The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien

The ‘Great Tale’ of The Children of Hurin, set during the legendary time before The Lord of the Rings. Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwells in the vast fortress of Angband in the North; and within the shadow of the fear of Angband, and the war waged by Morgoth against the Elves, the fates of Turin and his sister Nienor will be tragically entwined. Their brief and passionate lives are dominated by the elemental hatred that Morgoth bears them as the children of Hurin, the man who dared to defy him to his face. Against them Morgoth sends his most formidable servant, Glaurung, a powerful spirit in the form of a huge wingless dragon of fire. Sardonic and mocking, Glaurung manipulates the fates of Turin and Nienor by lies of diabolic cunning and guile, in an attempt to fulfil the curse of Morgoth.

I feel like I was adift at sea with nothing insight but the horizons, 360.

97% names and places unrecognized, unable to visualize where these people were in Middle Earth. Maybe not there at all.. The remaining 3% known were dark places... and the ever-present Orcs.

The first chapter is incredibly like reading the Old Testament, which is how I described the Silmarillion after finishing it.

I'm really not sure who the intended audience for this book was - the style of it would be impenetrable for someone who's never read Tolkien before, and if you're already a fan, you most likely already know this story through its earlier appearances in the Unfinished Tales or the Silmarillion.

So, here we have the complete, tragic tale of Turin Turambor and his sister Nienor. Told in a style that mixes Grecian myth, biblical tale, and Shakespearean pomp. A good enough story, although there are times when you can tell it was unfinished prior to Tolkien's death.

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.