The Condensed Silmarillion by Cheeky

Moody Maeglin

Moody Maeglin

Does everyone remember Moody Maeglin? The sulky goth teenager whose Mum died and whose Dad was thrown off a cliff?
Well he has grown up a bit. Now he is a sulky goth young adult.

Things have been going pretty well for Maeglin in Gondolin. Turgon lets him sit on his right and he even has his own group of equally moody young men who follow him. Who knows, if Turgon really has a secret wish to hightail it back to Finrod via Mandos's halls then Maeglin might even have a shot at being High King.

His one problem was having a rather bad crush on Turgon's daughter Idril. Uptight Turgon was never going to go for that. They were first cousins after all.

Hang on Turgon... Aren't you and Finrod first cousins too? 
I guess it's a case of do as I say, not as I do, Well maybe I will give him a pass for that. Which of us who are parents haven't done this at least once?

Things all started to go wrong for Maeglin when Tuor showed up. Boy did he dislike Tuor. To be honest I don't really blame him. He swans into the city, name drops the Valar all over the place, expects everyone to love him, tries to tell the King what to do and worst of all steals Idril right from under Maeglin's nose. 

Now it is usual to lay the blame of the Fall of Gondolin squarely at Maeglin's feet but to be honest I think it was all down to Ulmo. So far Ulmo, apart from a weakness for voyerism has been pretty helpful to the elves. I really don't know why he decided to mess up Gondolin so badly. Boredom perhaps?

You see if Ulmo hadn't decided to interfere and send Tuor to meddle in their business then Maeglin wouldn't have got all upset and gone wandering in the wilds. 
If Maeglin hadn't gone wandering in the wilds he wouldn't have been captured. 
If he hadn't been captured Morgoth would have been none the wiser as to where Gondolin might be.
And there it is............."The Man Effect" 
If they hadn't let Tuor in all would still be rosy in Gondolin. 

Sadly it was not to be. Maeglin spilled the beans and became a thrall, Morgoth invaded and it all went downhill from there.

But before we leave Maeglin lying dead at the bottom of the cliff where Tuor pushed him I have to point out two things.

1. Turgon, Your nephew goes missing presumed captured. Did you look for him? Because according to the book you didn't do a thing. I get you might be seriously depressed about Lack of Finrod but honestly there is no excuse for that. I am not impressed Turgon, not impressed at all. When he came back did you even ask him what had happened?? Counselling? Check him out for whip marks? Anything??

2. Poor old Maeglin gets a really bad rap because of this. He is the most hated elf there is poor guy. But it is important you know Tolkien says he was no weakling nor craven but instead tormented until his spirit was cowed. Guys, the poor elf was tortured beyond belief. Seriously can you blame him??? 

I mean it's not like he was Maedhros or anything.

Maedhros set the bar for Elven ability to withstand torture way too high.