#ulfang

[myceliumelium]

Maglor's duel with Ulfang the traitor. This episode is so interesting to me bc we don't often see Maglor taking initiative and doing something on his own. He acts very much as one of Maedhros' follower, but I think that this moment and his mercy for elrond and elros are the two defining actions that shape his character in my head.

#maglor #art #silmarillion #tolkien #feanorians #nirnaeth arnoediad #ulfang

[lamemaster]

Men Reacting to Meeting Elves First Time

AN: Inspired by this post- by @actual-bill-potts. Idk I just felt the urge to bring this to the world. No elves were harmed in writing this.

Summary: A series of interviews brought to you by yours truly :)

Ulfang: (stares directly into camera with deadpan expression) the first time I saw Maedhros, I held his arm, his only arm (chuckles) to help him cross the road.

(Camera zooms in)

Ulfang: (shuffling in his seat) I thought he was blind. I though he was poor blind elf with no pupils. I even told the kids to be kinder to him...

Interviewer: Andreth please put down the book for now.

Andreth: (annoyed Edain noises) Ah yes the shadow in the East-

Interviewer: Nope not this again (Athrabeth flashbacks). We're talking about your first meeting with Aegnor

Andreth: He was so still I walked past him confusing him for a lamp. (Love crazed smile on her face) Gangly limbs and wild gleaming hair and very eerily still. And then I jumped ten foot into the sky when he suddenly called for me.

Andreth: Flame and moth, (dreamy sigh) thats what they call us.

Beor: We really could not see anything but a blob of light and follow the music that filled the air. I mean what else would anyone assume. Only gods hold such prowess.

Interview: (muttering under breath) Well Celebrimbor and Ar-Pharzon would disagree...

Beor: What (confused dad smile)?? So I approached Nom, whose form stood shrouded by glowing hair that seem to carry the notes of his music.

Beor: At that moment I knew I fell in love, he would be my people's salvation.

Turin: The first time my mother took me to Thingol I scream cried for an hour (Embarrassed head shake).

Interviewer: You lived after that??

Turin: I did because Thingol thought my reaction after seeing a semi-transparent Melian was better...I thought she was the ghost of the crazy lady who lived next door...can you image the childhood trauma of all that in one day...(continues shaking head vigorously. I was scarred. That damned Saeros never let me live it down...

Beren: (Cuddling into Luthien) Society says twisted taste, I say man of culture.

Luthien: They won't dare love (percariously taps her claws on the interviewer's table).

static noises

Aragorn: (barging into Boromir's interview) Why was I not invited?

Interviewer: part elven and the Dunedain don't count...too desensitized.

(Bickering continues)

Interviewer: What was it like meeting the king of woodland realm?

Bard: I was half delirious and running on adrenaline I think I saw four of him and rolled with it. Altough Tilda and Sigrid did complain about unfair hair privillages.

Interviewer: I see (agressively scribbles crying emojis)

#the silmarillion #tolkien elves #crack fic #finrod #andreth #aragorn #beren and luthien #turin #Beor #Ulfang #Maedhros #pls don't come for me elven simps #bard

[grey-gazania]

Tell us about your Easterling conlang! Was it inspired by any real world languages?

No real-world languages at the moment, at least not consciously, though once I get deeper into developing the grammar that may happen. Tolkien doesn't give us much for the Easterling languages, just a few names. (I know he later changed his mind and said Bor & Family and Ulfang & Family were Easterling names and not Sindarin, but I find it too hard to swallow that Bor and Uldor just happened to have names that were cognates with Sindarin terms reflecting their choices in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.)

So I took some of the sounds that Tolkien seems to have disliked, and then I used the OT constraint model to develop a functional phonology. I ended up with a quantity-sensitive monopodal language with syllable structures of CX(C) and CX:, where X is anything more sonorant than a glide. Its feet are trochees and are aligned with the left side of the word. It requires onsets and CC-voice-agreement, and bans epenthesis and adjacent identical segments. It also bans [g] in outputs. It allows complex clusters and deletion when necessary to prevent violations of higher-ranked constraints. It does not force agreement in place of articulation.

