I have been perusing the Ruin of Doriath, now that it seems that
Fall of Gondolin is in need of opinions to move foward.
Originally posted by Aiwendil
Quote:
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The problem of the invasion of Doriath. As JRRT noted, but, infuriatingly, did not solve, a hostile army cannot invade Doriath as long as the Girdle of Melian is in place. The only indication from JRRT is that it must be contrived that Thingol at some point leaves Doriath and is slain. Christopher decided that this was an unworkable projected revision, and made up his own story. But the story that he invented elegantly and completely solves the problem. There is a good case for using his story (and it is allowed by our principles, if we deem all extant versions by JRRT unworkable).
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I was reading the Wanderings, Tale and the Quenta yesterday, and it doesn't seem to me impossible a reconcilation between the accounts.
What I have in mind is the following:
Use as Aiwnedil suggested, the Wanderings of Húrin as far as it can takes us, and then joined it with the
Tale of the Nauglafing.
1. The
Tale of the Nauglafing is of course very outdated. I would propose to revise it using the
Quenta in Home 4.
2. How to deal with Thingol slaying? I would propose that we follow the Quenta to make that Thingol was slained when he was outside of Doriath, when the Dwarvish Army was coming. It solves the problem of the Girdle and leaves Menegroth opens for an assault.
3. Húrin. I think that this is the biggest problem in the whole Ruin of Doriath. Unfortunately we do not have, like in the Fall of Gondolin, a part where Húrin actually reaches Doriath, like Tuor did in Unfinished Tales.
Using the
Wanderings of Húrin, if we follow the story, it ends with Húrin leaving Brethil with no company and it is supposed that he will be going to Nargothrond to seek the treasure and then go to Menegroth. As Aiwendil posted, that is the gap that is very troublesome to us. Using the Wanderings, we can construct a narrative from Húrin leaving Angband to Húrin gaining some outlaws and heading towards Nargothrond. If we joined that with the last paragraphs of the
Tale of Turambar, we have in some way a narrative with no gaps.
It doesn't look as impossible as I once thought.
[ August 23, 2003: Message edited by: Maédhros ]