The Children of Hurin

Children of Húrin is a tale compiled and told to us from some of Tolkien's extended writings. In this book Tolkien strives to emulate some of the myths that inspired much of his work. Here we predominantly follow Túrin, a figure from the First Age, who due to things outside of his control is cursed by the luciferian Morgthoth to suffer unto his death. Those familiar with Sigurd or Kulervo will quickly see the resemblance in the overall choices and trajectory this story takes. Túrin spends most of his time trying to avoid his doom, even taking the name Turambar or "Master of Doom" in a futile attempt to reclaim or take ownership of his fate. The more he tries to resist or avoid his fate the worse things get for him and those around him. Although if Túrin had believed his whole life that he was doomed from the start then his actions make a bit more sense. Often when we're told something as children whether good or bad it often follows us into adulthood, in this case turning this curse into a self fulfilling prophecy. This also goes to show how much our outlook can determine our fate. He starts off as an Aragorn like figure, with noble bearing and wisdom, taking solace within an elven kingdom and yet thru his actions and his untempered passions his life takes a very drastic turn. Although this tale mostly serves to fulfill Tolkien's love for European myth I think it slots in thematically with the rest of his Middle-Earth writings. Darkness prevails only when goodness is absent and it is up to each individual to kindle that within themselves if we wish to have a brighter tomorrow.

Overall i would recommend this to fans of mythology or those who want to explore some of Tolkien's extended writings on Middle-Earth but found the Silmarillion unappealing. The plot is fragmented giving it a loose or flimsy feeling which left me wishing Tolkien could've finished this great tale himself.

WHAT
A collection of manuscripts written by J.R.R. Tolkien trough many decades, put together and complemented by his son Christopher Tolkien. The book is close to a sequel to Silmarillion and has no connections with LOTR. The story is not very cohesive, but it is still an epic tale and bears some resemblance of the prose you see in his better known books. If you like Tolkien, this book is for you.

PLOT
Hurin, the great hero of men, was captured and cursed by Morgoth of Angband, the predecessor of Sauron. His entire lineage was condemned to suffer terrible fates. Fostered by the Eldar Elves, his son Tuirin tries to overcome his doom and free his father. But by his actions, misery and destruction follows him and afflicts all those that comes into his way, thus fulfilling his curse.

ANALYSIS
Have you ever had a problem naming characters? Well, Tolkien didn't, some of the characters in this story have many names, the protagonist having something like five. Tolkien uses the language he created to translate titles into names, such as “Bringer of Doom” or “Master of Fate”. As the character develops in the story, so does his name changes with him. This adds a nice touch, and doesn't feel to be abused.

The book starts very convoluted, in a Silmarillion “map my genealogy from the start please” kind of way. Clearly unnecessary for literary purposes, this is just Tolkien's pastime as a linguist. It takes a while for the real story to take shape.

Although there are some nice moments involving the world history, these are too vague. It is understandable due to the way it was brought about, but even if it were better told, it is not very good. It is a mixture of a classic Greek tragedy with an epic tale, where the hero is incapable of escaping his doom. It is not the tragedy that bothers me, but the very forced moments, like the characters acting unreasonably because “that's just who they are”. This kind of story works better in a poem, like Beowulf. And indeed it this was the intention of the author. It is better served as a short tale, something to give a background story to Middle Earth. Like the Smeagol backstory.

The character actions lack proper motivations and they fail to seamlessly transition from one point to another. For an example, Turin was fostered by an Elf King from his very early childhood, and he was treated as a son to him. He learned all the wisdom the Eldars had, but he still grew too proud. At one moment, he decided he did not want anything to do with the elves anymore and walked away to live with a group of criminals.

If the Hobbit would show why elves dislike dwarves, this book helps to understand why they also have mixed feelings towards humans. Turin proved himself to be arrogant and ungrateful. It also explains why so much hope is laid upon them, because he turns out to be one of Middle Earth's greatest heroes, as did his father before him.

I would rather it had connections with the events in LOTR, but I judge it for what it is. By the way, it helps to have some knowledge of the Silmarillion, such as who is Morgoth, the Eldar and the Valar to make more sense.

Still this was a nice enough reading. It is enough to inspire that epic feeling of heroic deeds you would expect from this kind of novel.

everybody dies