A tall glass of ginger

If I go back to 2012 when my love of Tolkien’s work really began, there is one very tall, pointy-eared red-headed figure who stands out as being responsible for why Middle-earth owns so much of my mental real estate now. My interest in Tolkien was re-ignited by the story of Beren and Luthien, but it was the character of Maedhros who really drew me in, thanks in part to a tongue-in-cheek Tumblr post I came across where someone had commented that Tolkien had named one of his elves “Hot Ginger”*.

Maedhros the Tall, eldest of the sons of Feanor, is one of the most popular characters that I have seen in the Tolkien fanfiction community and the fandom in general. I’d even be in the camp that says he is one of my favorite characters. The more I thought about just what it is about him that I liked (beside the red hair), I kept running into the issue of the treatment the character receives not matching their actions. Hear me out on this. If we look at Tolkien’s work, we see that the narrative treatment of heroes reflect their actions in the story, while the reverse is true of villains. The deeds and actions of the character are what decide their role. Morgoth is seen as the villain because he causes slaughter and mayhem, not necessarily in that order. Samwise is seen as a hero because of his selflessness and bravery on the quest to destroy the Ring. When we look at Maedhros however, there’s a bit of a paradox.

Let’s take a look at some of the defining actions of Maedhros’ life:

• swears the Oath,
• participates in all three kinslayings, the last of which was literally against his cousin’s family
• kidnaps a certain set of Peredhel twins (does this make him Aragorn’s foster-grandfather-in-law?)
•  rebels against the Valar one more time after the War of Wrath when he and his brother Maglor steal a Silmaril from the Valar’s camp.

Yet despite these atrocities, he is not seen or treated by either the narrator/Tolkien or the fandom as a villain. If anything, he is viewed as a tragedy, a cautionary tale and given sympathy. His behavior appears to be… gulp… excused.

What is it about this elf that causes this and what is it about Maedhros that makes him so popular among fans? Why does he receive such a light treatment, especially from fans, when it comes to his villainous actions? His brothers Celegorm and Curufin are reviled for their treatment of their cousin Finrod and Luthien, but Maedhros’ essentially orphaning Elrond and Elros is almost treated with an endearing sentiment in the form of #kidnapdads. Does it boil down to just his good looks? Or is there something about this not-quite-villain-but-definitely-not-a-hero character that speaks to something in us? I’d like to think it is the latter, that Maedhros-stans see him as a surprisingly modern character dealing with the reality that bad decisions can have permanent consequences, even when you try to repair them. But I’m still left questioning if this means we are left loving a villain and what exactly Tolkien was trying to say by creating such a character.

*Maedhros is a Sindarization of maed, “shapely” and ross, “red haired” which are the combination of his mother-name Maitimo “shapely-one” and Russandol “copper-top”

The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings are the property of the Tolkien Estate. All other views expressed are the author’s, who reserves all rights.