And Death was His Reward

[rocky41_7]

There are so many lovely and wrenching depictions of Fingon’s body after the Nirnaeth, but one of the things I always come back to with that scene is that, based on Tolkien’s description of Fingon’s death, there probably was no body left.

"At last Fingon stood alone with his guard dead about him; and he fought with Gothmog, until another Balrog came behind and cast a thong of fire about him. Then Gothmog hewed him with his black axe, and a white flame sprang up from the helm of Fingon as it was cloven. Thus fell the High King of the Noldor; and they beat him into the dust with their maces, and his banner, blue and silver, they trod into the mire of his blood."
 

(emphasis added)

The balrogs seem to have done their level best to obliterate the high king of the Noldor; Fingon was a bloody smear on the battlefield with the shrapnel of his armor stuck into the dirt by the time anyone was able to try to recover him.
 

And I think that only adds to the trauma of his friends and family. Elves value life so highly and each death to them is a great tragedy because of their immortality so I’ve always felt that for them some kind of proper funerary service is extremely important. But for Fingon, they have nothing to bury, nothing to burn, nothing to set to sail out in the ocean. Maybe they’re able to recover his weapon, or scraps of his standard, or warped, bloody chunks of his armor, but probably not much more. For Elves who are so reverent about life, to have a body desecrated that way must have been horrifying.

This, to Maedhros, is the result of his best push against Morgoth. In the wake of this, Turgon, the last living child of Fingolfin and Anaire, takes up the crown of the high king of the Noldor. This is the legacy of the Nirnaeth to the Finweans: the annihilation and gross violation visited on Fingon.
 

I think this makes it even sadder tbh Turgon doesn't get to cradle his brother's corpse. Maedhros doesn't get to take a souvenir to remember him by. They get nothing. They can't even have a proper funeral whatever that means for Elves.

I would have loved for Turgon and Maedhros to have a chance to talk after the Nirnaeth...I don't think it would have been especially friendly. I think Turgon was wrecked by Fingon's death, especially coming after the deaths of Elenwe, Aredhel, and Argon. ALL of Turgon's siblings were dead after the Nirnaeth. He was the last of Fingolfin's children and I do believe that weighed on him quite a lot (which may also explain why he was so willing to trust Maeglin--he was probably clinging to his remaining family by then).

#thank u noodle for getting me the quote#left my silm copy across the country :')

 

Comments

[carmenta]

In a way, Fingon is the most tragic of the high kings for me as far as deaths go. He's the one who never seems to have actually been interested in the job in the first place, and he had to take over at the worst time possible. No grand deeds in his reign, just a gradual decline of his people's fortunes, and in the end he probably died knowing that their last desperate attempt to really make a difference had failed.

And there isn't much positive for the Noldor to remember him by, not due to his own faults but because they haven't had a chance for a victory or even any significant progress to remember him by. At that point, it must have become clear that they were losing and that the only question now was how long they'd be able to stave off defeat. That Fingon was the last actually accessible High King must have been a giant blow to morale in general, and like you say, it must have been crippling to the family for a while, especially with Fingon as the main reason they still had some kind of bridge between the Feanorian and Fingolfinian sides.

[rocky41_7]

He really does get a raw deal, and from Tolkien's descriptions of him it sounds like he was well-liked, so I'm sure everyone was sorry to see him get killed.

Definitely agreed about morale--I really feel the Nirnaeth was a turning point for the worse in the battle against Morgoth and I'm sure their high king getting smashed to pulp on the battlefield didn't help.

You've got a great point about family unity too--given that Turgon's wife died on the Helcaraxe I've always imagined him a lot less forgiving of the Feanorians than Fingon, and I think the Feanorians would know that, so they definitely lose a strong advocate for reconciliation there. What Fingon went through to try to restore peace between those two branches of the family was extraordinary.

I also just feel so bad for Turgon, because he leads his army--against what I'm sure he feels is his own better judgement--out of Gondolin to try to help his family and his brother in particular, only to lose the last sibling he has in a particularly gruesome and gratuitous way and end up with the wretched crown of the Noldor himself. Truly a terrible day for everyone (except Morgoth).

[carmenta]

I've always felt that Turgon was the least prepared for the job of high king, at least when it comes to the Beleriand ones. His instincts clearly go towards the defensive, which makes sense given how action keeps leading to loss, in his experience. But it doesn't make him a good king, because with his retreat back to Gondolin, everyone else is suddenly cut off and it all fractures into pieces.

I like your thought that for Turgon, the entire attack against Morgoth was a terrible idea but that he participated because Fingon needed him. For him, the crown falls to him at the absolutely worst possible moment, with no actual personal support network anywhere outside Gondolin, given that Fingon and Finrod are now both dead (and I wonder whether he knew about Finrod beforehand, that must have been a huge additional blow, given how close they were). There's simply no-one left anymore aside from Orodreth (for a few more years) and the Feanorian cousins, who're clearly not people he wants to rely on in any way.

I wonder if it ever was an option for him to re-establish connections outside of Gondolin at that point, or if he'd simply given up on that.

[rocky41_7]

Yeah, I think Turgon's isolationist tendencies worked really well for Gondolin (until they didn't) but did not make him a great high king.

Also, while Fingolfin and Fingon were both willing to forgive (at least to a degree) and work with the Feanorians, it seems like Turgon was not. Which makes him possibly unwilling to work with a significant portion of the Elven lords and fiefdoms that existed in Middle-earth at that time, which also makes it very difficult for him to act as a king of "all the Noldor."

G O D Turgon and Finrod's friendship gets me every time. I've always wondered that too--if it's only at the Nirnaeth that Turgon learned that Finrod died (and about Celegorm and Curufin's hands in it), or if someone had managed to get him a message before. It's especially wrenching, I think, given that they had not seen each other in person possibly since that camping trip where Ulmo reached out to both of them.

You make such an excellent point about the support network. It wasn't until making this post I realized Turgon was the last of his siblings :( So all three of them were dead, his wife was dead, his best friend was dead, his uncle was dead, and two of his other cousins (iirc Aegnor and Angrod) were dead. I think this makes it a lot more understandable why he puts so much faith in Maeglin even when Maeglin is working against him--he must be really hanging onto any remaining family or friends.

I would also be curious as to whether his opinions or commitments to total isolationism ever fluctuated. I can see why he thought it was the only way to keep them safe and, given that, was not willing to bend even a little on it, but as always, I would love a deeper look at the thoughts of these characters.

[grey_gazania]

Between Fingon's body being utterly destroyed and everyone else ending up on the Haudh-en-Ndengin, I think it must have been a huge psychological blow to the people left behind, on top of the despair that came with the catastrophic loss of the battle. Fingon's time as king and how it ended is just heartbreaking.

[rocky41_7]

It really must have been. Even someone who had no personal love or admiration for Fingon would have felt the blow, I think, of losing the high king. And I think for all the Elves, who hold life in such sanctity, to see one of their own struck down and treated with such gratuitous brutality would have been deeply psychologically damaging.

I need a long, tight hug between Fingolfin and Fingon when Fingon gets to Mandos (┬┬﹏┬┬)

[grey_gazania]

Right? We know Morgoth planned to defile Fingolfin's body, but Thorondor got there in time, so Fingolfin at least got a proper burial. Fingon's only "memorial" is a pile of corpses raised by his enemies.

Also, I got a bit of a plotbunny from this post. If it turns into anything, I'll credit your meta.

[rocky41_7]

And his last remaining sibling didn't even get to stick around to try to give him a better memorial :( Man this book is so depressing :( Still love it ofc but damn :(

Ooh do share if you make something I would love to see it!