''The Children of Húrin'' is an
epic fantasy
High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot. Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Pres ...
novel which forms the completion of a tale by
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...
. He wrote
the original version of the story in the late 1910s, revising it several times later, but did not complete it before his death in 1973. His son,
Christopher Tolkien
Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English and naturalised French academic editor and writer. The son of the author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher edited 24 volumes based on his father's P ...
, edited the manuscripts to form a consistent narrative, and published it in 2007 as an independent work. The book is illustrated by
Alan Lee. The story is one of
the three "Great Tales" set in the
First Age
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the history of Arda, also called the history of Middle-earth, began when the Ainur entered Arda, following the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long ages of labour throughout Eä, the fictional un ...
of Tolkien's
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the Setting (narrative), setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Midgard, Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf'' ...
, the other two being ''
Beren and Lúthien
''Beren and Lúthien'' is a 2017 compilation of multiple versions of the epic fantasy Lúthien and Beren by J. R. R. Tolkien, one of Tolkien's earliest tales of Middle-earth. It is one of what he called the three Great Tales in his legendari ...
'' and ''
The Fall of Gondolin''.
The book was mostly well received by critics, though some found it overblown or too fragmentary. Some critics wondered if it was suitable only for existing Tolkien aficionados, given the prose style and the large cast of characters, while others thought that despite its flaws it had the potential to reach a wider readership. Scholars have identified multiple themes in the tale, including evil, free will, predestination, heroism, courage, and the
noble outlaw in the wilderness. The book's initial sales were double the U.S. publisher's expectations; it reached number one on ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' Hardcover Fiction Best Seller list.
Background
Author
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...
was an English author and
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...
of ancient
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Southern Africa. The most widely spoke ...
, specialising in
Old English
Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
, the language of the
Anglo-Saxons
The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
; he spent much of his career as a professor at the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
. He is best known for his novels about his invented
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the Setting (narrative), setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Midgard, Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf'' ...
, ''
The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ...
'' and ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...
'', and for the posthumously published ''
The Silmarillion
''The Silmarillion'' () is a book consisting of a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited, partly written, and published posthumously by his son Christopher in 1977, assisted by G ...
'' which provides a more mythical narrative about earlier ages.
The story of ''The Children of Húrin'' is one of Tolkien's three "great tales" set in the
First Age
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the history of Arda, also called the history of Middle-earth, began when the Ainur entered Arda, following the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long ages of labour throughout Eä, the fictional un ...
of
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the Setting (narrative), setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Midgard, Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf'' ...
, the other two being ''
Beren and Lúthien
''Beren and Lúthien'' is a 2017 compilation of multiple versions of the epic fantasy Lúthien and Beren by J. R. R. Tolkien, one of Tolkien's earliest tales of Middle-earth. It is one of what he called the three Great Tales in his legendari ...
'' and ''
The Fall of Gondolin''.
In-universe
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the Setting (narrative), setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Midgard, Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf'' ...
is populated by
Men
A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy.
Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...
,
Elves
An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda''.
In medieval Germanic-speakin ...
,
Dwarves, and
Orcs, as well as divine beings,
Valar
The Valar (; singular Vala) are characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. They are "angelic powers" or "gods" subordinate to the one God ( Eru Ilúvatar). The '' Ainulindalë'' describes how some of the Ainur choose to enter the ...
and
Maiar. The history and
descent of the main characters begins five hundred years before the action of the book, when
Morgoth
Morgoth Bauglir (; originally Melkor ) is a character, one of the godlike Vala (Middle-earth), Valar and the primary antagonist of Tolkien's legendarium, the mythic epic published in parts as ''The Silmarillion'', ''The Children of Húrin'', ...
, a
Vala and the prime evil power, escapes from the Blessed Realm of
Valinor
Valinor (Quenya'': Land of the Valar''), the Blessed Realm, or the Undying Lands is a fictional location in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the home of the immortal Valar and Maiar on the continent of Aman, far to the west of Middle-earth; he ...
to the north-west of Middle-earth. From his fortress of
Angband he endeavours to gain control of the whole of Middle-earth, unleashing a war with the
Elves
An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda''.
In medieval Germanic-speakin ...
that dwell in the land of
Beleriand to the south. However, the Elves manage to stay his assault, and most of their realms remain unconquered; one of the most powerful of these is
Doriath, ruled by
Thingol. Later, the
Noldorin Elves forsake Valinor and pursue Morgoth to Middle-earth to take vengeance upon him. Together with the
Sindar of Beleriand, they lay siege to Angband, and establish new strongholds and realms in Middle-earth, including Hithlum ruled by Fingon,
Nargothrond by
Finrod Felagund and
Gondolin by Turgon.
