[Inziladun]

Count me in with the people who don't have a great deal of sympathy for Túrin.

Granted, he was under the curse of a "fallen angel", the most powerful being in Middle-earth, and Morgoth had made it a special project to cause as much ruin to the House of Hador as he could.

Still, Túrin could have at many points turned aside from the path Morgoth had laid in front of him, and at least minimised the effects of the curse.

Where were the turning points, where Túrin's choices made Morgoth's work easy?

1. In Doriath, after the death of Saeros. Pride kept Túrin from returning to Menegroth and submitting to Thingol's judgement. Obviously, had Túrin stayed he would have been pardoned quickly, and Morwen and Nienor would have had no need to later search for him in the wild.

2. When found by Beleg and advised of his pardon by Thingol, Túrin again allowed pride to master him and refused to return.

3. In Nargothrond, if Túrin had kept to the stealthy means of battle favoured by Orodreth, the Eldar there might not have been revealed to Morgoth, or at least they could have endured longer. Even a warning from messengers of Ulmo was not enough to sway him. Had Nargothrond not fallen, Finduilas would not have died. More importantly, Túrin would not have been exposed to the power of Glaurung, which caused him to go to Dor-lómin, leading Morwen and Nienor to leave the safety of Doriath to look for him.

4. Túrin's taking up Gurthang in Brethil instead of generic weaponry that would not draw attention to him was, I think, the reason Glaurung himself decided to go to Brethil. This put him, and Nienor back in Glaurung's path and led to the suicide of both. One might be tempted to say that the death of Nienor was a mercy, if only for her own peace of mind. After it, instead of literally "slaying the messenger" who told him of Nienor's death, Brandir, Túrin possibly could have found it in himself to devote his life to righting wrongs, both those he himself had caused, and those he had no part in. Would that not have been a better penance than simply killing himself and giving Morgoth his full triumph? After all, had Túrin still been alive, would his father have ever seen the need to insult Thingol by giving him the Nauglamír? It was that necklace which brought to Menegroth the Dwarves who ultimately killed Thingol.

So many places where Túrin could have turned away and made the curse more problematic for Morgoth, and yet he played right into Morgoth's hands. That, to me, is the real tragedy of the story.