[The Saucepan Man]

When the overwhelming force was unleashed by Morgoth, that was the result of Turin's policy. There was nothing that could save them then. Turin had chosen to play that game, and Nargothrond had to pay the price for it.

I understand the points that you are making. And I agree that Turin's strategy was the wrong one. All I am saying is that the reasoning which led him to pursue that strategy (in light of the information available to him) makes sense to me, so I see it as the product of rational thought rather than pure, uncontrolled emotion.

Why would that be any greater restriction on free will than you have to do a certain thing in order to be doing the right thing?

The essence of free will is freedom of choice, right? The fact that certain choices are wrong and will lead to disaster if made does nothing to negate that.

Precisely. If Turin's doom is brought about solely by choices based upon the exercise of free will, then the curse of Morgoth is superfluous. If, on the other hand, Morgoth's curse played some part in his downfall, then this represents a restriction on his free will, to the extent of the part played by the curse.

I thought that was exactly what a tragic hero was; a Man who dispite his gifts brings disaster on himself and others through his own flaws of character as well as external agencies (emphasis added)

So, if at least an element of Turin's actions can be governed by the curse, going against the general rule that Men have free will, then why should they not all not be so governed?