Three centuries pass, during which the first
Men
A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy.
Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...
appear in Beleriand. These are the
Edain
In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fiction, Man and Men denote humans, whether male or female, in contrast to Elf (Middle-earth), Elves, Dwarf (Middle-earth), Dwarves, Orc (Middle-earth), Orcs, and Middle-earth peoples, other humanoid races.
Me ...
, descendants of those Men who have rebelled against the rule of Morgoth's servants and journeyed westward. Most of the Elves welcome them, and they are given fiefs throughout Beleriand. The House of Bëor rules over the land of Ladros, the Folk of Haleth retreat to the forest of Brethil, and the lordship of Dor-lómin is granted to the House of Hador. Later, other Men enter Beleriand, the Easterlings, many of them in secret league with Morgoth. Eventually Morgoth manages to break the Siege of Angband in the
Battle of Sudden Flame. The House of Bëor is destroyed and the Elves and Edain suffer heavy losses, but the realm of Dor-lómin remains unconquered; its lordship has passed to
Húrin.
Plot summary
Túrin, son of
Húrin is a
Man
A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy.
Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...
who lives in Dor-lómin. Húrin is taken prisoner by
Morgoth
Morgoth Bauglir (; originally Melkor ) is a character, one of the godlike Vala (Middle-earth), Valar and the primary antagonist of Tolkien's legendarium, the mythic epic published in parts as ''The Silmarillion'', ''The Children of Húrin'', ...
after the Battle of Unnumbered Tears; Túrin is sent by his mother, Morwen, to live in the Elf-realm
Doriath for protection after Easterlings invade their hometown. Morwen gives birth to
Niënor, a girl. Morgoth curses Húrin and all his family, that evil will befall them for their whole lives.
King
Thingol of Doriath takes Túrin as a foster-son. Túrin befriends Beleg, an expert hunter. Túrin accidentally causes the death of the King's counsellor Saeros, who attempts to jump a ravine while fleeing a wrothful Túrin. Túrin refuses to return to Doriath to face judgement and lives as an outlaw. Thingol pardons him and lets Beleg search for him.
Túrin becomes captain of a band of outlaws. Beleg locates the band while Túrin is absent; the outlaws leave him tied to a tree until he agrees to give them information. Túrin returns in time to cut Beleg free and, horrified by the outlaws' actions, resolves to forsake his cruel habits. Beleg tells him of the king's pardon but Túrin refuses to return to Doriath. Túrin and his men capture Mîm, a
Petty-dwarf, who leads them to the caves at Amon Rûdh. Beleg returns to Túrin, who welcomes him. The outlaws resent the elf's presence and Mîm grows to hate him. Mîm betrays the outlaws to
orcs; Túrin's entire band is killed, save for Beleg and Túrin. The orcs take Túrin towards Angband, leaving Beleg chained to a rock. Beleg escapes and pursues Túrin. Beleg happens across a mutilated elf, Gwindor of
Nargothrond, sleeping in the forest of Taur-nu-Fuin. They enter the orc camp at night and carry Túrin, asleep, from the camp. Beleg begins to cut Túrin's bonds with his sword
Anglachel, but the sword slips and cuts Túrin. Túrin, mistaking Beleg for an orc, kills Beleg with his own sword. When a flash of lightning reveals Beleg's face, Túrin falls into a frenzy. He refuses to leave Beleg's body until morning, when Gwindor is able to bury the elf. Túrin takes Anglachel but remains witless with grief.
Túrin and Gwindor proceed to Nargothrond. Túrin becomes King Orodreth's chief counsellor and commander of his forces, and leads the Elves to considerable victories. Against all advice, Túrin refuses to hide Nargothrond from Morgoth or to avoid full-scale battle. Morgoth sends an orc-army commanded by the
dragon
A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
, Glaurung; Nargothrond is defeated. The orcs, crossing easily over the bridge that Túrin had built, sack Nargothrond. Túrin returns as the prisoners are led away by the orcs, and encounters Glaurung. The dragon enchants and tricks him into returning to Dor-lómin to seek out Morwen and Niënor instead of rescuing the prisoners—among whom is Finduilas, Orodreth's daughter, who loved him.
