or was she indifferent, merely seeing that as another part and parcel of Numenor’s cultural and intellectual decline? Did she foresee anything from Sauron’s arrival at court? Or was it just one more thing Ar-Pharazon did that she didn’t approve of? Did her opinion of him change over time--was there a moment she began to see him as a threat? Or did she overlook him until it was too late?