Narn I Chin Hurin: The Tale of the Children of Hurin
by J.R.R. Tolkien
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Book Reviews of Narn I Chin Hurin: The Tale of the Children of Hurin
Book Review: Tragedy unfolds for a doomed family in The Children of Hurin
Summary: 4 Stars
Back in February I heard that there would be another compliation published from the copious notes of the late J. R. R. Tolkien. For nearly thirty years now, his son Christopher has been editing and bringing the world that was behind The Lord of the Rings and revealing just how involved and rich it was.
This time, it is a small story from The Silmarillion that gets fleshed out, telling the story of a proud family that is brought down by a curse that brings everyone within to a desparate end. Set in the First Age of Middle Earth, Elves and Men are caught up in a war against Morgoth, a creature of malice who seeks to bring all of Middle Earth under his rule. So far, Elves and Men have managed to hold out in isolated strongholds, but are continually harried by Morgoth's creation, the Orcs, and those Men who have fallen under his sway.
One such man is Hurin, a warrior famous for his steadfast heart and proud attitude. He has made friends with the Elven-lords, and when the call comes to join their armies in what would be known as Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, there is no question but that he will go. But Hurin has a family that he is leaving behind, a son, Turin, a daughter, Urwen, and his equally determined wife, Morwen Eledhwen, with a caution for her not to wait to keep their children safe.
Hurin stands and makes a name for himself in the great battle, but is captured and tortured by Morgoth in the bloody aftermath. Hurin defies, even when Morgoth pronounces a curse on him, damning his family to unhappiness. Turin, who quickly becomes the center of the story, is sent to fosterage with King Thingol, and his wife, Melian, but even here treachery soon creeps in, when Turin is unjustly exiled, and the long slow slide to tragedy begins...
So, if this story has already been told in The Silmarillion, why bother reading this later, slightly more expanded version? Is Christopher Tolkien milking his father's estate for everything he can? While some critics have stated this, Christopher Tolkien goes into the reasoning as to why this book came to be in his preface and introduction. He had always felt that his father wanted this particular story to be expanded into a more, in-depth, story, and to be honest it works here.
Characters are expanded on, I understood their motivations and emotions a bit more clearly. While it's told in an epic style, there are still moments of personal vision, especially towards the end, when the real tragedy unfolds. By the middle of the book, there's a clear idea that nothing good is going to happen, and that there's little to give any hope to any of the characters, but you still keep reading, because, well, you want to know what happens next.
What sold this book to me were the beautiful illustrations throughout by Alan Lee, the man responsible for most of the design and look of the film version of The Lord of the Rings. Each chapter heading has an illustration with it, and there are several more scattered throughout. Most appealing, however, are the full page illustrations in colour, done in a hazy, dreamlike style. Men fly on the backs of eagles to a hidden city, Hurin is imprisoned by Morgoth, a natural fortress rises up out of a plain, and so forth.
Astute readers will notice that there's a close similarity to Wagner's Ring of the Nieblungs here what with the relationships, the dwarf Mim and his sons, changable identities, and a firebreathing dragon -- but that's about it. Tolkien's world here is much more painful and tragic, and through the scenes of battle and where widowed wives wither away with grief, you get little snatches of brightness.
Finally, it's Tolkien's own prose that lifts this novel out of the gloom. You're left with the sense of grand things, and poetics, and it makes most of the other fantasy novels out there look like nothing more than cheap knockoffs. Tolkien's world is majestic, and nothing happens by half-measure. Evil here is of the subtle sort, wrought in the minds of the characters in thoughts of self-doubt and despair.
To help the reader, there are notes, a list of characters, a pronounciation guide, a fold-out map, and an appendix, along with the preface and introduction.
So, is the novel worth the price and trouble to find out? I would say yes, if the reader is already a fan of Tolkien's work, and while it's not necessary to have read The Silmarillion, or the mammoth twelve volume compiliations that come after, it certainly helps. For those who tend to be on the fanatical side, by all means, find this one. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
It's not a five star read, but it certainly earns a solid four stars.
Recommended.
Book Review: A dark and tragic story
Summary: 4 Stars
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Children of Hurin is a dark and tragic story. A tale of faerie it might be, but this is certainly no fairy tale! Too grim to be enchanting, it does however enthrall with horrific fascination as it draws the reader forcefully to the inevitable, terrible conclusion. So, a warning: if you're looking for an experience akin to reading The Hobbit, don't fool yourself: as you read the Children of Hurin you'll probably only ever crack a smile in appreciation of the prose. There's not a laugh in it.
Having said that, you'll be doing yourself a favour if you do seek out this refashioned jewel from Tolkien. For those who tried reading The Silmarillion but found it impenetrable, this could be the way back into what is universe building at its very best.
