#there is an inevitable urge to say something to give Maedhros and fingon a kinder epilogue

[erynalasse]

I think the reason that Russingon works so well as a pairing is that their personal tragedy is a perfect microcosm of the wider tragedy of the Silmarillion.

There’s their respective positions, for one. Fingon and Maedhros are the heirs of Fingolfin and Fëanor, and as such they inherit the family feud from beginning to end. It’s very easy to make this the beginning of their story in Valinor—two young princes forced together, and then growing closer together.

And from there, Fingon and Maedhros are right at the heart of the conflict between the Noldor. It’s easy to imagine a breach—“the lies of Morgoth came between them”—in the time around Fëanor’s exile to Formenos. And as all the shippers love to point out, there is also a lovely symmetry between Fingon rushing in to Alqualondë to defend his kin and Maedhros asking to send the ships back for Fingon at Losgar. The canonical breach between them makes these exchanges more poignant. Neither has many reasons or motives to think of the other, just like the factions of Fingolfin and Fëanor. But they do anyway.

Then, of course, there is Thangorodrim.

Like the exchanges at Losgar and Alqualondë, this is a scene of unparalleled grace on Fingon’s part. Canon specifies that Fingon does not know Maedhros stood aside at Losgar, but he went looking for him anyway. And Maedhros, in thanks, gives up the mantle of Noldóran to Fingon’s family. Their actions are the way the breach between their respective factions healed. When Maedhros and Fingon start a new chapter, so does their people’s history.

And then the new, hopeful chapter comes to a close with the Bragollach. Personally, I don’t think this battle and the 17 years between it and the Nirnaeth get enough attention. If the Nirnaeth is utter disaster, then the Bragollach is the uncertain balancing point before that. It was a terrible blow to the Noldor, and it upset the comfortable balance of the Long Peace. The period after the Bragollach is similarly a time of immense change for both Maedhros and Fingon. Fingolfin dies, leaving Fingon as High King. Maedhros puts together the Union and plans for a frontal assault against Angband. In the background, the Silmaril Quest and Finrod’s death shake up everything the Siege of Angband made them assume. There is hope and urgency and action.

And then the Nirnaeth comes, and utter despair with it. There is an inescapable symmetry in the fact that the Noldor’s most crushing defeat was also the one where Maedhros lost Fingon. It’s also inescapable that precisely when Fingon dies is when Maedhros loses all honor and moral fiber. There are two more Kinslayings, kidnapped children, and slaughtered guards. Even in a non-romantic reading of canon, it’s impossible to argue that Fingon’s loss and all its implications didn’t contribute to this. There is no one to reign in Maedhros and his Oath, either personally or politically.

And then the Oath is fulfilled, and Maedhros kills himself as soon as he is free. I think that speaks for itself neatly enough.