It's called Lathtesh ('speech'). The Easterlings call themselves Rikishim ('sun-people').  The plural morpheme is -ishim, though the output obviously changes based on the noun it's modifying. So nuv ('mountain') becomes nuvishim, but ki ('person') becomes kishim because *kiishim would violate the Onset constraint, and *ki?ishim (? = glottal stop) would violate the Dep constraint. Brodda ('wolf') becomes broddashim for the same reasons, as well as the additional reason that *broddishim would violate the Max-Root constraint.

(Just to make things more fun: the input that leads to ri ('sun) is actually /iri/, so if for some reason you wanted to make the compound word 'mountain-sun' you'd actually end up with nuviri, not *nuvri.)

Verb conjugations are not gendered. The first-person plural morpheme is -li, and the third-person singular is -o. So verbs ending in consonants are easy - khavral ('to be', with kh being the voiceless uvular fricative) becomes khavrali ('we speak') and khavralo ('he/she/it speaks'). Verbs ending in vowels behave differently; lathta ('to speak') becomes lathtali ('we speak'), but stays lathta for 'he/she/it speaks' because *lathto would violate the Max-Root constraint.

...I might have got a bit carried away here. Hope you don't mind!

#anon #first age easterlings #easterlings #house of ulfang #house of bor #ulfang #uldor #bor

[outofangband]

Part two on the Union of Maedhros please :)

Gladly! this will require a part three to be honest

Here I focused more in depth on Maedhros, Fingon, Bor and Ulfang. I'll do the participants from Doriath and Nargathrond as well as Húrin's people and the dwarves.

Here was part one!

I am also going to include a part about Ulfang's people as a part one of posts requested by an incredibly patient anon a long time ago. Let me know if you see this, Ulfang anon and then tell me what else I can cover for you!

As I said, part two will go into more background politics that each ally brings to the table, for better or for worse

As always let me know if there’s something specific you’d like me to address

Fingon: at the time of the Union of Maedhros, Fingon is the high king following the death of his father. Officially he’s the high king of the Noldor but the political and geographic boundaries are unclear. He holds only symbolic power in Gondolin for example and much of the Noldor of Nargothrond do not follow him. His kingship is dubious among even those he does not rule over. I do not think Fingon had the time or resources to do much in the way of diplomacy during his kingship. He maintained the alliances that he had but wasn't able to do much in the way of rekindling fallen alliances, forging new ones, or restoring connection and communication where there had been enmity.

Maedhros is the Lord of Himring and an esteemed commander on the frontline of Eastern Beleriand’s defense against Morgoth

The actions of Celegorm and Curufin certainly complicate things. Maedhros was still seen by many as the de facto leader of the Noldorin host that came over with Fëanor. This is both for better and worse. For better, he has some control over the Noldor in East Beleriand and can influence them, at least the ones who didn’t fully turn against him when he abdicated the throne or because of a mistrust of Angband survivors (while others of Fëanor’s original group are so loyal and so mistrusting of Fingolfin that, even hating Maedhros for the abdication, they still consider him their lord over any of Fingolfin’s line)

Anyways while few people blame him for what Celegorm and Curufin did, he’s still affected by it as those who are angriest with C & C now want even less to do with the Fëanorians and their allies

Then of course there's the mistrust some have for him for his being an ex prisoner. I have so many posts about that so I won't go into it too much here but always feel free to ask about it :)

Bor and his people have settled in Northeastern Beleriand around the spring where the river Celon is sourced, slightly south of Himring. They are largely removed from both other political conflicts between the elves and humans of Beleriand and have also been separated from others of their people in the East.

