Taking on Tolkien

               My name is Indor , a kinsman of Húrin Thalion . I am a m an of the Edain and belong to the House of Hador in Dor- lómin . I take pride in being a part of this house because it is the largest and most renowned of the three houses to help the Elves against Morgoth in The First Age.   My poor daughter Aerin, who is a kinswoman to Húrin , was forced to marry a chief of the Easterling s after Morgoth’s victory in the Battle of U nnumbered Tears ( Nirnaeth Arnoediad ). The Easterling’s name is Brodda and she is stuck with him against her will.   I call him the bully . Brodda  serves Morgoth out of his own self-interest to gain lands and power. Really, Morgoth is just using him like a puppet to punish us Edain who are allied with the Elves. Aerin doesn’t deserve this fate. She is good , as I raised her . I can’t bear to see her mistreated by Brodda . Although she must act obedient , I can tell she is ju...

I was a part of the judges/jury in our trial regarding the moral responsibility for the Doom of Mandos and the Doom of the Noldor of Fëanor and his son’s binding oath. This role allowed me to consider both the prosecution’s and d e fense’s arguments equally. Listening to arguments and evidence from both sides through a neutral lense revealed to me that the consequences of this oath were far more complex than I originally thought. Furthermore , the ideas of free will, fate, and pride stood out to me.    At the beginning, I did feel a little bad for the sons because they just wanted to recover the Silmarils which they cared for deeply. These are go od intentions. They also might have been in a state of grief or anger because Morgoth murdered their grandfather Finwë   and proceeded to steal the Silmarils which their father Fëanor created . Over the course of the trial, it became increasingly apparent to me the immense suffering that came from the oath such as tr...