The change of orks to spies was done in view of the note in Húrins Wanderings. But that is of course a minor point. I can as well go with orks, since they can naturaly be spies of Morgoth. (I only changed it to be less explicit on the nature of the captors.)
The motiv in the Tale, is that Meglin had to tell nothing really knew to the orks since they did know the place of the city. What he then told them was the truth about the strength of the defence of the city which did only anger the orks. So Meglin played his last card and that was the nobility of the prisoner and the worth there of for Melko.
As the story stands now, the orcs didn't know exactly were Gondolin was. They captured a Noldor of unknown derivation in the region were they thought that Gondolin must be. The first information to investigat on by torture would be his home. As soon as it was discovered that Maeglin was a Gondolindrim, he was certainly a very percious prisoner. And I can't imaging that even the silliest Orks would think of killing him for impudentness.
Imagin a trup of orks that comes back to Morgoth and reports that they had captured an elf that said he was the sisterson of Turgon, but that they had killed him because in his impudentness he had overestimated the strength of Gondolin. The face of Morgoth wouldn't be smiling at that, that's for sure! I would think, that what ever Maeglin would have told them, they would have brought him for further questening to Angband, once they did know were he came from. That in mind Maeglins chance to shorten his turture was again his nobility, he could make them feel that thier torment had brought him to treachery but that he was noble enough to nagotiate only with Morgoth himself. For the orks no further need for investigation is to be imagined: they had to bring the prisoner to Angband anyway and they had made him already willing to tell his news directly to Morgoth. Of what worth would it be to get that information to tell it by themself to Morgoth? They would expect him to question Maeglin himself what ever they would tell him.
For that reason I removed the part of the nagotiating with the orks. To use the passage of Maeglin telling of the defence of Gondolin later in Maeglins speak to Morgoth is not really necessary. But I found, that it fitted very well and brought some more details to the enhanced treachery to which Maeglin was forced by Morgoths knowledge of the place of Gondolin.
In short, what I think most necessary is the removment I did in §37 and §38. The rest of my changes were more or less expermintal and are not relly improtend.
Respectfully
Findegil
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