Narn i Chîn Húrin
Encyclopedia
A portion of the Narn i Chîn Húrin or The Tale of the Children of Húrin
is a part of the book Unfinished Tales
by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien
. It is a prose version of an earlier narrative poem called The Lay of the Children of Húrin
. A complete version of the Narn called The Children of Húrin
, edited by Christopher Tolkien
, was released as a new book in 2007.
The Narn (as it is commonly called) is a long story of what happened to Húrin and his children Túrin Turambar
and Nienor
, after Húrin was cursed by Morgoth
. A coherent but less detailed version of this story appears as Of Túrin Turambar in The Silmarillion
, the first posthumous adaptation of Tolkien's works.
In the published Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, the title of the Narn is given as Narn i Hîn Húrin. This was an editorial decision by Christopher Tolkien which he later regretted, done only to prevent people from pronouncing Chîn like English
"Chin" with a voiceless palato-alveolar affricate, rather than a voiceless palatal fricative
as in the German dich or the initial sound of the English word huge. The Children of Húrin uses "Chîn".
in the Minlamad thent/estent meter
by one Dírhaval, a mortal
poet who had nevertheless great mastery of the elvish tongue, and the Elves
praised the poem. The poem dates to only a few decades after Túrin's death ; Dírhaval is said to have lived at the Mouths of Sirion and died in the raid by the Sons of Fëanor
in Y.S. 538.
, and Túrin's exile in Doriath
, to Túrin's time in Nargothrond
, his unintentionally incestuous relationship with his sister Nienor, and ultimately ending with suicide by his sword Gurthang after having slain Glaurung
.
As a point of reference regarding the names of the main characters:
In this story, Túrin renames himself Turambar, meaning Master of Doom in the High-elven
speech, with a vow to turn aside from the darkness that had ruled his early life. His sister Nienor is also called Níniel, meaning Maid of Tears. She is renamed by Turambar himself after he finds her alone and in distress in the woods. Only much later does he learn her real name and origin. The section ends with the Elves calling them by the names of Túrin Turambar Dagnir Glaurunga (as the slayer of the Dragon Glaurung) and Nienor Níniel.
The story has some inconsistencies when compared with The Silmarillion, and at points there are gaps and multiple versions: this is because Tolkien never really 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 also 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 past Túrin's death with Húrin's eventual release and the bad deeds which come from that. This story was finally published in The War of the Jewels
, a part of the series The History of Middle-earth
.
Húrin
Húrin is a fictional character in the Middle-earth legendarium of J. R. R. Tolkien. He is introduced in The Silmarillion as a hero of Men during the First Age, said to be the greatest warrior of both the Edain and all the other Men in Middle-earth...
is a part of the book Unfinished Tales
Unfinished Tales
Unfinished Tales is a collection of stories and essays by J. R. R. Tolkien that were never completed during his lifetime, but were edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and published in 1980.Unlike The Silmarillion, for which the narrative fragments were modified to connect into a consistent and...
by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
. It is a prose version of an earlier narrative poem called The Lay of the Children of Húrin
The Lay of the Children of Húrin
The Lay of the Children of Húrin is a long epic poem by J. R. R. Tolkien, which takes place in his fictional fantasy-world, Middle-earth. It tells of the life and the ill fate of Túrin Turambar, the son of Húrin. It is written in alliterative verse and exists in several versions, but was never...
. A complete version of the Narn called The Children of Húrin
The Children of Húrin
The Children of Húrin is an epic fantasy novel which forms the completion of a tale by J. R. R. Tolkien. He wrote the original version of the story in the late 1910s, revised it several times later, but did not complete it before his death in 1973...
, edited by Christopher Tolkien
Christopher Tolkien
Christopher Reuel Tolkien is the third and youngest son of the author J. R. R. Tolkien , and is best known as the editor of much of his father's posthumously published work. He drew the original maps for his father's The Lord of the Rings, which he signed C. J. R. T. The J...
, was released as a new book in 2007.
The Narn (as it is commonly called) is a long story of what happened to Húrin and his children Túrin Turambar
Túrin Turambar
Túrin Turambar is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. "Turambar and the Foalókë", begun in 1917, is the first appearance of Túrin in the legendarium. J.R.R...
and Nienor
Nienor
Niënor, also known as Níniel , is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, appearing in the Narn i Chîn Húrin told in full in The Children of Húrin and briefly in The Silmarillion...
, after Húrin was cursed by Morgoth
Morgoth
Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...
. A coherent but less detailed version of this story appears as Of Túrin Turambar in The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R...
, the first posthumous adaptation of Tolkien's works.
