Narn i Hîn Húrin

From Tolkien Gateway
The name Narn i Chîn Húrin refers to more than one character, item or concept. For a list of other meanings, see Narn i Chîn Húrin (disambiguation).
Unfinished Tales
of Númenor and Middle-earth
Part One: The First Age
Part Two: The Second Age
Part Three: The Third Age
Part Four

Narn i Hîn Húrin (Sindarin for "Tale of the Children of Húrin"), also called "The Narn", is a chapter in Unfinished Tales, a posthumously published work of J.R.R. Tolkien edited and published by Christopher Tolkien. It is a long story of all that happened to Húrin and his children Túrin and Nienor, after Húrin was cursed by Morgoth. In 2007, Christopher Tolkien published The Children of Húrin, wherein Tolkien completed the story and completed a single narrative of this tale with minimal editorial presence.

Story[edit | edit source]

The story elaborates on what is told of these characters in the published The Silmarillion, starting with the childhood of Túrin, continuing through the captivity of his father in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Túrin's exile in Doriath, to Túrin's time in Nargothrond and ending with his suicide after having slain Glaurung.

The story has some inconsistencies when compared with The Silmarillion, and at points there are gaps and multiple versions. This is because Tolkien never finished the story during his lifetime, and his son Christopher Tolkien had to choose from all the work to create a consistent narrative for The Silmarillion.

The story of the Narn continues in the Later Narn, which is published in Unfinished Tales, and in the "Wanderings of Húrin", a text which was found to be too different in style from the rest of The Silmarillion, but which continues the Narn after Túrin's death. It ends with Húrin's eventual release and the bad deeds which follow him. This story was finally published in The War of the Jewels.

Publishing notes[edit | edit source]

Note that the title of the Narn is wrongly given as Narn i Hîn Húrin in the published Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. This was an editorial decision by Christopher Tolkien which he later regretted, done only to prevent people from pronouncing Chîn like the English "chin".[1]

See also[edit | edit source]

References

  1. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, "Part Two: Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings, VI. Quenta Silmarillion", p. 322