The Role of Stealth in the Lord of the Rings

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

So yes: hobbits will sneak; elves will hide in ambush and slaughter foes who can't even see them; and Sauron will send out a diplomatic envoy even when faced with an army at his gates. But because their motives are Good and Evil, their methods are less important.

Indeed. Gollum, fundamentally A Stoor variety of Hobbit, is a champion "sneaker", but that serves to add to his creepy, malignant aura.
Sauron's forgotten detachment of Orcs ambushed Isildur and are presented as cowardly, but the Green-elves attacking the Dwarves of Nogrod and recovering the Silmaril are heroic.
Motives do matter, in Tolkien's world and this one.