Quote:
Originally Posted by Arvegil145
Is Mim's spell still a thing at this late point?
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Probably.
Val Balmer has plausibly dated "The Complaint of Mim the Dwarf" to the same era as "Concerning... The Hoard", and apparently the very
title of that work is a reference to
The Ring of the Nibelung. There's a solid theme linking Mim to cursed treasure; it seems unlikely Tolkien would have abandoned it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arvegil145
But in general, I wasn't really talking about curses, whether Mim's, Glaurung's or even Morgoth's.
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And the Oath of Feanor, which curses anyone who claims a Silmaril. And the Doom of Mandos, which Thingol is explicitly said to be entangled in by taking the Silmaril. Probably not the curse Celegorm lays on Beren, though it may be the only curse Thingol
isn't under at this point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arvegil145
Hurin strikes me as a kind of harbinger of Doom at this point: as, if he knocks at your door and you let him in freely and give him food and shelter, your fate is sealed.
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Definitely Hurin showing up is a harbinger in an
external sense - Tolkien wanted everything to fall before him. But I'm not sure I agree that it is
internally. I can't think of any Tolkien examples of someone doomed to ignoble death purely by doing
good. Good people can surely die - Finrod is a prime example - but to meet a wretched end like Thingol does they have to invite it on themselves by acting badly. Welcoming Hurin doesn't fit that model:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Concerning... The Hoard
Húrin cast it before the feet of King Thingol in a proud gesture of scorn, saying that as “the Lord of the House of Hador” (Húrin) vowed not be beholden to an elf-King for the fostering of his son, nor the harbouring of his wife and daughter. “Here is your fee! More than enough, maybe, for services so meanly performed; but hold me now out of your debt and friendship!”
Thingol was amazed at the insult, but answered with patience and courtesy, saying he wished for no ending of friendship with Húrin, whose name was honoured among Elves and Men for his great valour in the last Great Battle, and near all Elves and Men had been rather in his debt ever since. But Húrin laughed in contempt and went out, unmolested, into the night.
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Promptly massacring the Outlaws might qualify though. Being under the influence (not control) of a malevolent force is
not typically an excuse in Middle-earth - see Gollum.
hS