*TANGENT TIME*
I probably should have explained my views on this earlier in the thread, but let me take this opportunity to do so.
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And I cannot really fault the logic behind his strategy of open warfare, while at Nargothrond.
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Turin's strategy of open warfare was wrong-headed, I'm afraid. Fundamentally, it was a mis-assessment of where the advantages of the conflict lay in the case of Nargothrond.
The advantage of Nargothrond lay in the secrecy of its base, combined with the large amount of territory that it controlled (larger than any of the other Noldorian kingdoms, I believe).
In a straight up mano y mano contest, Nargothrond could not hope to defeat Angband. Thus, this is the type of war that Angband would desire to fight.
However, with a secure center and a large domain, the Elves could wage an extremely protracted, messy, violent, costly, and brutal guerrilla war against Angband. This type of warfare was not in Morgoth's interest.
Turin violated a fundamental principle of warfare in that he fought in the way that his enemy desired him to fight, and he did so knowingly. I personally believe that he did this because he let his "chivalry" and his pride get in the way of military principle and practicality.
His reasoning sounds good, and indeed some of them are true, but they are misapplied and used as rationalizations for Turin to do as he wants.
His small open victories were in the end more costly than the smaller victories of ambush could have been because he gave up his primary advantage.
He disliked the policy of ambush for the stated reason that it allowed the orcs to roam freely over the lands. This is an exaggeration. Troops that go along in constant fear of ambush do not go where they would freely. Remember the orcs that Turin chased on the Guarded Plain in his days with the outlaws. The orcs feared the Elves and did not like going there. The orcs were allowed into the domain of Nargothrond, as the saying might go, "All the better to kill you my dear!" This was something that Turin willfully overlooked.
His business about the "time of glory" is an emotional justification of the gratification of his own impulses at the expense of the actual, practical realities of the situation. It boils down to that he wanted to fight in the way that Morgoth wanted him to fight. This in itself may have been part of the curse.
His assessment of the situation that all resistance against Morgoth was doomed is correct. However, for those desiring to actually resist Morgoth, Nargothrond was well situated to put up a good, long, hard, bloody fight.
What Turin did was not fight against Morgoth, he played right into Morgoth's hands.
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[ May 18, 2003: Message edited by: Kuruharan ]