Poll: favourite Silmarillion hero?

[Lanval]

Hello, as the Silmarillion is one of my favorite books, I will start my first post with a poll:
What is your favorite Silmarillion hero? And why?
My favorite hero is definitely...
...
...
Err...
I think Beleg Strongbow is a really cool guy.
Why? Well...Because err... Because he goes to the other end of the world (almost) to rescue his friend.
I think that Beleg is one of the most social persons in the Silmarillion.
Well, most Elvenkings were great aswel, but they weren't described as masterfully as Beleg was.

[Finduilas]

I'd say either Finrod Felagund, or Fingolfin

[Grand Admiral Reese]

I'm not really sure.

[Taimar]

Feanor, the most significant non-deity in the history of Middle-earth.

[Eruve]

Was Feanor a hero or an anti-hero? I always thought of him as an anti-hero.

My favourite hero is Finrod. And my favourite anti-hero is Turin.

[Taimar]

Feanor is a seriously flawed individual, but there are admirable traits in his personality also. He may not be a hero in the traditional sense, but he is still my favourite character.

In terms of `pure` heroism, my choice would have to be Hurin.

[noldo]

I'll have to go with both Beren and Lúthien. They took back the Silmarils and made great sacrifices for love...


:(

[Lillian C]

B&L wouldn't have made it without Finrod, though! My vote goes to him!

[Bullroarer]

Don't we know it.......

B & L, meso favorita.

[Finduilas]

I love the song battle between Finrod and Sauron:
Silmarillion pages 205-206:
He chanted a song of wizardry,
Of piercing, opening, of treachery,
Revealing, uncovering, betraying.
Then sudden Felagund there swaying
Sang in answer a song of staying,
Resisting, battling against power,
Of secrets kept, strength like a tower,
And trust unbroken, freedom, escape;
Of changing and of shifting shape,
Of snares eluded, broken traps,
The prison opening, the chain that snaps.
Backwards and forwards swayed their song.
Reeling and foundering, as ever more strong
The chanting swelled, Felagund fought,
And the magic and might he brought
Of Elvenesse into his words.
Softly in the gloom they heard the birds
Singing afar in Nargothrond,
The sighing of the Sea beyond,
Beyond the western world, on sand,
On sand of pearls in Elvenland.
Then the gloom gathered; darkenss growing
In Valinor the red blood flowing
Beside the sea, where the Noldor slew
The Foamriders, and stealing drew
Their white ships with their white sails
From lamplit havens. The wind wails,
The wolf howls. The ravens flee.
The ice mutters in the mouths of the Sea.
The captives sad in Angband mourn.
Thunder rumbles, the fires burn--
And Finrod fell before the throne.

This is one of the reasons I consider Finrod to be one of my favourites.

[Gilthalion]

Amandil, father of Elendil.

He is not well fleshed out but look at what the last Lord of Andunie accomplished and the day he did it in.

Against the might of Numenor, grown powerful and wicked under Sauron behind the throne, when remaining Faithful meant becoming a living sacrifice to Morgoth, he led his family and his people to remain True. In the end, he presumably sacrificed himself seeking Aman to save them all and he left this remnant of Numenor prepared to survive the great cataclysm that came.

[Morkhon]

Fingolfin.

[gatito]

I liked the dog/wolf (and I completely forget his name) that helped beren and Luthien. Fingolfin and finrod were cool too. :)

[Grand Admiral Reese]

gatito, that would be Huan, the Hound of Valinor.

[Pippin Skywalker]

I have many favorite....hehe

Feanor
His Sons
Thingol

[Lillian C]

Hehehe. "Fëanor, his sons, and Thingol." Is that not a combination made in heaven??? ;)

[Shanamir Duntak]

Turin Turambar, aka Mormegil!

[Xivigg]

Fingolfin is in my mind THE hero of the silmarilion
going as far as fighting THE enemy in single battle
he is by the way one of the only 2 people to actualy fight him the other being Tulkas

then my vote goes to Hurin and Huor who alone make the withdraw of the elven of gondolin possible

followed by Glorfindel and Etchelion who each fight a mighty Balrog during the fall of Gondolin

Beren, Beleg, Tuor and Turin are great as are many other

My favorite anti-heros are many (like my favorite heros)

First of all is Eol the dark elve who make 2 cool

next is Feanor and cie all is child caused lots of problem by trying to claim the silmarili. All in all i think they have caused more problem than Morgoth.

