The Gondolindrim
 

Who was more powerful? Glorfindel or Ecthelion? Ecthelion defeated the greatest Balrog and leader of Morgoth's armies, but Glorfindel defeated a Balrog nonetheless, and sacrificed himself to save many others. Plus Glorfindel fought on harder terrain. And was Orcrist Ecthelion's sword? Sting his main gauche (short left hand sword)? If so did he use them to kill Gothmog? Since Glorfindel's will was strengthened by his sacrifice and he saw Valinor, and came back, my guess would be him. But Ecthelion defeated the single most powerful thing in Melko's army.

So, Keeper, yet another child of the Balrog vs. Dragon debate here. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Glorfindel gets my vote. But barely. Tolkien wrote a lot more about Glorfindel than Ecthelion, which may mean little. I fear point about Glofindel having been to Valinor is not convincing, though.

It doesn't help the argument that the only references in the Silmarillion to Ecthelion's slaying of Gothmog is only referring to it, rather than the vivid description Tolkien lovingly portrayed of Glorfindel, elven being of light.

I am not sure of who weilded Orcist in the FA, but Glamdring was its mate sword and it was borne by Turgon. As for Sting, it was forged in the First Age, it was carried away as spoil by the creatures of Morgoth who destroyed that city.

The other part, I have not a clue.

Gonna have to say Ecthelion. He was already wounded before he even started to fight with Gothmog. He effecticely went into it one armed, having recently regained conciousness. I've recently regained conciousness before, and it wasnt something where I'd want to fight after. And you gotta look at the remembrance factor... Glorfindel speaks for himself, literally, but how many Stewards of Gondor were named for him? Zero. And Ecthelion's got, what, two?

Is that to say that Glorfindel wouldn't have been up to the task? I don't really think this thread is viable. To say who was 'more powerful' must be a vague and inaccurate guess at something which may be non-existent in the first place. *sniff*

Both Ecthelion and Glorfindel were great champions who died heroically slaying a Balrog, there seems little to choose between them. Except that Glorfindel's feat saved Earendil who with his descendants is vital to the purposes of Eru, and that was purely fortuitous. Tolkien himself says Glorfindel would have defended the refugees regardless, and no doubt so would Ecthelion had he lived to do so.

Well, let's look at it this way, Glorfindel's name means, to put it simply, "Blondie". Ecthelion's name comes from "Ecthel" which means "point of a spear." I don't know about you, but I think "Point of a Spear" is a much manlier name than "Blondie."
Perhaps Sting could have been Glorfindel's dagger that he used to kill the Balrog. It could have been later picked up as Orcs were ransacking Gondolin and its surroundings.

Your assertion about names is entirely unfounded. Galadriel's name means "pretty hair" basically, but she (with Feanor) was greatest of the Noldor. That means she was greater than Ecthelion - why couldn't Glorfindel be greater too?

Glorfindel was also chosen specifically to return to Middle-earth in the Second or Third Age (depending on the account you read) to aid in the fight against Sauron. Why not Ecthelion? Glorfindel appears to be the greater of the two to me.

The deaths of both Glorfindel's Bane and Gothmog are described. Neither were killed by any sword.

[ June 20, 2003: Message edited by: obloquy ]

If by 'more powerful' you mean 'who killed more Balrogs' you should then consider Rog and the House of Hammer of Wrath [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

In fact, I agree with Gwaihir in that it is impossible to decide who was more powerful, the deeds of all the inhabitants of Gondolin were extremely heroic [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] (with the exception of Maeglin's [img]smilies/mad.gif[/img] )

Well, I'm sure that Maeglin had his heroic moments (I'm not defending the screwed-up git, I'm just playing Devil's Advocate!). He refused to remain in Gondolin as regent when Turgon went to the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. If he was the kind of guy that we all think he was, he would have stayed and tried to mess around with Idril and the rest of the city for a bit. But no, he wanted to fight, too. I'm not saying that his intentions were noble. They probably weren't. But every villain has some redeeming qualities, and Maeglin had some.

Maeglin's only redeeming factor in my eyes is that he cared enough about his mother to help her escape Eol. Granted, he learned all he could from Eol, so there was no reason for him to stay.
As for Glorfindel and Ecthelion, I wouldnt say that either is greater than the other.

I'd say Ecthelion, he was the head of the Gondolin army and killed the mightiest servent of Melkor (save Sauron).

I'm confused here. Ecthelion was a servant of Melkor? *blinks. Several times.* That I will have to look up in the Silm.

*some time later*

No, Ecthelion was definitely an elf, no servant of Melkor here.

Okay. Not confused anymore.

Of the two, I think they were about equal. Both slew balrogs, and both died in the doing. That's enough for me.

[ June 26, 2003: Message edited by: Tinuviel of Denton ]

I don't think that Glorfindel's rebirth had anything to do with his strength. He had been very close to Idril's family in his "first life," so he seemed like the likely candidate for rebirth, so that he could stay with Elrond (Idril's descendant) and his family, to help them in their fight against Sauron.