The people of Ulfang settle in Thargelion. When I say people of Ulfang I include him and his family as well as followers and those who share in a specific and distinct culture similar to how I say people of Hador to mean not just those who are blood related to Hador. The group that comes here is a small one a few hundred people though for the fifth battle they intend to bring a larger host

They were originally river people, relying on both the fertile soils and the bounty of the waters themselves. In this way their culture had much in common with some groups of Nandor and Avarin both in Beleriand and East. One of their most important water sources became contaminated and a number of their host fell ill or died. Many suspected Morgoth in this destruction and it was then some of their people moved West.

Settling on the banks of Gelion, part of their original ways of life can be restored.

Both of these hosts lend knowledge and aid in non military operations as well and agricultural trade benefits them and the elves equally. The people of Bor and Ulfang are able to offer information about what Morgoth has done East of the Ered Luin and among the Edain which is vital as their other human allies only have the stories of their ancestors’ interactions with Melkor rather than their own experience

The rest is under a cut just for length and rambling about meta stuff

Note: the writing of the Easterlings is obviously problematic. I go with the idea that most of the people of the East (that is, Edain who came West of the Ered Luin significantly later than the peoples of Marach, Bëor and the Haladin) as well as those who stayed East, were not overall evil or working for Morgoth. After all, they canonically suffered at his hand too

Out of those who were there were three categories; those who had been coerced or threatened which is probably the biggest category those who worked with men of the original houses who had gone over to the enemy first and a handful who just wanted power Note that none of these are unique to the Eastern people and some of the original groups of the Edain also fell to the Enemy (including in canon) for all three of these reasons

For The invasion of Dor-Lómin for example I use a combination of the canon story and the book of lost tales version where many of the key figures among the traitors were originally from Hithlum themselves (though in my imaginings, some had left years or even decades prior to the events of the Narn(Brodda for example)

Most of Ulfang’s people likely did not wish to follow Morgoth. They had suffered significant losses back home and had little interest in continuing the war but saw it necessary for their own survival. The allyship with Caranthir was not a hostile one but it was one out of necessity. 

I think using a combination like this both takes away from the idea that the people of the east are uniquely corruptible or evil which is obviously extremely racist and also takes away intrigue to the plot

#the silmarillion #the children of húrin #maedhros #fingon #ulfang #musing and meta

[silmarillionwritersguild-art]

Ulfang and Uldor character biography by @hhimring "Uldor the Accursed" by Meisiluosi

#silmarillion writers guild #swg art #swg #tolkien fanart #tolkien fandom #tolkien fanworks #silmarillion fanart #character bio #ulfang #uldor #easterlings

[novemberthecatadmirer]

Today I realized of course Ulfang and his children could have betrayed willingly

And it makes sense in canon!

But the other possibility is

What if Morgoth took hostages…

What if Morgoth found out they allied with Maedhros and then murdered Ulfang (he was dead before Unnumbered Tears)

So there could be two reactions:

Fuck Morgoth we’ll either destroy Morgoth or die trying it’s for our freedom and honor

It’s not possible to destroy the enemy he is too powerful and he has hostages and we do not want our children die so better find a way to cooperate and get his favor and have our share of land and have our family back

Idk, I think it depends on whether it was Sauron managing the matter or Morgoth managing the matter

I think Sauron was master deceiver but would make sure at least the leader cooperated sort of willingly (achieve his goals through sticks and carrots

While Morgoth could really prefer to just be sadistic and very efficiently crush people’s hope and rule through unimaginable terror

#tolkien #silmarillion #the silmarillion #silm #silmarillion headcanon #silm headcanon #ulfang

[nelyos-right-hand]

Like, when do you think Sauron found out this elf that died in his dungeons was Finrod? None of Finrod's company ever gave up his identity, so he definitely had no idea at first. After Beren and Luthien succeded, his death would become common knowledge among the elves since there's no way Beren would keep his glorious sacrifice secret, but I'm not sure if these news ever reached Angband, I mean, it's not like Morgoth could sent his orcs to disguise themselves as elves and spy on them, so they probably didn't know a lot of what was talked about in elves cities, especially since it kind of wasn't important for the war anyway.