Ungoliant and Morgoth are doing their job but i think Ungoliant could have do more and I think Morgoth is not attacking enough i mean with his recourcess he should have made war on the elves almost constantly.

Sorry if i made mistake my Silmarilion is a little rusty but i'll re-read it soon :)

Xivigg

[Shanamir Duntak]

Welcome here Xivigg??? Do I know you :p :lol:
Look who is the first Elf-Lord!

[Glorfindel goldhair]

Fingolfin, surely; Hurin, a pure hero; & Glorfindel, of course!

[andustar]

i know that poem by heart :)

i like finrod and hurin

[emilsson]

Beren and Luthién. I just love their story :) .

[Finduilas]

I prefer the version in the LOTR though, but yes they are 2 other favourites of mine.

[SarahStar]

"...In that day Tulkas shall strive with Melko, and on his right shall stand Fionwe and on his left Turin Turambar, son of Hurin, Conqueror of Fate; and it shall be the black sword of Turin that deals unto Melko his death and final end; and so shall the Children of Hurin and all men be avenged.

"...But of Men in that day the prophecy speaks not, save of Turin only, and him it names among the Gods."

(HoME, vol 4, section 19 or something like that)

Need I say more?

(Hey, this is way off topic, but I just noticed that the above passage refers to Turin as "Conqueror of Fate." I know that's basically what "Turambar" means, but usually it's applied a) in defiance (i.e. by Turin) or b) ironically. But I have a hard time imagining Mandos being ironic. Hmmm. Could it be that the epithet is actually used seriously here? And aren't the implications cool? :D )

[Shanamir Duntak]

Time to get my old Quenya/Westron dictionnary out...

*Shan tought during a second that this book was on the verge of being destroyed but it still hold itself, but how..?*

*After blowing the dust on it, Shan could read in gold letter: "Great Dictionnary of translation: Quenya/Westron & Sindarin/Westron"

Tur-: power, control over.
-ambar: Destiny, Fate.

[Xivigg]

However great Turin might be he is still only a mortal and is no match agains't Melkor.

[SarahStar]

That's precisely what is so cool.

According to the prophecy, Turin would not only be a match for Melkor, he would win! (Ok, I know that Tolkien eventually discarded this particular end of world scenario, but for a good long while at least the idea of Turin Turambar striking the death blow remained intact.)

Along those same lines, one might point out that Frodo the hobbit was never much of a match for Sauron. For that matter, how did Gil-Galad and Elendil defeat Sauron? While certainly quite powerful, neither of them was one of the Maiar!

[Finduilas]

In the same vein, Fingolfin, no match for a Vala, such as Morgoth, managed to wound him so he limped until he was thrown out of the Circles of the World.

[X Rogue]

Finrod and Fingolfin. And Melian for the ladies. Didn't Glorfindel manage to actually kill a Balrog? I don't think there are any hard and fast rules against an Elf being able to kill a Maiar, judging by that. Wound them seriously, well that's obvious from Fingolfin battling Morgoth. Shame he got killed in the process, of course.
Must ingest more caffeine, I'm babbling like a brook, here!

[Xivigg]

Well i know only 2 people who fight agains't Morgoth
Fingolfin the most powerfull Elf-Lord, except maybe Tingol, and Tulkas.

When Fingolfin chalenge Morgoth the elves were losing the battle and it was a desesperate attempte to win the day.

I will point out that Frodon never even see Sauron and only luck destroy the ONE RING. If Golum hasen't fall in the volcano the ringwraith would have arrive and retrive the RING. As say in the lost tale third age Sauron was confident thet even if the Witch King found the ring he will surender it to him.

Gil-Galad and Elendil dosen't win over Sauron they were both kill and the last alliance win only because Isildur sever the RING from Sauron hand.

