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Captivity, rescue and the renunciation of kingshipAn alliance cannot dissolve an oathPrimary referencesRelated encyclopedia entries
Captivity, rescue and the renunciation of kingship
Captured after attempting to deal with Morgoth, Maedhros is displayed on Thangorodrim. Fingon’s rescue costs him a hand but opens a route towards repairing the division between the houses of Finwë. He gives up the supreme kingship to Fingolfin and establishes his people in the eastern defensive lands, with Himring as his stronghold.
These decisions show a capacity for judgement that should not disappear from an account of his later crimes. They also make those crimes harder to explain as mere ignorance of alternatives. He has participated in a different way of managing inherited conflict, yet the oath repeatedly narrows the choices he is willing to accept.
An alliance cannot dissolve an oath
The Union of Maedhros attempts a coordinated assault on Morgoth, but the Nirnaeth Arnoediad ends in disaster. Later, the demand for the Silmaril leads the surviving sons of Fëanor against Doriath and the Havens of Sirion. Kinship and earlier acts of generosity do not prevent the new attacks.
After Morgoth’s defeat, Maedhros and Maglor steal the remaining Silmarils. The jewel burns Maedhros’s hand, revealing that possession does not vindicate the claim through which he has justified his actions. He dies by casting himself into a fiery chasm with it.
His life is consequently not a simple descent without interruption. Acts of repair and the recognition of guilt remain present, but recognition does not reliably become a capacity to stop. That distinction gives the oath its particular tragic force.
Primary references
The Silmarillion, “Of the Return of the Noldor”, “Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad”, “Of the Ruin of Doriath” and “Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath”.