So imagen how hilarious it would be if Sauron never hears of this through the entire first age and then one day in Eregion Tyelpe is being all sad, so Annatar acts all sympathic and concerned which he only does because he needs Celebrimbor to trust him, of course he doesn't care how he feels and he especially isn't concerned and Celebrimbor is just like "uncle Finrod died today" and Annatar's like "yeah, that makes sense, by the way how did he die I think I never heard the specifics" and Celebrimbor just says "he got killed by Sauron after sacrificing himself for Beren, how did you never hear about this" and Annatar's just like "he WHAT!?"

#i know he could have heard of it from his human spies like Ulfang but I think this is way more funny #celebrimbor #sauron #annatar #finrod #beren and luthien #luthien #my post

[albuum]

1. Маглор над трупами предателей.

Maglor over the corpses of traitors.

“but the sons of Ulfang went over suddenly to Morgoth and drove in upon the rear of the sons of Fëanor, and in the confusion that they wrought they came near to the standard of Maedhros. They reaped not the reward that Morgoth promised them, for Maglor slew Uldor the accursed, the leader in treason, and the sons of Bór slew Ulfast and Ulwarth ere they themselves were slain”. Tolkien "Silmarillion".

“сыновья же Ульфанга, перейдя внезапно на сторону Моргота, напали сзади на сыновей Феанора, и в замешательстве, ими же созданном, пробились они к самому стягу Маэдроса. Но не получили они награды, обещанной Морготом, ибо Маглор убил Ульдора Проклятого, а сыновья Бора убили Ульфаста и Ульварта, прежде чем погибли сами”. Толкиен “Сильмариллион”.

2. Собственно предатели: сыновья Ульфанга. Отдельного поста другим днем они не заслуживают )

- Пойми, они же прокляты. Прокляты богами. А Моргот сам один из богов. Мы послужим богам, если предадим их.

2. - they don't deserve a separate post - The traitors themselves: the sons of Ulfang.

- Understand, they are cursed. Cursed by the gods. And Morgoth is one of the gods. We will serve the gods if we betray them.

#maglor #noldor #feanorians #sons of feanor #tolkien #silmarillion #sons of Ulfang

[sesamenom]

Flavors of numenoreans (minus the druedain because i still haven't figured out how i want to draw them)

#silm #silmarillion #numenor #numenoreans #idk why mr. edainic is so small sorry #idk if rhunic is the right word for it but rhundrim sounded wrong-er #this would probably be sometime in the late elros era? #i imagine he would encourage a lot of immigration early on to bolster the population #the kingdom literally popped up from the sea and started with what. one city worth of people? #you have to get citizens from somewhere #so a lot of travelers ended up settling down there #plus a few ancient mongolian soldiers who somehow ended up in the union of maedhros (?) #idk if i missed something but i am still unsure how bor and ulfangs people ended up in the general himring area #sorry druedain ill add you when i decide on a design #maybe im just tired but idk who the druedain align with geographically

[grey-gazania-fic]

[SWG link here]

Who were Ulfang's people, and why did they betray the Elves? The truth as seen by Uldor, Caranthir, and Ulfang's granddaughter.

I was inspired to get off my ass and write the latest chapter by the @tolkiengenweek Day 4 prompt, "language".

#tolkiengenweek #tókhesh #tavoreth #my ocs #first age easterlings #easterlings #people of ulfang #dwarves #The Silmarillion #silmarillion #tolkien #the silmarillion #silm fic #silmfic #silm #silmarillion writers' guild #silmarillion fanfiction #tolkien fanfic

[deadqueernoldor]

I love pulling batshit theories out of my ass, especially about the second and third kinslaying to excuse any and all behaviour of any and all characters.