Again Etchelion and Glorfindel manage to destroy a Balrog each but they were both kill in the process. I read somewere *dosen't remember were* that the Glorfindel in LORE is not the same as the one in the Silmarilion

[Finduilas]

No go. It's pretty much stated in Peoples Of Middle-Earth that Glorfindel of Gondolin and Glorfindel in the LOTR are one and the same.

[emilsson]

Finduilas, I disagree, but only a little. I prefer the Silmarillion version. Actually I don't like to compare them since they are a bit too different, IMO :) .

[Morkhon]

Actually Isildur severed the ring from Sauron's dead body. Gil-galad and Elendil died fighting Sauron, but Sauron was killed in the process. You have to remember that Gil-galad was a high elf and that Elendil was a powerful lord of men from Numenor.

[Xivigg]

Humm i have to read the book again
i have alway's though that sauron lose because he had the ring severed from him.

[Elanor]

Luthien

[Lothwen]

Hail All,

My favorite are Beren and Luthien.

2nd Fingolfin, Tuor and Hurin.

3rd Galadriel and Glorfindel.

4th Fingol and Finrod

Fare ye well and Good luck friends :)

[Sephiroth9611]

On the Turin subject, just because his victory over Morgoth at the final battle isn't mentioned in the Silmarillion doesn't mean that Tolkien had discarded it. The Silmarillion was due for a major revision when its author died.

One of my favorite heros is Tuor. His story and that of Gondolin are the ones I most enjoy reading. Second to that is Turin.

The point made earlier that Feanor isn't really a hero is correct. However, he is the most intriguing character. He was the greatest of the Noldor, yet his pride led to their destruction; yet his hatred of Morgoth was the greatest of all.

[X Rogue]

Feanor was always very interesting to me. He was my favorite semi/anti-hero in the Silmarillion. Brilliant and determined, posessed by his own abilities, but the downfall of the Noldor, and of everything he loved. :( My favorite anti-heroes in LOTR were Denethor, Boromir and Lobelia Sackville Baggins, but that is a whole other thread. :D

[Lief Erikson]

My favorite hero is either Fingolfin or Beleg.

My favorite character on the other hand is probably Melkor, because he actually survives through the whole book, and is always planning and striking out, making strategies that only end up failing because of the Valar's invasion.

[Curandir]

I really like Cirdan the Shipwright. I'm a sailor and identify with his love of the sea. Also I think besides those in Valinor he's the only one to make it from beginning to the end of the 3rd age in Middle Earth

[cb0308]

Fingolfin

[Captain Stern]

Feanor because his personality seemed monumental to me and because he was the mightiest and most gifted of all the Children of Illuvitar.

I particularly loved the bit when he slammed the door of his castle in Morgoth's face. FANTASTIC!

Such a shame he died so early in the story.

[Findarato Ingoldo]

I'd have to go with Finrod. Gotta be kinda tough to kill a werewolf with "bare hands and teeth".

[Idril Celebrindal]

Finrod for me, too...

[Lord Xanthyz]

Right off the top of my head I would say Turin, since he was the one who slew Glaurung when most everyone else ran...

Also he tried REALLY hard to do what was right even though his life was screwed up by Morgoth's curse...

Also he had a big impact in fighting the forces of Morgoth with his group of outlaws while most people hid.

Also I just finished reading the Narn I Hin Hurin so Turin's story is fresh in my mind;)

I would have to go back and read The SIlmarillion (it's been awhile now:) ) again in order to finalize who my favorite hero would be.

[Inoldonil]

Hmmm. Favourite hero? Rather depends on one's definition of a hero. I suppose it would be Tuor. I wouldn't have said that (probably) if I had not become familiar with Of Tuor and His Coming to Gondolin in Unfinished Tales, where you get a much deeper insight into him and the (beginning of the) story. Alas for its abandonment!

One of my favourite scenes from the Elder Days is the mighty Lord of Waters revealed in majesty to the son of Huor on the shores of Vinyamar, speaking to him with his dreadful voice out of the Deep, and the proud Marachian cast down on his face in terror.

[Sister Golden Hair]

That would be Finrod Felagund. There are others that I am fond of. Beleg is one, and Fingon.