In Dor-lómin, Túrin learns that Morwen and Niënor are in Doriath, and that Glaurung deceived him into letting Finduilas go to her death. He tracks Finduilas' captors to the forest of Brethil, only to learn she has been murdered. Grief-stricken, Túrin seeks sanctuary among the folk of Haleth. Túrin renames himself ''Turambar'', "Master of Doom" in
Quenya
Quenya ()Tolkien wrote in his "Outline of Phonology" (in '' Parma Eldalamberon'' 19, p. 74) dedicated to the phonology of Quenya: is "a sound as in English ''new''". In Quenya is a combination of consonants, ibidem., p. 81. is a constructed l ...
, and gradually supplants Brandir, Brethil's lame chieftain.
In Doriath, Morwen and Niënor hear rumours of Túrin's deeds; Morwen determines either to find Túrin or to hear news of his death. Against Thingol's advice, she rides out of Doriath alone; Niënor conceals herself among Mablung's riders whom Thingol sends to follow and protect Morwen. At Nargothrond, Mablung encounters Glaurung, who scatters the elves. Glaurung discovers Niënor's identity and enchants her so that her mind is made blank; she forgets her name and how to speak.
Mablung attempts to return to Doriath alone with Niënor. The two become stranded in the wilderness, and in an orc attack, Niënor runs into the woods and is lost. She collapses near Brethil on the grave of Finduilas, where Turambar finds her. He brings her back to the town, where she recovers the use of speech, but with no memory of her past life. Niënor and Turambar fall in love. They marry, not realising their kinship, and Niënor becomes pregnant.
Glaurung returns to exterminate the men of Brethil. Turambar leads an expedition to cut him off, and stabs Glaurung from beneath. As Glaurung lies dying, Turambar pulls his sword from the dragon's belly; blood spurts onto his hand and burns him. He faints; Niënor finds him and mistakes his swoon for death. In a last effort of malice, Glaurung opens his eyes and informs her that she and Turambar are brother and sister. Glaurung dies, and his spell of forgetfulness passes from Niënor. Remembering that her unborn child was begotten in incest, she drowns herself. When Turambar wakes, Brandir informs him of Niënor's death and of their true relationship as siblings, as he had overheard the dragon's words. Turambar accuses Brandir of leading Niënor to her death and publishing Glaurung's lies. He kills Brandir. Mablung confirms Brandir's tale, and Turambar kills himself with his sword.
The main narrative ends with Túrin's burial. Appended to this is an extract from ''
The Wanderings of Húrin'', which recounts how Húrin is at last released by Morgoth and comes to his children's grave. There he finds Morwen, who dies in her husband's arms.
Publication history
''The Children of Húrin'' was published on 17 April 2007, by
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
in the United Kingdom and Canada, and by
Houghton Mifflin
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...
in the United States.
Alan Lee, illustrator of other fantasy works by J. R. R. Tolkien (''
The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ...
'' and ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...
'') created the jacket painting, as well as the 33 illustrations within the book, eight of them full-page and in colour.
Christopher Tolkien
Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English and naturalised French academic editor and writer. The son of the author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher edited 24 volumes based on his father's P ...
included a description of the evolution of the tale, several genealogical tables, and a redrawn map of
Beleriand in the book.
Analysis
Source texts
A brief version of the story formed the base of chapter 21 of ''
The Silmarillion
''The Silmarillion'' () is a book consisting of a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited, partly written, and published posthumously by his son Christopher in 1977, assisted by G ...
'', setting the tale in the context of the wars of
Beleriand. Although based on the same texts used to complete the new book, the ''Silmarillion'' account leaves out the greater part of the tale. Other incomplete versions have been published in the ''Narn i Hîn Húrin'' in ''
Unfinished Tales''; ''
Turambar and the Foalókë'', in ''
The Book of Lost Tales''; and ''
The Lay of the Children of Húrin'', an early narrative poem in ''
The Lays of Beleriand''. None of these constitute a complete and mature narrative. Christopher Tolkien assembled them as follows:
Editorial process
Christopher Tolkien quoted his father's own words on his fictional universe, that he "had in mind to make a body of more or less connected legend... I would draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme, and sketched."
He explained his
editorial function as "presenting my father's long version of the legend of the Children of Húrin as an independent work, between its own covers, 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".
