The Children of Hurin

[Sprayber]

I was reading some chapters in the Silmarillion the last few nights and it lead me to look some things up on The Encyclopedia of Arda when I ran across the news that there was a new book out that expands on the Children of Hurin story from Silmarillion. Actually comes out next week sometime.

Also I read that there might be possible future books telling the expanded story of Tuor and also Beren and Luthien. Kind of nice actually.

[Arrian]

Yeah, I saw this too... The Children of Hurin will be effing dark.

-Arrian

[Jon Miller]

Whose writing?

Jon Miller

[Arrian]

Christopher Tolkein, using notes from the man hisself.

-Arrian

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by Arrian
Yeah, I saw this too... The Children of Hurin will be effing dark.

-Arrian

I figure many might be put off from it because there isn't a happy ending but It was one of my favorites I think.

[DinoDoc]

What/Who are the Children of Hurin? I've never read the Silmarillion.

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
What/Who are the Children of Hurin? I've never read the Silmarillion.

Very brief rundown

The most tragic of Tolkien's heroes, Túrin, son of Húrin and cousin to Tuor, was in his time the most feared of Men by the servants of Morgoth. He did great service to both Doriath and Nargothrond, and is famed for slaying Glaurung, Father of Dragons, but the curse of Morgoth was on him, and evil followed him always. In the Forest of Brethil he came upon his own sister, but through the spells of Glaurung they did not know each other, and wed. After Nienor discovered the truth, she threw herself to her death, and in despair Túrin fell upon his own sword.

From the Encyclopedia of Arda

[Sprayber]

The 'Tale of the Children of Húrin'; the long legend of the grim and tragic lives of Túrin Turambar and his sister Nienor Níniel.

The tale starts at the time of the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, in which Húrin was captured by Morgoth and taken to Angband. Húrin defied the the Dark Lord, and so Morgoth cursed him and his family, and set him on a peak of Thangorodrim to watch the dreadful curse unfold.

At that time Húrin's wife Morwen still dwelt with his son Túrin in Dor-lómin, and still carried his unborn daughter, Nienor. For the safety of her son, Morwen sent him away to be fostered by King Thingol of Doriath, and so began a thread of tragic and historic events that would encompass nations and peoples across Beleriand.

The working of Morgoth's curse wrought havoc: exiling himself from Doriath, Túrin travelled the lands, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. Through his actions, Nargothrond was destroyed and sacked, and Beleg Strongbow was slain. However, his story was also one of heroism, and Túrin is famed as a captain of Dor-Cúarthol and slayer of Glaurung the Dragon.

Finally, the Narn ends in tragedy, as at last the children of Húrin each meet the inevitable dreadful fate that Morgoth's curse had set for them.

[Arrian]

It's pretty much endless misery, punctuated by brief triumphs.

-Arrian

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Wiki Previews it

Wiki Children of Hurin

Includes cover art work.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Arrian
It's pretty much endless misery, punctuated by brief triumphs.

-Arrian

QFT

The darkest section of the Silm, which is really saying something.

[Dr Strangelove]

Why am I thinking there is similarity between this story and Wagner's Ring Opera? What is the meaning of this obsession with incest among the ancient Germans and those who write about them?

[Arrian]

I'm pretty sure Tolkein was influenced by Wagner. There's a link-up with the One Ring too, IIRC...

-Arrian

[lord of the mark]

actually tolkien was influenced by the ring myth of the Niebelunglied, which was hundreds of years old when Wagner got to it. Whether LOTR incorporated elements from the Wagner operas that were not in earlier material, is even more Tolkien geeky than I can answer.

[Arrian]

Ah, right, that makes more sense actually.

Tolkein recycled a lot of old norse/germanic myth (and did it well).

-Arrian