Tidbits of Curiosity

[Urwen]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

The Outlaws were an idea, not specific people - I doubt the Hadorians would have wanted the original gang of murderers and worse in their lands. But:



"Runagate" means someone who has run away - in this context, probably runaway slaves. There was an outlaw network in Dor-lomin. The people with Turin at this point are "all the rebels that had the strength"; I'm pretty sure they're literally just all the surviving slaves from Brodda's hall, there's no indication of an outside force of rebels. Which means this cave is known to slaves held by the ruler of the land - the one you'd expect to have the highest security! It seems like it was probably fairly widely known then, and peaceful, obedient thralls don't know where the runaway slaves and revolutionaries live.

It really sounds like they had a whole underground operating there - a massive operation smuggling Hadorians to the mountains, then either setting them up as outlaws or helping them across to Brethil. It might even have been led by Aerin; at least she knew about it. There was a whole network Turin could have tapped into and led, to at the least cause major problems for Brodda and his mob.

(The ultimate goal wouldn't be to free Dor-lomin; it's too close to Angband, and unprotected by the Eldar. The best outcome would be to drive the Easterlings out, and then evacuate the country to Brethil before the Orcs turned up.)

(Weirdly, Turin leaves Dor-lomin thinking of his three choices: to stay and help them, to find Finduilas, or to go after Morwen. He decides to leave Morwen in Doriath, finds Finduilas dead... and then just sort of forgets about Dor-lomin in favour of hanging out with the Haladin until Nienor shows up.)

hS

True. I always wondered why he didn't bring the men of Brethil over to help...

However, it is possible to free Dor-Lomin, and the Beleriand as a whole too. All one needs is the element of surprise, and a champion whose destiny is to kill Morgoth himself. And guess who has both of those? People of Dor-Lomin do!

And I am now imagining a guerilla force ambushing Orcs and then retreating to safety, until their numbers are low enough that the remaining ones could be picked off. Then a small force infiltrates Angband and distracts the beasties still left there, while a slightly larger force, led by Turin, confronts Morgoth himself, and Turin stabs him dead. Throw in some Ents as back-up and Morgoth won't stand a chance.