Canon is that Celegorm's men (not Celegorm himself) dragged Elured and Elurin into the woods to die. Canon is that Maedhros looked for them in vain, indicating he at the least has some morals left at that time, and those went against leaving little boys to die in the winter forest.

What if those of Celegorm's forces were executed by the Ambarussar in the aftermath, with or without Maedhros' command? Execution is canon with the Fëanorians in that Maglor slew Ulfang when his forces betrayed them during the Nirnaeth.

What if the Ambarussar, part of a heavily co-dependent family, twins, caught wind of some people loyal to them killing twin boys?

I could imagine them executing Celegorm's servants in cold blood for that. Perhaps that made their own forces wonder just how ruthless the Ambarussar were becoming, leading to them deserting and fighting the Fëanorians at Sirion?

I have so many feelings about the Ambarussar avenging Elured and Elurin, no matter how unlikely.

#its a crack headcanon of the highest caliber and i do not care #give me ruthless 'you kill twins? twins will kill you' murder redheads that will even have gotten a pat on the back from Maedhros for it #i will find a way to sugarcoat every single character of the silm if you give me enough time #all except for eol he can rot in a sewer for all i care tho sorry babes #just shitposting #edit itvwas uldor not ulfang i think but whatever

[fuckingfinwions]

Maedhros's brothers mostly buy the story of "Fingon got head trauma and doesn't remember the past." Fingon's obviously not faking the amnesia. And the Feanorians trust each other above outsiders. And several of them knew Maedhros and Fingon were married before, so it's not suspicious they're (still) married now.

But even so, its very convenient that Fingon trusts all of them now, and no one else. If Maedhros has carefully arranged to get the High King under his thumb, his brothers want to know what will send the house of cards toppling over.

Amras is the only one to ask outright. Every kind of mental Healing known to the Noldor was suggested to him in the early years in Beleriand, so he wouldn't fade after the death of his other half, and of his father, and of his grandfather; and the capture of his brother. He was offered to chance to forget it all, to remember the good times alone, to recall every minute crystal-clear such that the annoying parts couldn't be smoothed over and he'd be glad his twin was gone, to stop loving anyone he hadn't seen in the last day, to stop feeling anything at all... And all of them came with words of caution, additional things he would lose or ways he would remember again. Amras never acceped any spells that promised more than a few nights of dreamless sleep so he could recover, or a few days of complete calm when the Noldor were on the verge of all dying out. He wanted to remember, but he knows that it is sometimes a weakness, and that not all the spells would have required he know about them.

If Fingon will recall his entire childhood the first time he sees an elfling, Amras needs to know. Maedhros can have his fun, but not if Fingon will get in the way of retrieving the Silmaril, completing their mission, avenging their kin, and keeping Amrod from the Void. Fingon might be more annoying if locked in his room all day, but Maedhros can deal with it.

Amras asks his eldest brother. "How did the amnesia set in? Did he forget more each day, or was he fine one hour and lost completely the next?"

"Why in the world do you need to know my husband's medical information?"

"We all see each other often enough. If he forgets where he put down his boots, I should know if he needs more sleep or if it's a sign he's getting worse."

"It won't get worse - it was a sudden event with his head nearly being staved in! He forgot instantly, and is no more fragile now than the rest of us."

"I am glad to hear it. Bad enough for him to lose all sense of his place in the world, without having to fear it happening again. And it's good that you don't have to reintroduce yourself to your husband every morning."

"That was awkward the first time, but he never forgot me completely. Our love is stronger than any terror that tries to separate us."

"Was he scared then, at the beginning?"

"A bit, but less once the nightmares stopped."

Having nightmares of things you couldn't remember was almost the exact opposite of the Songs Amras had used. Nightmares were a sign of the emotions coming through with too few facts; Amras had dulled his feeling at times but never once the names of those he had lost.

