[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

One important factor featured in this chapter is the enmity between Dwarves and Elves. Could the misunderstandings have been avoided and a better relationship have developed if characters had acted differently?

The invitation of Thingol to the Dwarves to meld the Nauglamír with a Silmaril certainly seems to be the beginning of the special breed of distrust, and even hate, that endured between Elves and Dwarves to the time of the War of the Ring. Sadly, one would think Thingol's idea to combine the two treasures, and most of all to involve the Dwarves, was a foreseeable disaster. I wonder if Melian tried to talk him out of it?

It was doomed from the start, for three reasons:

1. The Nauglamír was originally made by the Dwarves themselves. The original person they had given it to, Finrod, was dead, and they seem to have had a propensity to consider that things made by them reverted back to their ownership, if the recipient died.

2. The Silmaril itself was a lust-inducing object among the Children of Ilúvatar, and Dwarves didn't exactly have reputations for resisting such temptations. Also, Thingol in his turn was enthralled by it, setting the scene for a fight over possession.

3. Thingol had a great deal of pride. He'd already shown with Beren that he had some disdain for Men as being beneath him. The Beleriandic Elves in general didn't think much of the Dwarves, so Thingol's haughtiness in dealing with them wasn't exactly a surprise.

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

The corruptive influence of treasures is also shown, in this case the Nauglamir and one Silmaril. Did the combination of them multiply their fateful effect? On the one hand its beauty was great, especially when possessed by Lúthien. On the other hand, it had a negative influence even on her lifespan. And it caused a new Kinslaying.

Wanting to possess beautiful treasures is time and time again seen in Tolkien's works to be a road to ruin. With the Silmarils, the Nauglamír, The One Ring, and the Arkenstone, there's a common theme that those who would possess items of beauty led to the would-be possessor being possessed by them.

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

One more thing occurred to me while rereading this chapter: the characters seem to fall into despair when their spouses die. We see that in Húrin, who even takes his own life after losing Morwen. But more fateful is Melian's withdrawal from the fate of her people when Thingol is killed - she withdraws her protection from the kingdom, which is left defenseless against its enemies. Not even Beren and Lúthien's son can restore its glory permanently. Should Melian have acted more responsibly, considering others more than her own grief?

I think Melian was a special case. She, alone among the Valar or Maia (as far as we know) took on an incarnate form because she fell in love with one of the Children it was her job to help govern. The loss of Thingol hit her even harder because she was of the 'divine' race, and probably had never felt anything akin to that those feelings of loss and despair before. The text seems to make it clear that her withdrawal was only a side-effect: the loss of her powers would have been due to emotional trauma, something that, again due to her nature, she was unused to dealing with.