[Aiwendil]

Sorry if I've led this discussion a bit off-topic, but I do think, as Mithadan says, that the issue of Turin's love for Finduilas is quite important to the main question he raised.

I'm afraid that my memory led me awry earlier; the quote I was thinking of was not in the UT 'Narn' but in GA.

But I am still not convinced that in the UT version, Turin does not love Finduilas. I've just re-read the relavant 'Narn' fragments and I do not find a clear statement to this effect. Yes, Finduilas herself does claim that "Túrin loves me not; nor will," but we don't necessarily know that she is correct (even if Gwindor seems to agree). It seems to me that in this fragmentary version of the account of Turin in Nargothrond, the relationship among Gwindor, Finduilas, and Turin has become quite nuanced and rather complex. I don't think that any of the three is quite able to see the entire truth of the situation, and certainly none can be considered an objective reporter of the facts. Nonetheless, reading this version in isolation, one certainly does find the element of Turin's love for Finduilas significantly downplayed, if (perhaps) not completely excised. Still, it must be remembered that this version is, after all, fragmentary. It's difficult to guess whether, or how, the situation would have been cast in a different light had Tolkien completed this section. (Note also the references to Finduilas in the later parts of the 'Narn', particularly Turin's reaction on learning of her death; of course, these portions were written earlier and are more closely associated with GA).

But let's consider how this relates to Mithadan's original question. Gwindor's warning to Turin appears in GA but not in the 'Narn'; the Battle of Tumhalad was not reached in that text. Now, Tolkien might or might not have included it had he finished the 'Narn'; we cannot say. But it seems to me that as long as we are evaluating the import of Gwindor's words, we must evaluate them within the context of the texts in which they appear. In GA (and earlier), it certainly does make perfect sense to suppose that Turin would have wedded Finduilas if he had saved her.