[Findegil]

In this post I will try to develop a storyline that can be adopted for our Version of FoD. I will not recapitulate the storylines that were developed by Maedhros and myself for our drafts of the story. After we have found the storyline that we want we should make a intense comparison.
I will number the single entities I see in the storyline for better reference with FD-SL-ZZ (SL for storyline).

FD-SL-01 From the notes at the end of The Wanderings of Húrin it is clear that the Band that Húrin gathered were of four-fold origin: Asgons Outlaws of Hithlum, part of Manthors party in Brethil that were not willing to live under Avranc, some people of Brethil that despaired in defending Brethil and some of the Woodmen from south of Taeglin. (These groups are the key to explain their behaviour later on. In my view the Outlaws are a very divergent group with Asgon and Ragnir as voices of opposite positions. The followers of Manthor would take Húrin as their rightful ruler as the last know decedent of the Haladin. The other two groups would go with them to find some better life as they had have so fare. They would most likely side with the Ragnir party and would rather take their share in the treasure than humiliate Thingol with it.)

FD-SL-02 Húrin elected to go to Nargothrond.

FD-SL-03 Mîm and his death is the first hard part we have to overcome: Mîm is now bound up with the House of Hador. He had given away Túrin to the Orcs. In none of JRR Tolkiens tellings of Mîms death was this the case. In TT it is Húrin who kills Mîm after he had uttered bitter words and cruses over the Outlaws bearing away the gold. In the Q30 Mîm is slain by the Outlaws and Húrin would have stopped them. In Any other source no specific information is given. In Sil77 Húrin must kill Mîm since he is alone and does it by reason of Mîms treason to Túrin. But the scene in Sil77 seems not so well developed to me. Húrin is able of such violence as the killing of Mîm would be but in Brethil he showed it more in the fashion of outbursts of fury, and Mîm who was not willing to depart from a sack of roots (even if they were of gold as is suggested) would not give away the treasure of Nagothrond so easily. If Húrin did know of the treason of Mîm is not so clear to me. What would have reported would be the dead of Khîm and Túrins not fulfilled promise to pay a wergild for Khîm when ever he comes to some riches. Thus for me it would be thinkable that the Outlaws would kill Mîm despise the will of Húrin as in Q30.

FD-SL-04 The cruse of Mîm has clearly to be re-established in our version since Tolkien never discarded it.

FD-SL-05 That the outlaws died in quarrels on the road as in Q30 should not be used if we follow Christopher Tolkiens suggestions in TY that the outlaws are the the way to bring the treasure to Menegroth.

FD-SL-06 We must contrive some way for Húrin and the Outlaws to pass the girdle of Melian. At least they can not reach the doors of Menegroth unforeseen, as it is in the text of TT.

FD-SL-07 The conversation between Húrin and Thingol might need change but the outcome is clear: Húrin left Menegroth after he had cast the hoard at Thingols feed and blamed him for the death of Nienor and Morwen. That he was healed by Melain must go, since we have no trace of it in JRR Tolkiens text and it fit the tragedy of the Narn even better if he goes with out healing. In all full told versions he goes forth from Menegroth alone and I think now we should stick to that. His further fate is unknown safe the rumour that he had cast himself in the western sea.

The behaviour of the Outlaws was already discussed at length. But it is still the most clumsy part of the tale. Things that must be answered or left ambiguous in our Version:
FD-SL-08 - Was there a fight between them and the Elves? Probably not since that seemed the reason for the change in Q30 in which the Outlaws were removed completely.
FD-SL-09 - Did They take a part of the treasure out of Menegroth? The Asgon Party would probably not take any part of the treasure, but we are not so sure of Ragnir and the later two sub-groups discussed above. It might be best to be ambiguous in this point, but in a way that must allow some part of the treasure to be taken.
FD-SL-10 - What was their final fate or how could they overcome the cruse of Mîm? Meadhros argument that the cruse could not be laid aside by a more or less forced separating from the gold is valid. I think we must add some info on the fate of the outlaws that is ambiguous enough to be not a fan-fic but makes clear that they did (at least not all) overcome the cruse. It might be hard to work this out, but it seems to me really needed.

