To answer some of your questions, I don't think
Of Aldarion and Erendis and
Of Tuor come anywhere close to the grandeur of tragedy in the
Narn. They have their own grandeur, but it is not as tragic. "Tuor" is not written in the "right" language for tragedy. And "Of A&E" ends in a quiet deadness (I know it wasn't a word... now it is
It's the only way I can describe how I feel about it), not in a loud band. Just softer and softer, and quiet. The Narn ends off with a bang.
Both have good endings, IMO.
But. Back to my earlier point.
This also might affect my personal bias: I have read COH numerous times before, so I'm familiar with the complete edited version of the story, and the gap/variations/inconsistency don't ruin it for me in the Narn. But I've read A&E for the first time, and it's just too unfinished a tale to have it's power unraveled fully.
Quote:
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I feel like you're contradicting yourself here slightly: you say that no other stand-alone story has the power of tragedy, a flat-out statement. Then you make it a matter of degree: "more than just foreboding. It's not even a slap in the face, it's a bucket of cold water."
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Possibly. And I think that this is because I separate "sad" and "tragic" too much. There are many sad stories (any completely happy ones?
), but only this one stands out to me as a tragedy of such magnitude (and forget about the 3 Elven Kingdoms, I'm talking about a different kind of magnitude).