The story of the Children of Hurin occurs in the First Age of Middle Earth, some six and a half thousand years before the events recounted in The Lord of the Rings. So remote in the past is Hurin's tale that by the time Frodo sets out on his journey to destroy the One Ring the very land known to Hurin and his children has long been drowned beneath the sea; the ring does not yet exist; and its creator, the Dark Lord Sauron, is just the servant of Morgoth. Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, and mightiest of the godlike Valar, has fallen from grace through pride and arrogance and the desire to bring all life under his sway. A brutal war (depicted by Tolkien without any romantic delusions) is waged between the Elves and Morgoth. Men at this time are new to the world and some, though not all, have aligned themselves with the Elves against Morgoth. The Children of Hurin is the story of one man's refusal to bend to the Will of Evil and the curse that is visited upon him and his children in consequence. As Christopher Tolkien observes in the introduction to the novel, Morgoth's curse is unlike the curse of lesser beings; Morgoth does not invoke evil on Hurin and his family for he is Evil incarnate - there is no higher power to call upon:
"Upon all whom you love my thought shall weigh as a Cloud of Doom and it shall bring them down into darkness and despair."
What hope then for Hurin and his children, Turin and Nienor?
Not much. But some.
The tale focuses primarily on the exploits of Turin, although his fate and that of his sister Nienor are inextricably and tragically entwined in consequence of their wilful, unbending, often heroic, sometimes arrogant and misguided choices, human choices that are twisted and turned against them and all they love under the influence of Morgoth's Will.
Hurin's defiance of Morgoth promises the destruction of his family - Morgoth is a god, Hurin just a man - but there is nonetheless a wonderful tension between the seeming inevitability of their destruction and the heroic stature of Turin who we feel (and Morgoth fears) might just rise above the curse.
Grim stuff indeed, though not surprisingingly as the story had its inception in the dark days of World War I - the first so called Great War with its innovative methods for destroying lives en masse. Tolkien experienced the trenches first hand and lost his closest friends to the machinery of war and it's not surprising that this grimmest of stories took root in his imagination at that time. The story was nonetheless unfinished at the time of his death, although various versions had been published, most fully realised (in print at least) in The Silmarillion. Some time though it is since I read that work it doesn't seem to me that there is any significant difference between the plot in that version and this latest offering. The difference is that the earlier version is merely a sketch in comparison to this fully realised novel which has been edited from various sources into a seamless whole by Tolkien's son, Christopher, over the last 30 years.
Mention should also be made of the beautiful and evocative illustrations - paintings and sketches - by Alan Lee, long time illustrator of Tolkien's work and conceptual artist / consultant on Peter Jackson's movies of The Lord of the Rings. To be sure, Tolkien's evocation of landscape is so detailed and compelling that it does not require visual assistance to be realised in our mind's eye, and so it is tribute to Lee's artistry that his work is itself a compelling and worthy companion to the text.
In conclusion, the Children of Hurin is highly recommended - it is a truly moving tale, often beautifully written, evoking the harsh beauty of the landscape with the artistry of a great painter and the cruelty of fate with the unflinching eye of a realist. This is fantasy as it should be.
(This review first appeared on www.sffmedia.com)
Book Review: Tragic tale from the Elder Days a five-star read for Tolkien fanatics
Summary: 4 Stars
J.R.R. Tolkien famously started and stopped dozens of tales from the "Elder Days" of Middle-Earth over his life, and sadly left virtually all in various incomplete stages. His son, Christopher, has made it his life's work to pore over his father's drafts and compile them into coherent narratives. "The Children of Hurin" represents the most complete single tale produced by Christopher's efforts, and it is a welcome addition to the Tolkien library.
"Children" is a melancholy, tragic tale. Readers of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" well remember how cheerful Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, and all the other Hobbits seemed in comparison to everyone else. The Elves were a particularly sad lot, often singing sad songs of Beren and Luthien, or lamenting the death of some Elvish hero or other. "Children" reminds us why this is so. Hobbits are famously focused on the present, savoring the pleasures of a good story, a frothy pint of ale, or a full pipe of Longbottom Leaf. Elves and men such as Aragorn who know elf-lore cannot escape the scars of their history, and their joys of the present are marred as a result.
"Children" tells of the family of Hurin, and a sadder tale of Middle-Earth may not exist. Hurin was a mighty man and beloved by the Elves, even spending time in the hidden realm of Gondolin where no man had walked. His wife was proud Morwen, and they had children. Two feature prominently here - Turin, the son, and Nienor, the daughter.
