Today you get...
Maglor
Maglor is my personal favourite character in Tolkien, yet I feel a certain distance when discussing him-more so than usual, even, with
Silmarillion characters. I think that this is not unrelated to the fact that if working from the Translator Conceit, Maglor's
Noldolante must have been one of the primary sources for what was to become the
Silmarillion. I sometimes, well, often, like to speculate where Maglor's influence lies. I conclude that he must be most deeply felt in the Rape of the Silmarils, battles like the Nirnaeth, and the later Kinslayings-but not of course his final deed, after which he disappeared.
Oh blast it, I can't resist, I'm going to plug this thread of mine in passing:
The Vanishing Harper.
What Maglor inherits of Feanor is of course the outstanding creativity and artistry. But I'd rather have Maglor's than Feanor's any day, because Maglor realises his skill doesn't give him any moral strength without humanity too. He's also escaped the curse of over-confidence, but I always imagine him with severe problems of under-confidence...without which he could have taken control of his brothers and protected them.
He lets himself be led by love. In this way he inherits Gawain's tragedy-he, not Maedhros, loses all his brothers, indeed everyone who means anything to him. He has to leave Elrond and Elros so as not to taint them; he has left a wife in Valinor.
Maglor inherits his mother Nerdanel's deeper wisdom; his sensible reaction of rejoicing at seeing the Silmaril in the sky, and his logical motive for breaking the Oath, are almost prophetic.
He has a rarely explored military side too. He, not Maedhros, holds the very hardest part of Beleriand to defend, and succeeds for a good long time. He joins Maedhros in his defiance on Himring. Bor and his sons swear to follow Maedhros, but also Maglor. And Maglor avenges the treachery against his brothers in the Nirnaeth, killing Uldor the Accursed.
It seems here that Tolkien is using a notion of moral virtue being rewarded by success in battle-"My strength is as the strength of ten/Because my heart is pure." I get the feeling sometimes that, despite popular misconceptions of a dreamy, pacific, melancholy bard, with Maglor in charge the whole Feanorion show might have run a good deal more smoothly.
EDIT: Of course this is something of an impossibility, as Maglor simply lacks the authority. But had he been, say, born the eldest son, I think his ability and tact might have led to ultimately happier results.