Ethan Gilsdorf, reviewing the book, wrote of the
editorial function that Christopher Tolkien "explains his editorial process this way: "While I have had to introduce bridging passages here and there in the piecing together of different drafts, there is no element of extraneous 'invention' of any kind, however slight." He had been criticized for having tampered with his father's text when constructing the connected narrative of ''The Silmarillion''. In Gilsdorf's view, Christopher Tolkien's words must be a "pre-emptive strike ... meant to allay the fears of Tolkien's most persnickety readers." Christopher Tolkien explained that in ''Unfinished Tales'' "the story breaks off at the point where
Beleg, having at last found Túrin among the outlaws, cannot persuade him to return to
Doriath (pp. 115-119 in the new text), and does not take up again until the outlaws encounter the Petty-dwarves." He states that he used ''The Silmarillion'' to fill the gap.
He had already explained in ''Unfinished Tales'' how he had used the ''Narn'' and ''The Silmarillion'' to achieve a complete tale of Túrin: "I have contrived a narrative, in scale commensurate with other parts of the ''Narn'' out of the existing materials ...; but from that point onwards, I have found it unprofitable to attempt it... I have cited isolated fragments from this part of the projected larger narrative.
Influences
The story, as already published in ''The Silmarillion'' and ''Unfinished Tales'', is mainly based on the legend of
Kullervo, a character from
Elias Lönnrot
Elias Lönnrot (; 9 April 1802 – 19 March 1884) was a Finnish polymath, physician, philosopher, poet, musician, linguist, journalist, philologist and collector of traditional Finnish language, Finnish Oral literature, oral poetry. He is best k ...
's compilation of Finnish
folklore
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
poems, the ''
Kalevala
The ''Kalevala'' () is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling a story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory ...
''.
Tolkien drew inspiration from the ''Kalevala'' for "The Story of Kullervo" in 1914, one of the earliest elements of his legendarium. This became the model for his tale of Túrin.
Túrin (like Kullervo) also resembles
Sigmund, the father of
Sigurd
Sigurd ( ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon — known in Nordic tradition as Fafnir () — and who was later murdered. In the Nordic countries, he is referred t ...
in the
Volsunga saga, in the incestuous relationship he had with his sister. In
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
's opera, ''
Die Walküre
(; ''The Valkyrie''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86B, is the second of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was ...
'' (likewise drawn in part from the Volsung myths),
Siegmund and
Sieglinde are parallels of Túrin and Niënor.
Túrin further resembles Sigurd himself, as both achieve great renown for the slaying of a dragon of immense power and magic. Turin's suicide following an exchange of words with his sword is lifted essentially unchanged from Kullervo's tale in Kalevala.
Tolkien mentioned Túrin's
resemblance to figures from Classical, Finnish,
and Norse tales in a letter:
The moral issues in ''The Children of Húrin'' have been compared to Tolkien's analysis of ''
The Battle of Maldon
"The Battle of Maldon" is the name given to an Old English Old English literature, poem of uncertain date celebrating the real Battle of Maldon of 991, at which an Anglo-Saxon army failed to repulse a Viking raid. Only 325 lines of the poem are ...
'' that shows Tolkien's interest in the "theory of courage", and distinguish between arrogance and true courage. Túrin's decision to build a bridge at Nargothrond which enables the invasion by Morgoth's forces resembles the character Byrthtnoth from ''The Battle of Maldon''.
Themes
The themes explored in the story include evil, free will and predestination. The book reflects also on heroism and courage. It has been suggested that Túrin's character is not only shaped by Morgoth's curse but that he himself is also partly responsible for his actions. The curse cannot completely control his free will, and Túrin displays traits like arrogance, pride and a desire for honour, that eventually cause the doom of his allies and family. Jesse Mitchell, in ''
Mythlore
''Mythlore'' is a biannual (originally quarterly) peer-reviewed academic journal founded by Glen GoodKnight and published by the Mythopoeic Society. Although it publishes articles that explore the genres of myth and fantasy in general, special a ...
'', compares Túrin both to the
Byronic hero and to the
absurd hero of
Camus's ''
The Myth of Sisyphus''.
Philip Vogel and Kenton Sena, in ''
Journal of Tolkien Research'', add the theme of the "
noble outlaw archetype", which they compare to
Joseph Campbell's American
monomyth: Túrin sometimes thinks of himself as an outsider, but he comes from and returns to the Dor-lómin community.
