Unfinished Tales - J. R. R. Tolkien [95]
‘Nonetheless, I will be the captain of my own host,’ said Túrin; and if I fall, then I fall. Here I stand in the path of Morgoth, and while I so stand he cannot use the southward road. For that in Nargothrond there should be some thanks; and even help with needful things.’
In another brief passage of speech between them Túrin replied to Beleg’s warnings of the frailty of his power in these words:
‘I wish to rule a land; but not this land. Here I desire only to gather strength. To my father’s land in Dor-lómin my heart turns, and thither I shall go when I may.’
It is also asserted that Morgoth for a time withheld his hand and made mere feints of attack, ‘so that by easy victory the confidence of these rebels might become overweening; as it proved indeed’.
Andróg appears again in an outline of the course of the assault on Amon Rûdh. It was only then that he revealed to Túrin the existence of the inner stair; and he was one of those who came by that way to the summit. There he is said to have fought more valiantly than any, but he fell at last mortally wounded by an arrow; and thus the curse of Mîm was fulfilled.
To the tale in The Silmarillion of Beleg’s journey in pursuit of Túrin, his meeting with Gwindor in Taur-nu-Fuin, the rescue of Túrin, and Beleg’s death at Túrin’s hands, there is nothing of any moment to add. For Gwindor’s possession of one of the blue-shining ‘Fëanorian lamps’ and the part that this lamp played in a version of the story see p. 67 above, Note 2.
It may be noted that it was my father’s intention to extend the history of the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin into the period of Túrin’s sojourn in Nargothrond and even beyond; but this was never incorporated into the narratives. In the existing versions the Helm disappears with the end of Dor-Cúarthol, in the destruction of the outlaws’ stronghold on Amon Rûdh; but in some way it was to reappear in Túrin’s possession at Nargothrond. It could only have come there if it had been taken by the Orcs that carried Túrin off to Angband; but its recovery from them at the time of Túrin’s rescue by Beleg and Gwindor would have required some development of the narrative at that point.
An isolated scrap of writing tells that in Nargothrond Túrin would not wear the Helm again ‘lest it reveal him’, but that he wore it when he went to the Battle of Tumhalad (The Silmarillion p. 212, where he is said to have worn the dwarf-mask that he found in the armouries of Nargothrond). This note continues:
For fear of that helm all foes avoided him, and thus it was that he came off unhurt from that deadly field. It was thus that he came back to Nargothrond wearing the Dragon-helm, and Glaurung, desiring to rid Túrin of its aid and protection (since he himself feared it), taunted him, saying that surely Túrin claimed to be his vassal and retainer, since he bore his master’s likeness on the crest of his helm.
But Túrin answered: ‘Thou liest, and knowest it. For this image was made in scorn of thee; and while there is one to bear it doubt shall ever assail thee, lest the bearer deal thee thy doom.’
‘Then it must await a master of another name,’ said Glaurung; ‘for Túrin son of Húrin I do not fear. Otherwise is it. For he has not the hardihood to look me in the face, openly.’
And indeed so great was the terror of the Dragon that Túrin dared not look straight upon his eye, but had kept the visor of his helmet down, shielding his face, and in his parley had looked no higher than Glaurung’s feet. But being thus taunted, in pride and rashness he thrust up the visor and looked Glaurung in the eye.
In another place there is a note that it was when Morwen heard in Doriath of the appearance of the Dragon-helm at the Battle of Tumhalad that she knew that the tale was true that the Mormegil was indeed Túrin her son.
Finally, there