FD-SL-11 The next step is Thingols engagement with the Dwarves. Since the later Thingol was already rich the question must be answered why he lured for the hoard. Was he so easily overcome by Mîm’s cruse? In TN he was reluctant at first and was dragged to it by Ufedhin. I think that we need some one in Ufedhins role her to urge Thingol not to follow Melains counsel. And if we use such a role here, we might take that role also to suggest the engagement of the Dwarves.

FD-SL-12 The transporting of half the hoard to Nogord as in TN is out of question, thus the Dwarves most come to Menegroth and smith the gold there. But TN has one great advantage that was never gainsaid later but also never clearly used: the contract between Thingol and the Dwarves is never really set. Both sides do not ask the exact conditions they work under. Thus the trouble that awakes is here already sown.

FD-SL-13 In TN after they had fashioned many nice things the Dwarves asked Thingol to make the Nauglafring. In S and the Q30 it sounds more like Thingol asking them to make the Nauglamir but the text is very compressed and such detail might be lost by compression. Seeing in The Hobbit what a self-illuminated jewel does with the heart of a Dwarf I would rather go back to the old tale were it seemed already part of the plan of the Dwarves to get the Silmaril by bringing it together with the gold of doubtful ownership. At least I would like to have the request for the Nauglamir put after Dwarves showed their talent at the gold.

As we are given not much evidence at all what happened after the work of the Dwarves was finished, we can only conclude that:
FD-SL-14 - The Dwarves already plant treasury.
FD-SL-15 - Thingol scanted his promised reward.
FD-SL-16 - The Dwarves were driven away.
FD-SL-17 Further we have to decide if there was a battle between the dwarves and the elves. Q30 has such a battle. But we have to take into account the blame of the Dwarves against the Elves in The Hobbit:

“… In ancient days they [the Woodelves] had had wars with some of the dwarves, whom they accused of stealing their treasure. It is only fair to say that the dwarves gave a different account, and said that they only took what was their due, for the elf-king had bar- gained with them to shape his raw gold and silver, and had afterwards refused to give them their pay. …”

I think we must skip the battle or at least no Dwarf should be slain therein, since otherwise the Dwarves would blame the Elves to have killed their kin without justice. But can we think of a battle were Elves were slain and the Dwarves only driven away? Properly yes, but why should the grave of the slain Elves be call “the Mound of Avarice”?
In my view the battle has to go. There was “Thingols quarrel with the Dwarves” and the Dwarves were driven away without a fitting payment.

FD-SL-18 The plotting of revenge that the Dwarves of Nogrod made must be without the Dwarves of Belegost following the material in Unfinished Tales and it is the savviest way to skip the Orks TN as well. Thus the only fighting forces were the Dwarves of Nogrod. FD-SL-19 But I think that the message about Mîms death during the taking of the treasure from Nargothrond cold be used. It would add some new wrath to hearts of the Dwarves.

FD-SL-20 Treachery of some Elves should be included in the plot, since it was prominent in the early plot and would add plausibility to the later idea. If we don’t want to add fan-fictional elements the plot could only deal with the writings given. Thus Naugladur must gain knowledge of the traditional hunt by treachery and use this occasion to his advantage.
FD-SL-21 Beyond that we only have: “Somehow it must be contrived that Thingol is lured outside or induced to go to war beyond his borders and is there slain by the Dwarves. Then Melian departs, and the girdle being removed Doriath is ravaged by the Dwarves.” We could skip the part “or induced to go to war beyond his borders” when we use the scene with the traditional wolf-hunt but we should not invent further details of how it was contrived.
FD-SL-22 Further details of the killing of Thingol could be added since it is most likely that he and Mablung behaved brave during the fight and were the last to die and that Naugladur did not risk a direct confrontation. But it is thinkable that he meddled with the dead body of Thingol (at least to fetch the Silmaril). And “the head on a pole” is attested for Dwarves that look for revenge (see the treatment with Azog after the battle of Azanulbizar).