Further, they examine the role of wilderness, the perilous borderlands around civilized realms, in Túrin's life. Fleeing from Doriath, he goes into an exile of his own choosing in the wilderness, partly identifying as an outlaw fitting the "Wild Man archetype", partly rejecting the outlaws' desperate ways.
Reception
The initial reviews following the publication of ''The Children of Húrin'' were mostly positive. Likening it to a
Greek tragedy, the author
Elizabeth Hand in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' called it "a bleak, darkly beautiful tale" which "possesses the mythic resonance and grim sense of inexorable fate". The screenwriter and novelist
Frank Cottrell-Boyce, in ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', described the chapter "The Death of Túrin" as "dry, mad, humourless, hard-going and completely brilliant".
Bryan Appleyard of ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' set ''The Children of Húrin'' above other Tolkien writings, noting its "intense and very grown-up manner" and "a real feeling of high seriousness". Maurice Chittenden of ''The Sunday Times'' commented that "it may merit an X-certificate" for its many violent deaths. The novelist
Philip Hensher in ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' wrote that there were many reasons to detest the book, and enumerated them, but relented for its powerful final episode "in which an incestuous passion and a battle with a great dragon enfold each other". He disagreed with Tolkien about what gave power to his writing: Tolkien thought it was its links to antiquity; Hensher, for its modernity, referencing imperialism not feudalism, and an elf capable of evil.
The book received negative reviews from the ''
Detroit Free Press
The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...
'' which called it "dull and unfinished", ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' which described it as "awkward and immature" with an "impenetrable forest of names ... overstuffed with strangled syntax", and ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', which stated that it was about "a derivative
Wagnerian hero ... on a quasi-symbolic quest".
Other critics distinguished two audiences. Tom Deveson of ''The Sunday Times'' said that "although J. R. R. Tolkien aficionados will be thrilled, others will find ''The Children of Hurin'' barely readable". Kelly Grovier from ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'', on the other hand, stated that it "will please all but the most puritanical of his fans", referring to the scepticism about Christopher Tolkien's involvement. Jeremy Marshall of ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' generally echoed this, writing that "It is worthy of a readership beyond Tolkien devotees," although he thought it was flawed; he stated that "occasionally the prose is too stilted, the dialogue too portentous, the unexplained names too opaque". He presupposed that: "In ''The Children of Húrin'' we could at last have the successor to ''The Lord of the Rings'' that was so earnestly and hopelessly sought by Tolkien’s publishers in the late 1950s."
The Tolkien scholar
Nicholas Birns
Nicholas Birns (born May 30, 1965) is a scholar of literature, including fantasy and Australian literature. As a Tolkien scholar he has written on a variety of topics including " The Scouring of the Shire" and Tolkien's biblical sources. His analy ...
commented that the book solves a longstanding problem, that Tolkien's Middle-earth writing is "really one giant work", whereas to a publisher, it consists of one complete novel, one children's book, and an enormous mass of background materials, some of them more or less consisting of stories. ''The Children of Húrin'' finally, in Birns's view, provides a "short, accessible" work from
Tolkien's legendarium
Tolkien's legendarium is the body of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic writing, unpublished in his lifetime, that forms the background to his ''The Lord of the Rings'', and which his son Christopher summarized in his compilation of '' The Silma ...
that can let people in; he contrasts this with
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...
, whose admittedly great
oeuvre remains hard to enter.
''The Children of Húrin'' debuted at number one on ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' Hardcover Fiction Best Seller list.
According to Houghton Mifflin, the U.S. publisher, 900,000 copies were in print worldwide in the first two weeks, double their initial expectations.
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
, the U.K. publisher, claimed 330,000 copies were in print in the U.K. in the first two weeks.
Notes
References
Primary
Secondary
Sources
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External links
Statement about the bookby the
Tolkien Estate
The Tolkien Estate is the legal body which manages the property of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien, including the copyright for most of his works. The individual copyrights have for the most part been assigned by the estate (law), estate to s ...
FAQ on the subject of ''The Children of Húrin'' by the
Tolkien Estate
The Tolkien Estate is the legal body which manages the property of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien, including the copyright for most of his works. The individual copyrights have for the most part been assigned by the estate (law), estate to s ...
Statement about the bookby
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
Interview about the bookwith
Adam Tolkien (in Spanish but with an English version at the bottom of the page)
''The Children of Húrin'' FAQ''The Children of Húrin''with analysis an
reviews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Children Of Hurin, The
2007 British novels
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