Quote:
|
I wonder how much Morgoth did fear Turgon & the power of Gondolin - His forces destroyed the city in less than a day....If Morgoth was REALLY afraid of the power of Gondolin, he simply wouldn't have played with Hurin for so long....If Morgoth was truly afraid of the power of Gondolin, he would have continued with the torture, not stopped, until Hurin had either told everything he knew, or had died in the process.
|
Morgoth was not afraid of the military strength of Gondolin; that wasn't it at all. What he was afraid of (without knowing it) was that Tuor and Idril (Turgon's daughter) were going to poop out Earendil, who would bring down the wrath of the Valar.
To cite the words of the sub-creator himself...
Quote:
and of Gondolin he [Morgoth] knew nothing, and the thought of Turgon troubled him the more.
p. 193
Now the thought of Morgoth dwelt ever upon Turgon; for Turgon had escaped him, of all his foes that one whom he most desired to take or to destroy...Morgoth feared Turgon; for of old in Valinor his eye had lighted upon him, and whenever he drew near a shadow had fallen on his spirit, foreboding that in some time that lay hidden, from Turgon ruin should come to him.
p. 240
|
I trust that clears up any confusion there may exist about the feelings that Morgoth held about Turgon.
And about your points about torture, as Morwen already said this is not the primary world that we are discussing, and Hurin is not your ordinary man.
We have the story the way that Tolkien told it and in that story Morgoth tried to daunt Hurin with his eye, put him in slow torture for months, and ultimately put a fearsome curse on Hurin's family. Hurin did not break. Aside from killing him, there was nothing more that Morgoth could do to him.
And as I have said all along, you are overemphasizing the "toying with Hurin" aspect of the episode.