Suicide in Middle Earth

[alatar]

Welcome to the Downs, Vaine.

Originally Posted by Vaine

Practically yes, although he did 'ask' Gurthang (His sword) if it would be so kind as to end his life, before he let his body fall on it's edge

Another example of 'suicide' for the greater good and for hope. Turin made a mess of everything he touched and everyone with whom he formed a relationship and so, to him perhaps, exiting the stage would further the cause against Morgoth and cut short the mayhem that the dark vala hoped to continue via the CoH. Níniel/Niënor may have felt the same.

[Tuor in Gondolin]

And to be fair, Turin and his sister might well
have been considered to have been
driven clinically (at least temporarily) insane.

[alatar]

Not to make this thread too schizophrenic, but I stumbled upon this:

Originally Posted by Stephen King

For a long time-ten years, at least-I had wanted to write a fantasy epic like The Lord of the Rings, only with an American setting. I just couldn't figure out how to do it. Then, slowly after my wife and kids and I moved to Boulder, Colorado, I saw a 60 Minutes segment on CBW (chemical-biological warfare). I never forgot the gruesome footage of the test mice shuddering, convulsing, and dying, all in twenty seconds or less. That got me remembering a chemical spill in Utah that killed a bunch of sheep (these were canisters on their way to some burial ground; they fell off the truck and ruptured). I remembered a news reporter saying, "If the winds had been blowing the other way, there was Salt Lake City." This incident later served as the basis of a movie called Rage, starring George C. Scott, but before it was released, I was deep into The Stand, finally writing my American fantasy epic, set in a plague-decimated USA. Only instead of a hobbit, my hero was a Texan named Stu Redman, and instead of a Dark Lord, my villain was a ruthless drifter and supernatural madman named Randall Flagg. The land of Mordor ("where the shadows lie, according to Tolkien) was played by Las Vegas.

Guess he missed it by *that* much...

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by alatar

Guess he missed it by *that* much...

Is laughing oneself to death considered suicide?

[Tuor in Gondolin]

Stephen King makes Terry Brooks look
like Frank Herbert .

[Bêthberry]

Every time I see this thread title I think of that iconic song, not the cover by Manic Street Preachers or Marilyn Manson, but the theme song from MASH: the movie and the TV show.

Those were definitely not Tolkien moments, though, so this post must be just another schizophrenic comment which muddies al's query about hope and despair.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Miriel (Feanor’s mom) is not condemned for committing suicide

Ah, but that's not really true. In later years, the Wise considered her choice to have been at the root of Everything Bad. Even at the time, Mandos predicts that no good will come of it. Laws & Customs Among the Eldar and its associated texts are pretty hard on Miriel.

It is however the case that 'suicide' for an Elf means something rather different than for a human, as the Elf's life within Arda can never be ended. The fea may be houseless for a time, and confined to Mandos, whether the hroa is physically destroyed or merely 'dies of grief:' but these are 'seeming deaths,' because the Elf never leaves the World.

In fact, since Elves can 'die of grief,' it would seem that 'suicide' by violence isn't even necessary for them; they're capable of 'suicide' by will.