[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Anguirel

Frankly, "inherent weakness in the Dark Elves" is not something I'm prepared to allow any credence. I put it down to the prejudice of Noldor translators, reflecting as badly as Calaquendi as on Moriquendi.

I think I've just figured out something about you, Anguirel, that's been troubling the back of my mind for a while now: you don't seem to like the concept of clearly delineated good and evil...

Maybe it's completely wrong, but this "revelation" of mine makes me sit much more at ease. The Sons of Feanor, Maeglin... it all makes sense now why you prefer the makers of major mistakes rather than those people who actually did a decent job of staying on the "good" side of things.

Besides, that version seems highly confused as to where Dark Elves end and Sindar begin. Eol is one of the Sinda ethnically; he is called "the Dark Elf" in the same sense as Caranthir is called "the Dark".

Actually, no.

Eöl was not always a Sinda in Tolkien's mind. The version presented in the Silmarillion regarding him being a Teler of high and noble birth (in other words, a Sinda akin to Elu Thingol) is not the only version Tolkien put forth. Also highly popular was the idea that Eöl was one of the Avari- and of Tatyarian (ie. Noldorin) origin, and thus completely unakin to Thingol and the Sindar. In this idea, Tolkien uses Eöl's distant kinship with the Noldor as part of the reason for his hatred of them.

My point being, of course, that Eöl is not exactly a proven Sinda... and at the time of quoted passage, he seems to have been accounted among the Avari.

And that leads back to the Curse of Mandos...which originates from the Valar...which means that, as a Noldo, I would have seen far more sense in directly opposing Morgoth in arms than plotting to obtain Valarin aid...

The only thing being that Morgoth kept proving time and again his ability to muster enormous armies, and as the Silmarillion shows, Morgoth's armies just kept on growing, while the Elven forces got smaller, and smaller, and smaller...

At least the Valar would have been remembered as benevolent (before the rebellion). I'd say that their hopes there, if slim, were not entirely unjustified.