Poll: Fan Perceptions of Maglor

[dawn_felagund]

ETA:: Please note: As of 10 May 2009, I have collected the results for this poll. You're welcome to still contribute, if you wish, as I may return to this topic in the future, but further replies will not be used in my current essay. However, do check out the discussion on this post, which is as fabulous as I have come to expect from my flist and passersby! :) A sincere thank-you to all who participated in the poll and provided such insightful discussion of the topic. /ETA

I am getting ready to write an essay for my weble The Heretic Loremaster, and I am interested in how Tolkien fans familiar with The Silmarillion perceive the character of Maglor. I appreciate the input of anyone who has a few minutes to spare me and my LJ-created poll. :) Also, please pass the word to other Tolkienites, if you're so inclined. I would like as many responses as I can get.

If you do not have an LJ account and would like to contribute to the poll, feel free to leave an anonymous comment with your responses. (Click "Confabulate with Me" at the bottom of the post.)

Please note also that I do not expect people to look up information for this. I am interested in your perceptions of his character, not how well you can find what the book says about his character. (And, for those who do not already know, I don't believe in "canon," so I don't believe that there are right or wrong answers to any of these questions, although I certainly possess my own opinions on them. :)



[Poll #1387001]

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Anything that you'd wish to add or elaborate upon, please feel free to do so in the comments. :)

Comments

[angelica-ramses.livejournal.com]

I can't add much to the previous discussion. I'll just say that I think that killing Uldor in the middle of the worst, bloodiest, most terrible battle to save his brother is enough to debunk the autistic Maglor/wimp Maglor version that you find in some stories. And the final argument with Maedhros about turning themselves in, is my favourite part of the whole Silm since it tells so much about the brothers, their relations and the intellectual clarity that Maglor has -even at that moment- that allows him to see that they should look for an alternative to keep killing to get the Silmarils. I also agree with Oshun's assessment about musicians: at this level they are not peace and love types but focused, concentrated, selfish (as much as you can in such a large family) individuals who have one target in life.
I shoud add that Maglor is/has always been/will forever be my number one elf.

[dawn_felagund]

I agree with you about Uldor. Even as a tender newby Silm writer working on AMC, that single moment really defined how I developed his character. It is impossible for me to reconcile a character capable of that act--to say nothing of kinslaying three times, acting as regent for the Noldor in Beleriand, holding Maglor's Gap, and bearing the Silmaril to the sea when the pain of that drove his brother to suicide--with the doe-eyed wimp with hands suited to a harp and not a sword that appears in many fanfics.

I can say, too, that fandom itself is perhaps proof of how artistic/creative types tend not to be particularly meek or passive, else we wouldn't fight so bitterly at times over things both silly and serious. ;)