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Unwritten Tales of Love and War in Middle-Earth - Page 2

© Michael Martinez

The next great tale in The Silmarillion follows immediately after "Beren and Luthien". This is the story of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the disastrous battle which resulted in: the overthrow of the two most important Noldorin realms, the Eldar's loss of the strategic initiative in the Wars of Beleriand, and the resurgence of Morgoth's power in the north. No other "Great Battle" gets a full chapter devoted to it. "Of the Ruin of Beleriand" is noteworthy for its climactic battle between Fingolfin and Morgoth, but that lonely duel is given more textual consideration than the Dagor Bragollach. Finally, The Silmarillion rounds itself out with "Of Turin Turambar". There still remains to be told the stories of Tuor and Earendil, but they both lack something special, something tragic. That is, Beren and Luthien were both required to make extreme sacrifices for their love. The Nirnaeth overwhelms the reader with the valiant but futile attempt to destroy the power of Angband. And Turin's story consists of one misfortune after another. By the time we get to Tuor, his hardships are like a breath of fresh air. The loss of Gondolin is bittersweet but necessarily underwritten due to many incompatibilities between the original story and the later mythology. And Earendil is whisked around the map without the reader getting to know him very well. So, the three great stories of the First Age turn out to be: "Beren and Luthien", "Of the Fifth Battle, the Nirnaeth Arnoediad", and "Of Turin Turambar". These three stories dovetail with each other very much like a three-act play. Act One reveals the courage and fortitude of the Eldar and the Edain, as well as their folly. It promises their eventual downfall. Act Two brings on the downfall. Hurin's compelling "Day shall come again!" heralds the onset of the great darkness. And Act Three winds its way through the tragic consequences of Act Two's events to an unsatisfactory redemption. Turin finally does redeem himself and all the misdeeds of the Eldar and Edain throughout the play by killing not only the dragon, Glaurung, but himself as well. His message is not that the world ends with him, but that it should go on without him. He offers a bittersweet hope, at best, but the play ends neatly with this third act. The audience knows that other tales may be told of the great wars in Beleriand, but this story has begun with a pure love, unfolded through a terrible battle, and relinquished its hold on the audience with the emotional release which comes of settling old scores, both within and without.

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