Maeglin

"So you defy me to the last, ill-begotten son? Here yet you may die the same death as I!"

- Eol to Maeglin before his death

Maeglin was an Elf in the First Age of the Sun in Middle-earth and was one of the antagonists of The Silmarillion. He was the son of Eol who predicted an evil end for him.



Maeglin lived in the city of Gondolin, one of the last surviving Elvish cities of Middle-earth, in the country of Beleriand to the North, yet Maeglin was a traveller, he and his mother had fled to Gondolin to escape Eol, his abusive father, and when Eol ransacked the city and demanded his son back, his wife sought aid in Gondolin and they protected her but Eol killed his wife. So the Elves of Gondolin executed Eol by dashing him off a precipice. Maeglin saw this but Eol cursed his son before he died and said on that rock he would die like he did.

One day Maeglin was in the mountains and he was captured by Orcs and taken to Morgoth. Morgoth saw him personally and demanded to know of Gondolin's location and how to attack. Maeglin defied him but his resolve weakened ("he was no weakling nor craven")  but then Maeglin finally decided to betray Gondolin, especially when Morgoth promised Maeglin riches and the crown of Gondolin and the hand of Idril, an Elf lady whom Maeglin liked, and then Maeglin found Tuor, a human, liked Idril too and he got nasty. However, Maeglin let in the Enemy in Midsummer and then Morgoth attacked and destroyed Gondolin with his Orcs and Balrogs and every other monster, and Maeglin sought to kidnap Idril but Tuor duelled him on the rock where Eol died and then Tuor pushed Maeglin out into space and Maeglin died on the slopes.