In the published Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, the title of the Narn is given as Narn i Hîn Húrin. This was an editorial decision by Christopher Tolkien which he later regretted, done only to prevent people from pronouncing Chîn like English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
"Chin" with a voiceless palato-alveolar affricate, rather than a voiceless palatal fricative
Voiceless palatal fricative
The voiceless palatal fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . The symbol ç is the letter c with a cedilla, as used to spell French words such as façade...
as in the German dich or the initial sound of the English word huge. The Children of Húrin uses "Chîn".
Fictional history
The original version of the Narn was composed in SindarinSindarin
Sindarin is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin....
in the Minlamad thent/estent meter
Meter (poetry)
In poetry, metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study of metres and forms of versification is known as prosody...
by one Dírhaval, a mortal
Man (Middle-earth)
The race of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth books, such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, refers to humanity and does not denote gender...
poet who had nevertheless great mastery of the elvish tongue, and the Elves
Elf (Middle-earth)
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Elves are one of the races that inhabit a fictional Earth, often called Middle-earth, and set in the remote past. They appear in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings, but their complex history is described more fully in The Silmarillion...
praised the poem. The poem dates to only a few decades after Túrin's death ; Dírhaval is said to have lived at the Mouths of Sirion and died in the raid by the Sons of Fëanor
Sons of Fëanor
In J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth, the seven sons of Fëanor, the eldest prince of the Noldor, led their people from Valinor to rule over kingdoms in the Northeast of Beleriand:...
in Y.S. 538.
Plot summary
The story elaborates on what is told of these characters in the published Silmarillion, starting with the childhood of Túrin, continuing through the captivity of his father in the Nírnaeth ArnoediadNirnaeth Arnoediad
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium of Middle-earth, the Nírnaeth Arnoediad or Unnumbered Tears was the climactic Fifth Battle in the Wars of Beleriand.-The Fifth Battle as told in The Silmarillion:...
, and Túrin's exile in Doriath
Doriath
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, Doriath is the realm of the Sindar, the Grey Elves of King Thingol in Beleriand. Along with the other great forests of Tolkien's legendarium such as Mirkwood, Fangorn and Lothlórien it serves as the central stage in the theatre of its time, the First Age...
, to Túrin's time in Nargothrond
Nargothrond
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Nargothrond , called Nulukkhizdīn by the Dwarves, was the stronghold built by Finrod Felagund...
, his unintentionally incestuous relationship with his sister Nienor, and ultimately ending with suicide by his sword Gurthang after having slain Glaurung
Glaurung
Glaurung is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth legendarium. He is introduced in The Silmarillion as the first of the Dragons. He is also a major antagonist in The Children of Húrin. He was known as The Deceiver, The Golden, The Great Worm and the Worm of...
.
As a point of reference regarding the names of the main characters:
In this story, Túrin renames himself Turambar, meaning Master of Doom in the High-elven
Quenya
Quenya is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his Secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Quenya is one of the many Elvish languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called Quendi in Quenya. The tongue actually called Quenya was in origin the speech of two clans of Elves...
speech, with a vow to turn aside from the darkness that had ruled his early life. His sister Nienor is also called Níniel, meaning Maid of Tears. She is renamed by Turambar himself after he finds her alone and in distress in the woods. Only much later does he learn her real name and origin. The section ends with the Elves calling them by the names of Túrin Turambar Dagnir Glaurunga (as the slayer of the Dragon Glaurung) and Nienor Níniel.
The story has some inconsistencies when compared with The Silmarillion, and at points there are gaps and multiple versions: this is because Tolkien never really 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 also 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 past Túrin's death with Húrin's eventual release and the bad deeds which come from that. This story was finally published in The War of the Jewels
The War of the Jewels
The War of the Jewels is the 11th volume of Christopher Tolkien's series The History of Middle-earth, analysing the unpublished manuscripts of his father J. R. R...
, a part of the series The History of Middle-earth
The History of Middle-earth
The History of Middle-earth is a 12-volume series of books published from 1983 through to 1996 that collect and analyse material relating to the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, compiled and edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien. Some of the content consists of earlier versions of already published...
.
See also
- The Lay of the Children of HúrinThe Lay of the Children of HúrinThe Lay of the Children of Húrin is a long epic poem by J. R. R. Tolkien, which takes place in his fictional fantasy-world, Middle-earth. It tells of the life and the ill fate of Túrin Turambar, the son of Húrin. It is written in alliterative verse and exists in several versions, but was never...
- The Children of HúrinThe Children of HúrinThe Children of Húrin is an epic fantasy novel which forms the completion of a tale by J. R. R. Tolkien. He wrote the original version of the story in the late 1910s, revised it several times later, but did not complete it before his death in 1973...
- Túrin TurambarTúrin TurambarTúrin Turambar is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. "Turambar and the Foalókë", begun in 1917, is the first appearance of Túrin in the legendarium. J.R.R...