Suicide in Middle Earth

[Huinesoron]

Reading G55's 'General thoughts' post (here), I get the distinct impression that Tolkien viewed life as something you can, by force of will, drag on beyond its natural end. The bulk of the 'suicide' cases are people who just let go, and pass on peacefully. (There are obvious exceptions - Turin and Nienor being the chief.)

This explains why Denethor's act is wrong, while Aragorn's is laudable: Aragorn was in the final stages of his life, where he could just will himself to stop. Denethor was still hale and hearty, and had to use external means (fire) to kill himself. To put it another way, Aragorn was accepting the Gift proffered by Iluvatar at the end of his life, while Denethor was attempting to seize it early.

The modern nursing concept of end-of-life care may be relevant here. As I understand it, that's where you stop trying to treat whatever problems your patient has, and just keep them comfortable while they go. If we mix that with Tolkien's view, we get Numenorean kings who come down with eminently treatable diseases (perhaps simply a winter cold), but take it as a sign from the One that it's time to let go.

And then in the later days, we have aggressive treatment regimes, increasingly expensive medications, and kings who hang on until their diseases force the life out of them.

So what about Turin? As Galadriel55 says, the story generally views his death as acceptable, despite falling firmly in the 'seizing death early' category. Perhaps this reflects a more Elvish view, where physical infirmity isn't a thing, and the message that it's time to let go (and head to Mandos for a rest, in their case) comes through weariness of spirit. The House of Hurin were spiritually exhausted, and the Eldar would absolutely understand that as a good reason to leave (see Miriel).

hS