Skip to content

The Children of Húrin

The Children of Húrin

Epic FantasyFantasy
Pages
320
Published
2007
Language
English

Synopsis

The longest and darkest of the tales of the First Age, here presented for the first time as a complete narrative. Hurin is the greatest warrior of Men in the First Age; when he defies the Dark Lord Morgoth, Morgoth lays a curse on him and all his blood. The story that follows is the tragedy of his son Turin Turambar -- a man of great ability and terrible pride who cannot escape the doom laid on his family despite every effort of will and weapon. The story moves from the fall of the Elvish kingdom of Nargothrond to the dragon Glaurung, the enchanted forest of Brethil, and a conclusion that is among the most devastating in all of Tolkien's writing. Edited by Christopher Tolkien from the various Silmarillion-tradition texts, the narrative draws on Norse and Finnish tragic tradition and reads as a complete, self-contained novel.

Prose complexity
7/10

Vibe

DarkMelancholicAtmosphericTragic
BetrayalSacrificeRedemption ArcQuestFamily SagaChosen One

Genres

Epic Fantasy Fantasy Literary Fiction Mythology

About the author

J
J.R.R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa in 1892 and raised in England after his mother brought him home at age three. Orphaned before he was thirteen — his mother died a devout Catholic convert — Tolkien went on to study Old and Middle English, Germanic languages, Welsh, and Finnish at Oxford. He graduated in 1915, married Edith Bratt before shipping out to the Western Front, and fought in the Battle of the Somme. Nearly all of his closest friends were killed. He contrac...

Characters

Turin TurambarProtagonist

A man of great strength and dark pride, cursed by Morgoth through his father Hurin, whose every attempt to build something good ends in catastrophe. His story is the closest Tolkien comes to classical tragedy.

MorgothAntagonist

The Dark Lord whose personal curse on Hurin and his bloodline drives every disaster in the narrative, making him the story's engine even when he is offstage.

GlaurungAntagonist

The Father of Dragons, whose power of illusion and cunning manipulation are central to the tragedy's climax.

HurinSupporting

Turin's father, the greatest warrior of Men, who defies Morgoth and suffers an agonising fate -- imprisoned on a mountain, forced to watch the doom of all he loves unfold below him.

Beleg CuthalionSupporting

Turin's loyal Elvish friend and greatest companion, whose fate in the story is one of its early devastating turns.

All characters in The Children of Húrin

Frequently asked questions

  • Is The Children of Hurin related to The Silmarillion?

    Yes -- it tells the same story as the chapter Of Turin Turambar in The Silmarillion, but in much greater detail and as a complete stand-alone narrative.

  • Is The Children of Hurin appropriate for younger readers?

    The book is dark and ends in tragedy, with significant violence, death, and themes of incest and suicide. It is intended for adult readers, or at minimum mature teenagers.

  • Do I need to read The Silmarillion first?

    Not strictly -- The Children of Hurin is designed to be read as a stand-alone novel. However, familiarity with The Silmarillion adds depth, particularly regarding who Morgoth is and the larger context of the First Age wars.

  • Does The Children of Hurin have a happy ending?
  • How does The Children of Hurin compare to the version in The Silmarillion?

    The novel is substantially longer and more detailed, with greater characterisation, more dialogue, and a more fully realised narrative texture. The Silmarillion version is a compressed mythology; this tells the same events as a complete story.

  • What are the Norse and Finnish influences?

    Turin's story is closely modelled on the legend of Kullervo from the Finnish Kalevala and shares structural parallels with Sigurd the Volsung from Norse mythology -- both of whom are cursed heroes of extraordinary ability whose pride and doom are inseparable. Tolkien was steeped in both traditions as a philologist.

  • Is there a dragon in The Children of Hurin?

    Yes -- Glaurung, the Father of Dragons, is the story's most dangerous villain in the second half of the narrative. His power lies not in fire but in illusion and psychological manipulation.

  • What is a 'Great Tale' of Tolkien?

    Tolkien identified three stories as the Great Tales of the First Age -- Of Beren and Luthien, The Children of Hurin, and The Fall of Gondolin. These three form the emotional and narrative core of The Silmarillion and were the stories he worked on longest and cared about most.

Read all 2 reviews