FD-SL-23 In all versions of JRR Tolkien Melian played a part in the story after the death of Thingol. She mostly is seen as escaping the Dwarves and bringing the message of the first ruin of Doriath to Beren and Luthien. And later she seems to play a part in the resurrection of Doriath at least in welcoming Dior to the realm. But I think that this parts have to go. The above given quote is all we have concerning the way the girdle of Melian was passed by the hostile army of the Dwarves. And I think that we have to take it literal. Thingol is “slain by the Dwarves. Then Melian departs”. What a state of mind could we contrive for her to remove the girdle so that the Elves of Doriath could be killed in heaps and than go to Beren and tell him about it which would clearly led him to revenge the death of Thingol? Or are we really going to tell that she wandered witless and found Lúthien by mere luck? That would be thinkable, but not very likely. It is to long a way from Menegroth to Tol Galen for a witless wandering even for a Maiar to reach Beren in time. We even have to ask if she was smart enough to send a message to Beren and Lúthien.
I think that it would be savviest to let her go at once after Thingols death. The message to Beren and Lúthien could be made anonym or maybe send by some servant who got wind of the events by talking to Melian while she felt the death of Thingol (Nielthi in TN).

FD-SL-24 Berens fight with the Dwarves and the part taken by the Green-Elves and the Ents was Christopher Tolkiens way to deal with Letter no. 247 of 1963 and I think we should retain his plot here but possibly add some details of the fight from TN.
FD-SL-25 It would be difficult to use the Letter more strictly and cut out the Green-Elves completely. In this respect I think we should regard the words “Beren has no army” of the Letter as a planed reconstruction not workable with the text we have. The only thing we could do is make the number of Elves as small as thinkable. We could use the counter-attack of the dwarves told in TN led them into the woods were they were attacked by the Ents instate or in addition of the flight of a company as it is in Sil77. In that way we could (implicit not explicit of course) reduce the Green-Elves to a very small band just great enough to make the Dwarves furious enough to rush into a fight against them.

FD-SL-26 The fight of Beren and Naugladur is well told in TN and as jet I can’t see any reason not to use it.

FD-SL-27 It remains one critical point: How did the gold come into the River Ascar? In TN the Ascar was the name of the later Gelion and then in some later accounts the ford was changed to led over the River Ascar and Gelion after there amalgamation (see the eastward extension of the first Silmarllion map). But in the second Silmarllion Map the Dwarf-road led north of the River Ascar into mountains and Sarn athrad is again the ford over Gelion. Thus we can not use the picture of TN were the treasure was cast in the river by the Dwarves when they take to flight or fell in to the river when the dwarves who bore it were killed. The Elves must have removed it actively to the river Ascar und flung it into that river. We have to introduce that to our text.

FD-SL-28 The description of Lúthien wearing the Nauglamir is similar in many accounts. We can choose here the latest and add maybe some details of wording if we like.

FD-SL-29 Dior is in TY seen as leaving Tol Galen soon after the Battle of Sarn Athrad. And the description of his family would also come in here at best.

FD-SL-30 The message of second death of Beren and Lúthien as recorded in Sil77 is based on TY as it seems. And we should take that account even if it is constructed by Christopher Tolkien.

FD-SL-31 That Dior wore the Silmaril in public and that the jewel help him in restoring Doritah should be in-cooperated from TY.

FD-SL-32 Also we should mention that Maedhros restrains his brethren in the fist council. In TN the messenger sent to Dior was Curufin himself. There are some reason against that but I don’t think they are overwhelming and I would re-establish the conversation between Curufin and Dior from TN in our version.

That it was Celegrom who inflamed the brethren in the second council should also be in cooperated. The Details of the fight in Midwinter should be told:
FD-SL-33 The Feanorians won a battle against Dior at the east marches but Celegrom was slain there by Dior how was killed also. Curufin and Caranthir are also slain.
FD-SL-34 Then the Feanorians sacked Menegroth but did not find the Silmarill since Elwing had fled away with it, while the sons Dior were captured and left to strave in the woods.
FD-SL-35 The Feanorians were attacked by a late coming company of the Sindar and Feanorians were in the end “masters of field of dead”.

FD-SL-36 Last of all we have to recount the further flight of Elwing. In TY her mother is with her and they first go to Ossiriand and later when they hear of fugitives of Gondolin they join them at the Mouth of Sirion.

So fare what I think should be our storyline. I hope it will help to create a version of tale that we all can go with.

Respectfully
Findegil