Tolkien Villains

[Urwen]

I have thought about this for a while, and some of Tolkien's villains are far more interesting than heroes.

Take Feanor, who made the Silmarils, that Silmarilion is named after. Or Morgoth, who used them as his symbol of power. After killing their maker's dad of course.

Then there is Sauron, who is the title character in the book, and I have a headcanon about him, which hinges on 'even evil has loved ones' and this is real reason he wanted Pharazon dead. Why, he had two loved ones there, whoah.

Then there is Targlin. Oh, I have quite a bit to say about Targlin, but if I do, it would turn into an essay, so I'll just say this: Uma semente escura do mal foi semeada.

And finally, there is Turin, whose actions weren't evil per se, but still did a lot of damage.

[Galadriel55]

Interesting antagonists make interesting stories even better than interesting protagonists do. But part of it is that many of these people are not villains, in neither the moral nor literal sense. There are tragic heroes and antiheroes, and not heroes at all but not really villains, or antagonists but not outright villains either... I am very surprised that you of all people would call Turin and Feanor villains.

[Urwen]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Interesting antagonists make interesting stories even better than interesting protagonists do. But part of it is that many of these people are not villains, in neither the moral nor literal sense. There are tragic heroes and antiheroes, and not heroes at all but not really villains, or antagonists but not outright villains either... I am very surprised that you of all people would call Turin and Feanor villains.

I think you should be more surprised that I would call Targlin a villain.

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Urwen

I think you should be more surprised that I would call Targlin a villain.

I have no idea who Targlin is. *shrug*

[Mithadan]

OK, I'll bite. Targlin was an early and rejected name for Maeglin and an early name for galvorn, the metal that Eol's sword was made from. That's all I can find. Is there another Targlin?

*First time that I ever used the HoME index.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Tolkien had a passing notion to give the Dark Elf some very un-elflike traits including constant sore throats, and name him Garglin, but rejected the idea.

[Urwen]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

Tolkien had a passing notion to give the Dark Elf some very un-elflike traits including constant sore throats, and name him Garglin, but rejected the idea.

I like the way you think.

[aircon]

Surely you can apply this principle to many strands of literature, films and TV. The villains are they key to the plots, the more interesting they are, the better the story lines

[Mithadan]

True. Middle-Earth would be a boring place without villains.

Welcome to the Downs aircon!

[Thinlómien]

I personally found Tolkien's... anti-villains the most interesting. The heroic characters who were driven to do terrible things for one reason or another. The sons of Fëanor with their oath, especially, but also Túrin, and even Boromir. Come to think of it, it's kind of a recurring theme.

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

I personally found Tolkien's... anti-villains the most interesting. The heroic characters who were driven to do terrible things for one reason or another. The sons of Fëanor with their oath, especially, but also Túrin, and even Boromir. Come to think of it, it's kind of a recurring theme.

Of course you would find Túrin interesting, it is a matter of national pride for you guys.

Anyways, one villain (of sorts) that always annoyed me is Lotho Sackville-Baggins. He is never given a proper introduction, which confused the hell out of me when I read the books the first few times. Him taking over the Shire is actually something very interesting, and it is a shame that we have so few sources on how it unfolded.