Tragic flaw of the Hurin family

[Mithadan]

Regarding Hurin and his family, Morgoth "won" in that he wreaked havoc, punished and abused the entire family, destroyed Nargothrond (likely on his hit list anyway) and, importantly, gained some knowledge about the general whereabouts of Gondolin. I doubt that he foresaw the slaying of Glaurung, but, in the balance of things, this was not an overwhelming loss in that other dragons were already being spawned.

With respect to the War of the Jewels, generally, it cannot be disputed that he thoroughly defeated the Elves and their allies. From the time Gondolin fell through the arrival of the host of the West, he was likely sitting back, gloating over his victory and pondering his next steps.

But this is the central point of the entire Silmarillion, which was undeniably a tragedy, beautiful and inspiring at times, but an overwhelming defeat of the Noldor and their allies. The defeat was inevitable. The Noldor had chosen to make war upon one beyond their ability to successfully challenge; Morgoth, corrupt and corrupted as he may have been, a Vala nonetheless. As the messenger of Manwe stated when the Noldor were departing from Tirion, "Vala he is thou saist. Then thou hast sworn in vain, for none of the Valar canst thou overcome now or ever within the halls of Ea, not though Eru who thou namest had made thee thrice greater than thou art."

Hurin's defiance against Morgoth falls into the same category. Brave and inspiring, but nonetheless, part of a tragedy. It was beyond Hurin or his family to evade Morgoth's curse. While some small good may have come of Hurin's defiance, certainly a good story, the fall of Glaurung, and a short term delay in Morgoth finding the precise location of Gondolin which gave Turgon time to dispatch his messengers into the West (failures all, but leading to Tuor and ultimately Eardendil), at bottom the fight against Morgoth was futile.