The Manly Men of Myth and Middle-Earth - Page 6
© Michael Martinez
The Noldorin strategists may not have had a plan for destroying Angband, but they certainly weren't afraid of it. The arrogance they displayed in laying siege to Morgoth was only surpassed by the creation of the Rings of Power and Ar-Pharazon's assault on Valinor. But Morgoth eventually beat them down. Legolas said that of all Elf-banes, the Balrogs were the most deadly. And yet, it wasn't until Morgoth had a large force of dragons (well, at least several of them) that he was able to crush the Noldor. He needed the help of treacherous men to win the Nirnaeth, but Glaurung took out Nargothrond, and the dragons made the difference at Gondolin.
In the aftermath of these losses, the fight had been taken out of the Elves. Orodreth's defeat signalled the end of Eldarin initiatives against Morgoth, and Orodreth really wasn't a strategist. Turin was the real mover and shaker in Nargothrond, but he didn't have the power and presence of, say, a Maedhros or Fingon to carry the day against Glaurung. Maybe if Turin hadn't carried Gwindor out of the battle, he could have faced Glaurung and at least given Orodreth's people a chance to escape. But Turin's chief flaw was his incomparable ability to choose his personal priorities over everyone else's.
Maedhros lost his charisma. He slowly settled into petty malice, consumed by the Oath of Feanor. His deeds of valor were among the greatest ever achieved by the Noldor. His suffering on the peaks of Thangorodrim was a much greater endurance test than any faced by Beowulf or Samson. Maedhros was hanging in the wind for a couple of years. That's rough. A lesser Elf might have died. A man probably would have died. Relinquishing his claim to the kingship over the Noldor was a gallant act, and not the last one Maedhros would make. But after the Nirnaeth, he no longer dreamed of defeating Angband. He was willing to settle for one Silmaril, and to get that Silmaril he destroyed the Kingdom of Doriath and the people of Arvernien.
Something of the special heroism which Maedhros helped to forge died in the last century of the First Age. It's not like the Eldar and Edain had lost their spirit. The Edain, when given the chance, turned against Morgoth, and in so doing earned a special reward from the Valar. But tales of individual heroism became few and far between after the First Age. The occasional dragonslayer -- Fram, Bard -- might have been renowned for a time, but they didn't really achieve anything lasting in the fight against the Dark Lord. The sacrifices of Fingolfin, Fingon, Turgon, Hurin, and others were also only briefly celebrated.
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