The Children of Húrin

Tolkien, J.R.R., Christopher Tolkien, and Alan Lee. Narn I Chîn Húrin: The Tale of the Children of Húrin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. $15.99.

This delightful journey through early Middle Earth was light years from the difficulties of The Silmarillion, Tolkien's great work that covers the entire history of Middle Earth from its creation to the end of the Third Age, and helped make clear many of the references to older times found in The Lord of the Rings. Christopher Tolkien (J.R.R.'s youngest son and the protector of his literary work) has taken various writings that his father had left unfinished and, with some editing and a few instances of gap filling, provided us with a whole tale from the First Age of Middle Earth.

This story is not a happy one, but is a tragedy of the highest degree. It bears some similarities to other well-known, ancient tragic works. As such, while the story is satisfying in itself, I am glad that it is coupled with Tolkien's happier works of Middle Earth.

For one only familiar with the LOTR and The Hobbit, the biggest characters have already been introduced. Morgoth is the great enemy, and Túrin, son of Húrin, is the tragic hero. These are each in direct, though distant, relation to the great characters of the LOTR, such as Elrond and the elven lords, Aragorn, as well as Sauron.

Much like The Return of the King, this book has several helpful appendices. The most interesting, especially for those interested in literature, is Christopher Tolkien's explanation of how the present book descended from various prose and poetry of his father.

On the negative side, it is easy to feel the uncompleted nature of J.R.R. Tolkien's original work. Unlike The Hobbit of the LOTR, the details here are often spare. One doesn't get a good mental picture of the land or cities that Túrin visits, which was never a problem with his other works. Also, at times, the story seems to run on too quickly. I believe that the tale, had it been completed by Tolkien himself, could easily have been 2 books of much greater length than this one. That said, the story is still quite good.

While the tragedy contained in this book is the work of Morgoth, the lesson of humility can still be learned from what happens to Húrin's family.