Regarding and Revisiting the death of Thingol and the subsequent ambush of the dwarven army

squirrelwrangler:

• Here is the

  first post where I noticed several quotes where the attack on the Dwarves at Sarn Athrad was carried out by Celegorm and Curufin. 

So why do we have the published version in the Silmarillion which is so radically different from what is in the later notes? In short, Christopher Tolkien chose to go with the much earlier version of the story – and also add to it – so as to have something to fit with the rest of the published Silmarillion he was editing together. But, he admits, the version he wrote might have been a poor decision.

“This story was not lightly or easily conceived, but was the outcome of long experimentation among alternative conceptions. In this work Guy Kay took a major part, and the chapter that I finally wrote owes much to my discussions with him. It is, and was, obvious that a Step was being taken of a different order from any other ‘manipulation’ of my father’s own writing in the course of the book: even in the case of the story of The Fall of Gondolin, to which my father had never returned, something could be contrived without introducing radical changes in the narrative. It seemed at that time that there were elements inherent in the story of the Ruin of Doriath as it stood that were radically incompatible with ‘The Silmarillion’ as projected, and that there was here an inescapable choice: either to abandon that conception, or else to alter the story. I think now that this was a mistaken view, and that the undoubted difficulties could have been, and should have been, surmounted without so far overstepping the bounds of the editorial function.”

•  (All quotes are from HoMe 11 The War of the Jewels unless otherwise noted)

Now my goal in the first post wasn’t to state which version is “canon” and which isn’t, because that’s the very nature of The Silmarillion and the delight and issue of its fandom – that there are many versions. And I do not consistently choose one or the other when it comes to going with the published Silmarillion or favoring the version that is chronologically newer or more common. For instance, I firmly reject Teleporno and the last revised history of Galadriel and Celeborn. And for personal reasons I like Gil-galad as the son of Fingon. But part of being a Silmarillion fan is choosing which interpretations appeal to you. Which ones you feel have better internal story consistency and fit the characterizations.

(I will say that I tend to place the earliest rough draft versions, especially if contradicted by all following canon, as much lower in my consideration except as something for fun and AUs. Like Beren’s father being named Egnor. But it is something I don’t feel entitled to police other fans over.)

So I endeavored to give a little more thought and scrutiny to not only this revision(s) where the Fëanorians are responsible for the attack on the dwarves at Sarn Athrad (again, see the other post with relevant pulled quotes), but also how the death of Thingol arose. As I only pulled up the quotes from the timelines where Celegorm and Curufin are the ones to ambush the dwarven army on a whim as I was searching for something else, I think this and related issues deserve a full look:

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