[Aredhel Idril Telcontar]

Ok, so my reply might be *subjective*, hence my name [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img], but I'll try to argue my case effectively. *Takes a deep breath*

A lot of the people that have replied to this thread seem to think that Aredhel was a selfish spoiled immature little brat with no sense of responsibility. From one point of view, she is. Especially when most here blame her for the fall of Gondolin. That's not true. Gondolin was doomed from the beginning.

Aredhel is my favorite character in Sil, maybe just because she was more *human* than the rest of the perfect goody two-shoes Elf ladies. Sure, leaving a city Morgoth was looking for was foolish, but she never betrayed it. And she was most certainly NOT an idiot. There are no idiots in Tolkien's Books.

Let's look at this from the scolary point of view: A person that has been cooped up in one place for a loooong time NEEDS to get out. It's simple. Aredhel was known as a hunter and a generally *free* spirit in Valinor as well.

Anyway, the woods of Nan Emloth (sp?) offered her more freedom than the walls of Gondolin. She might have stayed her, and had a *comparatively* happy life much longer if not for that twisted orc of a son she had. He was the one who made her leave, he was the one who betrayed Gondolin because he couldn't have his COUSIN.

Sure, that can be blamed on the less-than-pleasant relationship between his parents (something very similar in Feanor's case, don't you think? [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]). Maybe Tolkien was trying to say something there...

Anyway, to sum it all up, I say Aredhel was much more interesting to read about than, say, Galadriel or Luthien.

By the way, who can really blame her? Her whole family was like that. It's simply... Noldor... [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]