Lush -
I forgot about this thread! (I was Odysseus819 in a past life.) I never heard (or don’t remember, more likely) the notion that a late epiphany is characteristic of a tragic hero, but it makes sense. Feanor had such an epiphany; I believe the Silm says that just before he dies Feanor knew “with the foreknowledge of the doomed” (or something like that) that the Noldor would never overcome Morgoth (and thus, the quest that Feanor led would fail). Turin also, although his epiphany was a curious (and characteristically dark) one - it seemed to consist in finally realizing the completeness of Morgoth’s revenge and his near-total control over Turin’s fate.
My candidates for most tragic would be Turin and Boromir, with Feanor getting the bronze.