"I'm surprised they stopped so quickly, with no memories of his family solid to anchor his thoughts on other than the twisted version that shows in nightmares."

"Fingon is strong, and brave enough to face what is coming rather than fear what has been left behind. The healers' plan let him recover in weeks what might take others years."

Amras nodded and changed the subject. The healers had obviously done something to make sure Fingon would have no nightmares, and Maedhros knew what it was, and Maedhros was confident enough in it to leave the healers behind rather than "recruit" one to the East to hide Fingon's memories again as needed. It might be that Fingon thought the nightmares had faded naturally, but that made little difference if they were well and truly blocked from him. Amras wouldn't encourage Fingon to seek out his past, but he wouldn't worry that the next Balrog sighting would send Fingon into a spiral of fear.

#amnesiac fingon au #not archived yet #Maglor is thinking that if he had the choice to forget the Braggollach and his people burning as he couldn't save them he'd take it #Fingon's amnesia was likely either accidental or voluntary #and anyway restoring memories is the type of Healing Song that Maglor is too blood-soaked to sing so he puts it out of his mind #Celegorm is accepting the whole thing at face value but aware that it's his job to put down mad dogs if Fingon turns on them #Caranthir literally just trusted Ulfang and that blew up so he's aware his opinion is unwelcome here #And he's not into the mystical stuff and the practical effects of one more soldier to feed are easy enough #Curufin keeps trying to get Maedhros to take over as Regent King while Fingon is ''unfortunately too unwell to rule' #Or else just put Fingon back on the throne and puppet from the shadows #he doesn't care how Fingon lost his memories but it's a golden opportunity for the House of Feanor to regain their rightful place

[grey-gazania]

I feel like the Easterlings (both First Age and Third Age) don't get enough love in this fandom, and I'd like to rectify that if I can. Woul anyone be interested in participating if I were to set up an Easterlings Week?

#silmarillion #lord of the rings #the silmarillion #the lord of the rings #tolkien #jrr tolkien #easterlings #first age easterlings #third age easterlings #ulfang #uldor #ulfast #ulwarth #bor #borlad #borlach #borthand #khamul #khamul the easterling

[riding-with-the-wild-hunt]

i’m sort of enamoured with the cruel servants of celegorm actually. in a story where (a.) we rarely see elves motivated to kill purely out of revenge and (b.) the lord-vassal dynamic is largely shown as strictly either mutual loyalty and affection (ie. finrod-house of bëor) or the vassal was bad from the outset (ie. caranthir-ulfang), they are unique in their role as presumably loving, loyal, til-death-do-us-part companions who are motivated by that love to do a terrible thing—but more importantly, a terrible thing that wasn’t going to accomplish anything. enamoured with the kind of devotion that makes people behave like that….enamoured with an adoration so strong it goes beyond death and cultural taboos and utility…..one of the worst and saddest and most sickening parts of the silm and it was caused by love!!! just bake me into a pie about it!!!

#brought to you by me #every day i wake up + i get on my little soapbox #the professor's world #the silmarillion #elves elves elves #fjshkfjgh!!!! #second kinslaying

[erynalasse]

What if Maedhros wasn’t nearly as protective and patient with his little brothers as fanon makes out?

A Maedhros who in Valinor lets all of his younger brothers dig themselves into holes, because it makes him look downright saintly by contrast

A Maedhros who scatters his brothers across the east of Beleriand less because it’s efficient and more because they’ll all drive each other insane if they don’t have their own things to control

A Maedhros who gives up the crown to Fingolfin as much to achieve peace as to get his loose cannons of younger brothers out of the succession

A Maedhros who (rightly) disdains the pride and foolishness of most of his brothers, and doesn’t hesitate to say so to their faces

A Maedhros who disdains all his younger brothers for failing to hold their lands during the Bragollach (“a king is he that can hold his own”) when he saved Himring

