Did Maedhros kill Laughter?

[Loslote]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

A-ha! Now you have nailed it. She found it and ate it... eurgh... but, you know, the youngsters and their habits sometimes, improper education and all that... But then, such a disgusting deed just had to be punished. I mean, eating a high Elven Lord's hand? A certain werewolf got killed for less than that.

You know, this makes a certain amount of sense...

...eeewwww.

Originally Posted by Nerwen

The variant to which you're referring is to be found in HoMe, Vol XVI. However, though the geese do appear, note that it represents a radically different version of the text, especially regarding the effects of the disease, so that it's very hard to fit it into the story as we now know it. Nonetheless, it does represent a fascinating curiosity for Tolkien scholars– who would have thought that at one point JRRT intended to have Beleriand overrun by plague-infected cannibal zombies?

Clearly Tolkien was inspired by The Phantom's recent dream...