Hope and Hopelessness

[Keneldil the Polka-dot]

Expanding on the Maedhros idea per E.T.'s request:

Maedhros therefore, being in anguish without hope, begged Fingon to shoot him with his bow; and Fingon strung an arrow, and bent his bow.

This is the only explicit use of the word “hope” that I can find in this story. Maedhros had at this point lost *nod to H.I.* "amdir", he no longer had hope of a good outcome. It is possible that such an extreme experience could have caused Maedhros to call his feelings of "estel" into question, but I don’t think they did. To lose estel to me means to question Eru himself. It is possible Maedhros in his abandonment might have lost faith in Eru, but in that case I think he would have simply let go of life while hanging from the Thangorodrim.

Maedhros went through cycles of losing and regaining hope before he was rescued:
- Realization that his kin could not respond to Morgoth’s attempts to use him as a hostage
- Hearing the host of Fingolfin smite the gates of Angband, yet they areunable to hear Maedhros
- Hearing Fingon sing, and then seeing Fingon cannot reach him.
- Being reached via Thorondor, yet unable to break free of the chain.
An emotional rollercoaster to say the least, based on hope or the loss of it.

“His body recovered from his torment and became hale, but the shadow of his pain was in his heart; and he lived to wield his sword with left hand more deadly than his right had been. ”

Maedhros’ trial on the Thangorodrim fundamentally changed him as a person.

“for since his torment upon Thangorodrim his spirit burned like a white fire within, and he was as one that returns from the dead.”

Maedhros attempts to heal the breach in the Noldor by giving the Kingship to Fingolfin, he is the voice of reason with his brothers in dealing with Thingol, he purposefully makes his home in the portion of Beleriand most difficult to defend in order to “lessen the chances of strife and because he was very willing that the chief peril of assault should fall upon himself;”. In the Sil., Maedhros is the only son of Feanor listed among “the great lords of the Noldor.” Later he forms “the Union of Maedhros.” His deeds are not enough to save him from his Oath however.

I wandered from the point a bit [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] but it was interesting, for me at least. Maedhros’ refusal to give up hope on Thangorodrim led to a lot of good things for the Noldor, even if it did not save them in the end.

[ November 05, 2002: Message edited by: Keneldil the Polka-dot ]

[ November 05, 2002: Message edited by: Keneldil the Polka-dot ]