Hurin fought in the mighty host against Morgoth, the Dark Lord of the First Age - the monster was such a bad seed that Sauron, villain of "The Lord of the Rings," was only his lieutenant. But as Morgoth's forces routed the allied armies of Elves and Men, Hurin was taken captive, buried in the clasping arms of his foes even as he struck them off at the shoulder. Proud, Hurin rebuked Morgoth, and Morgoth set him upon a high chair overlooking the lands so he could see Morgoth wreak vengeance upon Hurin's family, whom he cursed.
Turin grew to be tall and strong, but he could never escape the curse of Morgoth. Nienor, who features less in the story, plays no less tragic a part. For the curse of Morgoth ensnares both Turin and Nienor as well as those who love them. The final act of "Children" resembles the final scenes of "Hamlet" as friend and foe alike end up dead or in misery. Readers of "The Silmarillion" will recognize this broad outline, but "Children" fleshes out the tale considerably.
Unfortunately, for all the strength and power of the story, ultimately "Children" does not rise to the heights of "The Hobbit" or "The Lord of the Rings." For one, Turin is born 6,500 years before the Council of Elrond, and perhaps this explains why the dialogue is so formalistic. Maybe it made sense in Tolkien's understanding of his world, but it does not make for enjoyable dialogue. Characters speak in oaths and pronouncements rather than natural prose.
For another, the story has been fleshed out, but remains brief. Therefore, we are only offered tantalizing bits and pieces of what should have been a majestic tale. Perhaps this is unfair, as Tolkien did write some other noteworthy stuff that distracted him from fleshing out this tale. But it is undeniable that one reaches the end of "Children" far too soon. Tolkien gives us a great villain in the dragon Glaurung, for example, and yet Glaurung receives less development than the dragon Smaug from "The Hobbit." Other great events are glossed over, and as a result this tale reads more like a good first draft than a complete work. And that's fair, because that's ultimately what it is.
A Tolkien fanatic will devour "Children" in two or three hours, savoring every word. Tolkien fans are like that, and there are millions of us who are steeped in the lore of the Elder Days and have the dog-eared copies of "The Silmarillion" to prove it. We're the ones who closely read the Appendixes to "The Return of the King" to see if Samwise ever boarded the ships from the Grey Havens. But for the general reader who has only read "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" once and thinks Tolkien fanatics like me need to get out more, this story won't mean all that much and would be quite a downer in addition.
One item in this book that gets five stars regardless of whether you are a fan or not is the artwork by Alan Lee. Both his color and black-and-white pencil sketches are astounding.
If you have a Tolkien fan among your friends and family, you have this year's stocking stuffer.
Book Review: The Bottom Line: Get it. Even if You're only Casually Familiar with Tolkien
Summary: 3 Stars
This review is for the casual Lord of the Rings fan (who read the books); also for those who may not be familiar with any other Tolkien works or only slightly familiar with them (if there are any fantasy readers out there to fit this description).
The way to describe this book is it reads like Beowulf, with seemingly ancient mythology, larger than life situations involving seemingly all-powerful characters. It is however a tragedy where good does not prevail. You will not find the heroic victories you found in the LOTR, but self-defeat wrought from evil overcoming good.
The setting takes place 6000 years before the Lord of the Rings in a land that would not be familiar to LOTR fans because in that time, it is west of the Shire where Frodo lived and is now under the sea. (the reason does not enter into this story, but in other Tolkien works.) There is a great dark Lord, Morgoth (of whom Sauron from LOTR is but a lieutenant), and a great war where the armies of men, elves and dwarves is set against Morgoth only to be lost. Húrin, a man and great warrior, fought with the elves and was captured alive, for Morgoth needed information from Húrin of the hidden location of the city-kingdom of Gondolin. But Húrin defied and mocked Morgoth, in which case Morgoth places a curse on all whom he loves saying, "Wherever they go, evil shall arise. Whenever they speak, their words shall bring ill counsel. Whatsoever they do shall turn against them. They shall die without hope, cursing both life and death." A spell is cast upon Húrin by Morgoth and "set him in a chair of stone upon a high place of Thangorodrim, [...] There he was bound by the power of Morgoth; and Morgoth standing beside him cursed him again and set his power upon him, so that he could not move from that place, nor die, until Morgoth should release him. [...] `Sit now there,' said Morgoth, [...] For you have dared to mock me [...] Therefore with my eyes you shall see, and with my ears you shall hear, and nothing shall be hidden from you." Thus sets the tragedies to follow that make up the majority of this book.
