A few thoughts on The Children of Húrin
Dec. 12th, 2007 05:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rscI just finished reading the Narn i Chîn Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien. For the sake of the 97% of you for whom this holds no interest, I will put my observations behind a cut.
Since I hadn't really read any reviews or other writings about it, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but I think I was kind of expecting something along the lines of the multiple volumes of The History of Middle-Earth that Christopher churned out over much of the '80s and '90s. But no; this is a coherent, uncluttered narrative. rather more along the lines of the published Silmarillion. In his preface, Christopher says it's intended for readers who haven't read any of the "Elder Days" material and are curious about it, but don't feel like slogging through a lot of clutter (obviously I'm paraphrasing here). I myself don't see why anyone who had not read The Silmarillion would be interested in this particular story; of all the "Tales" of the Elder Days, the story of Túrin is the one that has the least bearing on the matters that are mentioned or hinted at in The Lord of the Rings and its Appendices. But then I can't very well put myself in the position of such a hypothetical reader after all these years.
Possibly for the reason mentioned above, it's also never been my favorite part of that history; I think this is also because it's so relentlessly dark, and because I find the character of Túrin himself unappealing.
That said, I did actually enjoy reading it. It consists, as CRT acknowledges, almost entirely of material published previously in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, but it's nice to have it presented as a coherent narrative, and it is, for all its darkness, a remarkable piece of storytelling. What someone who knew nothing previously of Beleriand, Morgoth, Gondolin, and Nargothrond would make of it, even with Christopher's introduction giving a quick sketch of the background, I have no idea.
And of course, it's clear (after reading the appendix that explains the evolution of the text) why CRT chose this particular Tale to publish independently: it's the only one that ever reached a sufficiently complete form that he could publish it without having to write large parts of it himself. He notes that when JRRT returned to this story after finishing The Lord of the Rings, he began by working on the last part of it. CRT writes: "Why my father should have proceeded in this way, so unlike his usual practice of starting again at the beginning, I cannot explain" -- at which I had to smile, thinking it was a good thing that he had, since otherwise it presumably would have suffered the same fate as all the other "Great Tales", namely getting about half or two-thirds of the way through the story and then being abandoned. (That is, having the latest version of the end of the tale still be the original "Lost Tales" account, long since rendered obsolete).
All right, that's (more than) enough blathering. I have one minor peeve to vent: I was pretty sure that I remembered most if not all of Glaurung's speeches to Túrin and Niënor has addressing them as "thou" and "thee", of which there is no trace in the current text. A glance at Unfinished Tales confirms this (although there was a bit less of it than I remembered), and likewise in Túrin's exchange with his sword right before his death. I think this is probably justifiable (although, given that he hasn't otherwise altered the rather archaic style, sort of pointless), but it seems to me that it ought to be justified, or at least acknowledged: "I have replaced my father's occasional use of 'thou' and 'thee' with more modern forms because...". It just seems to me that it would be a little more intellectually honest, or something.
Since I hadn't really read any reviews or other writings about it, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but I think I was kind of expecting something along the lines of the multiple volumes of The History of Middle-Earth that Christopher churned out over much of the '80s and '90s. But no; this is a coherent, uncluttered narrative. rather more along the lines of the published Silmarillion. In his preface, Christopher says it's intended for readers who haven't read any of the "Elder Days" material and are curious about it, but don't feel like slogging through a lot of clutter (obviously I'm paraphrasing here). I myself don't see why anyone who had not read The Silmarillion would be interested in this particular story; of all the "Tales" of the Elder Days, the story of Túrin is the one that has the least bearing on the matters that are mentioned or hinted at in The Lord of the Rings and its Appendices. But then I can't very well put myself in the position of such a hypothetical reader after all these years.
Possibly for the reason mentioned above, it's also never been my favorite part of that history; I think this is also because it's so relentlessly dark, and because I find the character of Túrin himself unappealing.
That said, I did actually enjoy reading it. It consists, as CRT acknowledges, almost entirely of material published previously in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, but it's nice to have it presented as a coherent narrative, and it is, for all its darkness, a remarkable piece of storytelling. What someone who knew nothing previously of Beleriand, Morgoth, Gondolin, and Nargothrond would make of it, even with Christopher's introduction giving a quick sketch of the background, I have no idea.
And of course, it's clear (after reading the appendix that explains the evolution of the text) why CRT chose this particular Tale to publish independently: it's the only one that ever reached a sufficiently complete form that he could publish it without having to write large parts of it himself. He notes that when JRRT returned to this story after finishing The Lord of the Rings, he began by working on the last part of it. CRT writes: "Why my father should have proceeded in this way, so unlike his usual practice of starting again at the beginning, I cannot explain" -- at which I had to smile, thinking it was a good thing that he had, since otherwise it presumably would have suffered the same fate as all the other "Great Tales", namely getting about half or two-thirds of the way through the story and then being abandoned. (That is, having the latest version of the end of the tale still be the original "Lost Tales" account, long since rendered obsolete).
All right, that's (more than) enough blathering. I have one minor peeve to vent: I was pretty sure that I remembered most if not all of Glaurung's speeches to Túrin and Niënor has addressing them as "thou" and "thee", of which there is no trace in the current text. A glance at Unfinished Tales confirms this (although there was a bit less of it than I remembered), and likewise in Túrin's exchange with his sword right before his death. I think this is probably justifiable (although, given that he hasn't otherwise altered the rather archaic style, sort of pointless), but it seems to me that it ought to be justified, or at least acknowledged: "I have replaced my father's occasional use of 'thou' and 'thee' with more modern forms because...". It just seems to me that it would be a little more intellectually honest, or something.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 12:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-14 01:13 am (UTC)(I'm sorry to say I'm completely behind on the HoME -- I own only a few of the volumes. I'll fix that one of these days.)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-14 05:44 pm (UTC)Or you can do what I did, and check it out from the public library.
I'm sorry to say I'm completely behind on the HoME
It's a lot of work to get through all of it, and some of it is worth it (and some perhaps not, depending on what interests you). I found the volumes on the writing of LotR (volumes 6-9) the most fascinating; but I'll also tempt you by saying that if you make it through (most of) volume 12 you'll get an interesting eye-opener about one bit of The Silmarillion.
While I have an excuse to add to my original remarks, I'll throw in something I had intended to mention: there are a few loose ends, mostly having to do with Mîm the Petty-dwarf, that I assume JRRT would have cleaned up if he had ever finished the job.