Your Take On Eöl & Maeglin

[Nikkolas]

Originally Posted by skip spence

I'm with you bro. Maeglin is horrible. I can certainly see why the Elves single him out as the worst traitor of their kind. No excuse for that sort of stuff. The sins of, say, Feanor isn't even close. He's a nice fictional character though. That Aredhel/Eöl/Maeglin sub-story is one of my favorites in the Silmarillion, and I love how it weaves into the Tuor story-line and the Fall of Gondolin and well, just about every story.

...Feanor is responsible for countless deaths. All the Noldor who died are on his head. That includes the ones Maeglin sold out to Morgoth. Also Feanor was never tortured - he just decided one day to slaughter all his kin and steal their boats. All while leading his followers to their deaths. (he certainly didn't care if Fingolfin's team lived or died) And don't even start with "but his mommy and daddy died!!!" Maeglin's father tried to murder him and as a result murdered his mother all right in front of his young eyes. I would think this would have a kind of negative impact on a person's psychological development. And trauma isn't cured just because you are royalty.

Feanor was an awful, awful person and has no excuse for anything he did. He did more harm to the world than anyone save the Dark Lords.