Most of the rest of the book tells of those tragedies surrounding Túrin, the only son and one of three children of Húrin. Túrin has all the makings of the greatest of heroes, a man, learnt in the ways of the elves and eventually, as he grows out of childhood into a man becomes one of the greatest of warriors even compared to the elves. Entire groups of enemies would run at the sight of Túrin's "dragon helm" and sword, but foolhardiness, bad decisions, stubbornness and the curse work their way to the greatest of tragedies, one after the other. Even the greatest of heroic deeds Túrin accomplishes towards the end of this book ends in unimaginable tragedy.
This book is very different to read than the Lord of the Rings as seen from the quotes above. While LOTR is an easy read and draws you in to make you feel as if you are there (or want to be), this book reads like a far-off ancient legend which has been retold again and again only now making its way to your hands. If you buy this book because you feel it might be just like LOTR, then you will be disappointed if not prepared for these differences, but it is definitely a fine book that can stand on its own, and also ads to the world that Tolkien created.
***** WHY ONLY 3 STARS WHEN OTHERS GIVE 4 OR 5 ? ***** I personally give it 4 stars because I have read Tolkien works and love how the story adds to the Tolkien world. But this review is geared towards those that are not completely familiar with the Tolkien world. You will certainly find the story good enough to buy the book, but may not feel it is great if you are unfamiliar with the world and history this book is a part of.
***** THE BOTTOM LINE ***** Get the book no matter who you are. If you like fantasy, but are not really familiar with the Tolkien world, then it is a good story (albeit a tragedy) that stands on its own; and if you have read Tolkien, you will enjoy even more the world he has created that this tale expands upon.
Book Review: DENSE and Epic
Summary: 3 Stars
The Children of Húrin, also known as Narn i Chîn Húrin, is the latest J.R.R. Tolkien book. The stories of Túrin (son of Húrin) appear in earlier works like The Silmarillion, and are now released in full novel form thanks to tireless editing by his son, Christopher Tolkien. The tale takes place in the First Age of Middle Earth, and is somewhere between the Silmarilion and The Lord of the Rings in style, audience, and readability.
Húrin defies a god and his entire family is cursed. We experience most of the story through Húrin's son Túrin, who journeys through the entire western half of Arda - befriending Elf, Man, and Dwarf alike - to escape his doom.
You don't have to be a die-hard Tolkien fan to enjoy this book. While you can read The Children of Húrin as a stand-alone work, I do recommend reading The Silmarilion, or at least having some familiarity with the First Age. I do not recommend this as your first experience with Tolkien, due to the book's dreary theme and heavy style.
The language is dense. VERY dense. Dialog and descriptions are highly formal. The number of unique names for people and places is enough to fill a sizable appendix. The main characters change names a good four of five times each through the course of the story. Many of the places have similar names, and some of the important items in the book even have names. Side effects may include bouts of violence in fussy readers. If you feel that committing names to memory is important to your reading, you may want to put a bookmark in the appendix, make some index cards, or have a copy of The Silmarillion handy. For Tolkien fans, this excessive use of proper nouns is expected, and is very important to the charm of Tolkien's works. Tolkien was a linguist, and for every new name, new meaning is bestowed upon the characters and places.
Beyond the language, the themes are familiar and classical. The story is relatively short, but each chapter is almost episodic in structure. Túrin travels to a new place, makes friends, enemies, and horrible mistakes. All of these mistakes occur as a direct result of his rashness, or by dark, coincidental irony. His mistakes force him on to a new locale and new mistakes. People who seem untouched by Túrin's folly inevitably get drawn in later. There's not a lot of internal dialog, so most of the characterizations are created by actions. The overall effect is that you're reading an ancient epic, and I'm sure this is why The Children of Húrin is often classified as epic high fantasy, in the purest sense of the genre.
Christopher Tolkien has a lengthly foreward and appendix, explaining his editorial process, and describing the source materials used to create the novel. Foremost is C. Tolkien's insistence that the novel is published "with a minimum of editorial presence, and above all, in continuous narrative without gaps or interruptions, if this could be done without distortion or invention, despite the unfinished state in which [J.R.R. Tolkien] left some parts of it." (p.7, Preface) I expect that this process may have a deliberate effect on the story, as some of the passages are only summaries of action, contain alternate tellings, or are threads dropped or terminated with little or no pretense.
The posthumous releases have been a subject for hot debate among Tolkien fans, who question how much of the releases have contained creative writing. I have no strong opinions on Christopher Tolkien's editing process, which he's made very clear for readers. I recommend reading the entire work and appendices before forming your own conclusions. I'm a fan of Middle Earth and will happily receive this and any future Tolkien stories set in this rich, fully-realized world.
Read The Children of Húrin if you're a Tolkien fan, or enjoy classic and epic tales of fantasy. Don't read it if you're disheartened by constant tragedy. Few tales of the First Age have happy endings.