Eöl

[Rilwen Gamgee]

And don't use the 'loner' image as an excuse. Remember Tom Bombadil.

Well, Tom wasn't exactly a "loner", but I see what you're getting at.

I agree, Eöl was not necessarily bad, just... "ill-moraled". The possible reason why most people associate him with evil is because he lusted after Aredhel. No approaching her politely with flowers or kind words, just reeling her in against her will. He was also possessive: forcing her to "shun the sunlight" and forget her family.

But, really, with all that aside, he treated her relatively well...

[Kuruharan]

I think that's usually what happens when you answer a polite greeting from a King disrespectfully and then kill his sister.

Well, that second one was sort of an accident, but your point is taken.

Probably the act that weighs most heavily against Eöl is his attempted killing of Maeglin. (Although, was this really a bad thing?)

Eöl likely felt betrayed and humiliated by what had happened. There was an open rift between Maeglin and Eöl before they split, but the text makes no mention of Aredhel ever mentioning her thoughts on the matter to Eöl. (Not that he would have agreed with her considering his orders not to consort with the Noldor, but still…) The text also makes no mention of Eöl’s reaction when he learned Aredhel was dead. (I suppose it is remotely possible he was not told, since she did not die until after Eöl was in the clink.) However, that Aredhel begged Turgon for mercy even after Eöl had tried to kill her son indicates that she still loved him to some extent.

As Lalwendë indicated, Eöl’s actions there were of someone driven to desperation by the loss of everything he held dear.

I am strongly reminded of Denethor.

[Evisse the Blue]

I think that with Eöl (and a few other few characters) Tolkien came close to creating a 'grey' character. That is - he's not wholly evil, nor can I entirely excuse his behaviour. He obviously behaves irrationally in his hatred for the Noldor and a couple of other instances - but I don't think he is the kind of person that does evil for the sake of it - that is, he does not act evilly, he reacts 'evilly' or better said, 'rashly', turning this story into a tragedy... And in a tragedy everyone more or less is at fault and everyone has to suffer.

Not only Eöl is to blame for what happens in this story. Aredhel shouldn't have left her brother when he begged her not to, Turgon should have tried to win Eöl over and prove his kindness instead of saying "I will not debate with you', and Eöl himself should have been less impulsive, not to mention Maeglin, who was the truly disturbed one (a true First Age sociopath )... But that's not something that could have been done, because these acts define the characters themselves: Aredhel left because she was independent and carefree, Turgon was really proud and scared of being unable to preserve his stronghold and position...and Eöl, as Kuruharan said was driven to it by the loss of everything he ever had (good comparison with Denethor, another 'grey' character.)

[Lalwendë]

Looking at the chapter, it is clear it is a tale with a moral, and intended to demonstrate how easily tragedy can result from sins. In the figures of Eol and Turgon we have two males who are intensely proud, one of his independence as someone who has lived in that land all his life, and one proud of his heritage and the empire he has created in this land which he sees he must ’save’. In Maeglin we see someone who is desirous of renown, power and Idril; and in Aredhel, someone who appears to want her own freedom, but does not entirely know her own mind. Power, corruption and lies? Or more secrets and lies?

Firstly, Aredhel clearly was of an independent, enquiring mind, as it appears it was a struggle for her to break free of the bonds of her brother. His concern is that Gondolin is not discovered by way of ‘loose tongues’, and she is only concerned with wanting to see what lies beyond the walls. She defiantly says to Turgon:

“I am your sister and not your servant, and beyond your bounds I will go as seems good to me”

To his credit, Turgon allows her to go, but she then ends up with Eol, another male who does not wish her to wander. Yet that is not the whole tale seemingly. It is that he does not want her to mix with the Noldor, who he dislikes as ‘incomers’. Of the nature of the relationship between Eol and Aredhel the text says:

It is not said that Aredhel was wholly unwilling, nor that her life in Nan Elmoth was hateful to her for many years. For though at Eol’s command she must shun the sunlight, they wandered far together under the stars or by the light of the sickle moon;

This does not to me appear that she was forced into marriage, nor that she was unhappy, although she later became that way. Why? I think it was due to the influence of her son, and also to the loneliness she felt when they were away from her; possibly also due to not knowing her own mind all that well. Aredhel clearly went from one claustrophobic life to another, and she was clearly unsuited to this kind of life with her urges to explore.

Eol says to Turgon of Aredhel:

If in Aredhel your sister you have some claim, then let her remain; let the bird go back to the cage, where soon she will sicken again, as she sickened before.

Eol seemingly did little wrong in taking her as his wife. She was wandering alone, in his woodland, and he merely set an enchantment making it difficult for her to leave the wood; it does not say that he charmed her into the actual marriage so we must presume she was willing. This is very Little Red Riding Hood - the solitary maiden in the forest and the ’dark’ male seducing her.

As to what Eol did wrong in pursuing Aredhel and Maeglin to Gondolin, there is little that is wrong. He was away and came home to find his wife and child gone and so followed them, along the way having his pride hurt and provoked by Curufin:

Unless indeed you yourself have been deceived

This mocking would have cut Eol’s pride to the quick, especially coming from one of the Noldor he disliked so much. In the confrontation with Turgon, I see a power struggle. Eol is told he cannot leave Gondolin, which would have hurt a man who was proud, and one who loved his own world he had built. The confrontation is loaded with power struggles, between two proud men, one high born and one solitary and independent. Inevitably it ends with violence when Eol, probably by then utterly frustrated in the face of this power, hurls the javelin at his son, seeing that he is about to be ‘claimed’ by Turgon, who he sees as representative of the power which has annexed part of his own land.

I think part of the reason that Eol is put to death is due to Turgon’s own hurt pride; he must make ‘show’ of punishing the interloper, the one who has caused the death of his sister, albeit inadvertently. I do not think this was right applying my own morals to the tale, but it was inevitable, as were the resulting actions of Maeglin.

[Kuruharan]

You might be interested in this thread, which discusses Aredhel at some length.

I was initially skeptical of the viewpoint that Eol only married Aredhel primarily because of his lust. However, after further review, I've changed my mind. The way that he tried to control her indicates that to some extent he viewed her, and Maeglin as well, as possessions rather than as people. I think that if Eol had been more concerned about her as a person he would have discussed with her rather than decreed to her.

However, this type of thing is no uncommon problem between people.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

That's right Kuru, this tale is truly applicable in our world.

[Lalwendë]

I often think of Turgon and Eol as being like two immovable political forces - they remind me of the aboriginal inhabitant of a country versus the more powerful settlers; we see Eol with his mysterious dreamlike powers, and Turgon with his political and military power. And I also think of Mike Leigh films with the whole sorry tale of power in family relationships.

I think that if Eol had been more concerned about her as a person he would have discussed with her rather than decreed to her.

Very true, and there lies the difference between Eol and Turgon, although once Turgon had her back, he wasn't going to allow her to go again - all for the protection of his territory.