The Condensed Silmarillion by Cheeky

The Shallowness of Elves

The Shallowness of Elves.

So Turin and Gwindor made their way to Nargothrond. Why Nargothrond? You ask. Turns out Gwindor was an ex Nargothrondian......before being turned into slave in the diamond mines and wrecking his back.

Poor Gwindor. He made several fatal errors. 
1. Following Beleg back towards Morgoth instead of getting the hell out of there.
2. Bothering to try and stop Turin's eternal wailing at the death of Beleg instead of getting the hell out of there.
3. Letting Turin tag along with him back to Nargothrond instead of ditching him and getting the hell out of there.

His people welcomed him back despite the hunchback, mainly it seems because he once loved their Princess, Finduilas and she, at least initially, pretended not to mind he now looked like an old man.

"Hey Gwindor, so glad your back, your looking............great...." Yeah, we REALLY believe you Finduilas.

Turin decided it was time for a name change and started calling himself "The Bloodstained Son of Ill Fate." 

That's just attention seeking Turin.

Now you would have thought the elves, when a man came along calling himself "The Bloodstained Son Of Ill Fate" might have said to themselves,

"Maybe this is not the kind of guy we want hanging out here at Nargothrond?"

But no. In fact Tolkien tells us they questioned him no more.

"Oh, Bloodstained Son of Ill Fate, you say, well that's a fine name. We are sure that doesn't mean you are going to completely destroy us....come in!"

Since Finrods bloody untimely death His brother Orodreth was the boss of Nargothrond. It seems all the gloriousness and magnificence in that family was used up on Finrod and Galadriel and Orodreth was just left being........boring.
Never thought I would say an Elf was boring but there is no escaping it. Orodreth just is.

He is also incredibly, absolutely stupid. Let's see. What just happened to his amazing big Bro? Killed horribly and for no good reason all because he got himself entangled with a Man who showed up out of nowhere. 

So what does Orodreth do when another man,( calling himself Bloodstained Son of Ill Fate, that's a BIG hint to you Orodreth) shows up......out of nowhere...Does he run screaming from the hall saying "Stay away from me!" Does he throw him out of the City at the first opportunity? 

NO!

He gives him high favour and puts him in charge of the army and all the defences. I'm sorry but someone as dimwitted as Orodreth really deserves everything they get.

Turns out Finduilas was not as magnanimous as she wanted us to believe and falls for Turin. She is an Elf Princess, she can't be expected to hang out forever with a hunchback can she?? Low, Finduilas, really low.

And as Gwindor tries to convince everybody listening to Turin is not the way to go he falls into dishonour because let's face it. He is just so gosh darn ugly and Turin is beautiful, the fairest of men. The beautiful guy has to be right doesn't he? Let's just not listen to the one who has been a prisoner of Morgoth for years and might....just might know the tiniest bit about his modus operandi. He's just not pretty enough.

And so we see it. The reason, in the end why the Elves messed everything up. They may have been magical, highly intelligent and immortal but they were also really, really, really shallow.

List of Personal Attributes Needed to Get Ahead in Elven Society.

1. Prettiness.

And that's basically all.