The Good, the Bad, and the Outlawed - Page 3
© Michael Martinez
Outlawry therefore accommodates both the good and the bad, just as government does. But Middle-earth presents a unique style of outlawry, one in which the outlaws are outlawed not only by the just, but also by the unjust. In Beleriand, law and order were established by the Eldar and the Dwarves. The first outlaws were the Noegyth Nibin, the Petty-dwarves, who were outcasts from the major Dwarven cities. They wandered into Beleriand (apparently before the Eldar arrived on the Great Journey) and established their own humble community. And, like true outlaws, the Petty-Dwarves attacked the Elves rather than seek to make peace with them. In their eyes, the Petty-Dwarves saw the Elves as intruders. But as outcasts they had no moral prerogatives. They could not stake their claim in the wider world.
And yet, if the Petty-Dwarves were outcasts, what were their children, and the children of their children? Was the stigma of outlawry inherited? When Turin met Mim and one of Turin's outlaws slew Mim's son, were the outlaws merely slaying outlaws, or had the Petty-Dwarves, now a vanishing people, achieved a moral legitimacy, since Mim's generation had not been exiled by other Dwarves? Mim embodies the outlaw spirit, eschewing the opportunity to become a part of Turin's community when he offers his home to the outlaws. He remains apart, and ultimately betrays Turin's outlaws to the Orcs. In the end, Mim perishes by Hurin's hand, the hand of justice, albeit Morgoth's justice.
Turin himself is both an outlaw and a hero, but not a folk-hero outlaw. That is, he passes through outlawry and gains acceptance into two communities despite his own moral failings. Turin's initiation into outlawry derives solely from his lack of faith in Thingol's justice. He elects not to abide in Doriath while the Elves decide his fate. Hence, Thingol's pardon is ineffectual, even though Beleg seeks out Turin to explain the outcome of Thingol's investigation. In ceasing control over a band of outlaws, Turin sets the stage for his emergence from outlawry. With Beleg's aid, Turin leads the outlaws in a campaign against the Orcs. They turn aside from their past behavior in which they preyed upon their own kind.
Turin's outlaws are not simply outlaws from the community of men. Morgoth's forces treat them as bandits, and when their hideout on Amon Rudh is captured only Turin is kept alive. Nearly all the outlaws are slain. They atone for their past crimes with their lives, but never achieve acceptance into a moral community again. But Turin eventually reaches Nargothrond, and there he is given a new lease on life. And when Nargothrond falls Turin passes once more into outlawry and still finds a home among the Men of Brethil.
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