A Maedhros who never forgives Caranthir for obtaining the traitor Ulfang as an ally in the Nírnaeth Arnoediad

A Maedhros who secretly believes Celegorm and Curufin got what was coming to them at Doriath: they made the problem with Lúthien’s Silmaril, and then it killed them

A Maedhros who quashes Maglor’s desire to surrender after the War of Wrath less because of the suggestion and more because it came from his little brother

A Maedhros who is relieved as much as grieved when his brothers die one by one, because they can’t cause trouble when they’re dead

#tolkien #silmarillion #maedhros #like at the end of the day #this must just be such an awful family to be stuck in especially after the oath #you’re all in the same misery boat but that doesn’t make it better #and it’s the worst when you’re in charge of the misery boat like maedhros #I could definitely see some resentment breeding #codependency isn’t the only adaption even though it’s usually more fun to write #and maedhros can be just a little nasty #as a treat ok

[bretwalda-lamnguin]

I like Maedhros as a character, but I admit the usual fandom portrayal of him does nothing for me. I don't see him as a particularly 'nice' person. He can be manipulative, ruthless and harsh. I think he tries to play the clever pragmatist, but he gets it deeply wrong, and I think the oath is largely to blame.

Maedhros has two clear goals, although to him, at first at least, they are one and the same. Defeat Morgoth, and regain the silmarils, fulfilling the oath. Everything he does is in service of one of these goals, but once Doriath gains a silmaril the two goals seem to become contradictory.

A lot of Maedhros’ early actions in Beleriand make sense through this lens. When he suggests sending the ships back, he names Fingon as the first that should be taken. Not only a close friend (or romantic partner) but by now a fellow kinslayer-his loyalty is more assured because they have spilled blood together. He stands aside because the burning of the ships is a spiteful act with no aim, whereas the far morally worse first kinslaying had a logical goal at least.  

Civil war contradicts Maedhros’ goal-his aim is to defeat Morgoth and get the silmarils, not be high king, so he willingly steps aside for Fingolfin. Likewise, Thingol is not his enemy yet, so he laughs off his scorn. He has what he wants, the lands and resources to make war on Morgoth. Doriath is of little concern to him, and if Finrod can bring them into the alliance, all the better.

The quest for the silmaril breaks this unity of purpose. Celegorm and Curufin, driven by the Oath, overthrow Finrod and kidnap Lúthien. Maedhros cannot complain overmuch, he does not want the silmaril in other hands. Finrod and Lúthien had become rival claimants for the jewel and were thus enemies. He cannot punish his brothers. His failure to do so however permanently alienates Nargothrond and Doriath, with Maedhros’ letter to the latter being the final nail. It is at best deeply foolish and at worst blackmail. Lúthien’s quest may have given Maedhros hope Morgoth can be defeated, but he does not rebuke Celegorm calling for Doriath’s destruction.

I think this may also be behind his and his brother’s failure to see through Ulfang and his son’s treachery. By this point, the Fëanorians see desire for the silmarils as the main source of treachery. Ulfang and his sons have no desire for the silmarils, so they must be loyal. They fail to see that they might desire other things and be loyal to Morgoth for completely different reasons.

Maedhros is so devoted to one singular goal, and ruthless in his pursuit of it that he fails to see it has become two contradictory goals, to his ruin. By the end his attempts to regain the silmaril are actively helping Morgoth. I also think that he does treat others, including Fingon and Maglor, as pawns in his game. I do think of him as somewhat manipulative, even though I also think he very deeply loves Fingon and Maglor. Fingon’s love saves him from Thangorodrim and by the end he is completely dependent on Maglor. He drags them down into ruin all the same.  

#maedhros #the oath is central to his tragedy #that muddles his motivations #which leads to his fate #he's clever and capable #and a very good war leader #but his fundamental goals are so flawed none of it matters #his strategy will always fail #and that feeds back to the oath #silmarillion #my posts