Well, it could all have been side-stepped if Elrond and Cirdan were given greater powers of persuasion and Isildur not allowed to be the vain, arrogant, pig-headed type he was.
That would have allowed The Professor to write an extensive piece on weregild and revenge, much as he did on chivalry and heroism. After all, death in battle can hardly be called wrongful death, so weregild really didn't apply, despite Isildur's claims.
This might have allowed The Professor also to write his own Silm instead of pouring all his sub-creative energies into LotR. Of course, that would have denied us the opportunity to berate or praise Tolkien Jr. for his compilation.
