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{{disambig-more|Narn i Chîn Húrin|[[Narn i Chîn Húrin (disambiguation)]]}}{{book
{{disambig-more|Narn i Chîn Húrin|[[Narn i Chîn Húrin (disambiguation)]]}}{{book
| title=The Children of Húrin
| title=The Children of Húrin
| image=[[Image:Children of Húrin 2007.png|225px]]
| image=[[Image:Children of Húrin 2007.png|275px]]
| author=[[J.R.R. Tolkien]]
| author=[[J.R.R. Tolkien]]
| editor=[[Christopher Tolkien]]
| editor=[[Christopher Tolkien]]
Line 8: Line 8:
| publisherUS=[[Houghton Mifflin]]
| publisherUS=[[Houghton Mifflin]]
| date=[[17 April]] [[2007]]
| date=[[17 April]] [[2007]]
| format=Hardcover; paperback
| format=Hardcover; paperback; deluxe edition
| pages=320
| pages=320
| isbn=0007246226
| isbn=0007246226
| precededby=[[The Peoples of Middle-earth]] (1996)
| followedby=[[Beren and Lúthien]] (2017)
}}
}}
'''''The Children of Húrin''''' is a book by [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]. He wrote [[The Lay of the Children of Húrin|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]]. [[Christopher Tolkien]] edited the manuscripts to form a consistent narrative, and published it in [[2007]] as an independent work.
'''''The Children of Húrin''''', also known as '''''Narn i Chîn Húrin: The Tale of the Children of Húrin''''', is a novel based on [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s writings, edited by his son [[Christopher Tolkien]] and published in [[2007]]. The main text had been previously published as "[[Narn i Hîn Húrin]]" in ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'', here edited by Christopher to form a consistent narrative as an independent work. First and most subsequent editions were illustrated by [[Alan Lee]].


It is the expanded account of the story of the wanderings and deeds of [[Túrin Turambar]], son of [[Húrin]], and his sister [[Niënor]], in their struggle against fate (and the curse cast upon Húrin's kin). It is considered to be among the darkest examples of any of Tolkien's works.
The plot consists in the expanded account of the story of the wanderings and deeds of [[Túrin Turambar]], son of [[Húrin]], and his sister [[Niënor]], in their struggle against fate (and the curse cast upon Húrin's kin). It is considered to be among the darkest examples of any of Tolkien's works.


The story is one of three "great tales" set in the [[First Age]] of Tolkien's [[Middle-earth]], the other two being ''[[Beren and Lúthien]]'' and ''[[The Fall of Gondolin]]''.
The story is one of three "[[Atanatarion|great tales]]" set in the [[First Age]] of Tolkien's [[Middle-earth]], the other two being ''[[Beren and Lúthien]]'' and ''[[The Fall of Gondolin]]''.


==Synopsis==
==Synopsis==
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"The earliest versions of this story by J.R.R. Tolkien go back to the end of the First World War and the years that followed; but long afterwards, when ''The Lord of the Rings'' was finished, he wrote it anew and greatly enlarged it in complexities of motive and character: it became the dominant story in his later work on Middle-earth. But he could not bring it to final and finished form. In this book I have endeavoured to construct, after long study of the manuscripts, a coherent narrative without any editorial invention."
"The earliest versions of this story by J.R.R. Tolkien go back to the end of the First World War and the years that followed; but long afterwards, when ''The Lord of the Rings'' was finished, he wrote it anew and greatly enlarged it in complexities of motive and character: it became the dominant story in his later work on Middle-earth. But he could not bring it to final and finished form. In this book I have endeavoured to construct, after long study of the manuscripts, a coherent narrative without any editorial invention."


==Table of content==
==Contents==
[[File:Alan Lee - Beleg Departs from Menegroth.jpg|150px|thumb|''Beleg Departs form Menegroth'' by [[Alan Lee]]]]
[[File:Alan Lee - Beleg Departs from Menegroth.jpg|thumb|''Beleg Departs form Menegroth'' by [[Alan Lee]]]]
* Preface
* Preface
* Introduction
* Introduction
* Note on Pronunciation
* Note on Pronunciation
* Narn I Chîn Húrin
 
* The Tale of the Children of Húrin
: '''Narn I Chîn Húrin: The Tale of the Children of Húrin'''
*# [[The Childhood of Túrin]]
* I. "[[The Childhood of Túrin]]"
*# [[The Battle of Unnumbered Tears]]
* II. "[[The Battle of Unnumbered Tears]]"
*# [[The Words of Húrin and Morgoth]]
* III. "[[The Words of Húrin and Morgoth]]"
*# [[The Departure of Túrin]]
* IV. "[[The Departure of Túrin]]"
*# [[Túrin in Doriath]]
* V. "[[Túrin in Doriath]]"
*# [[Túrin among the Outlaws]]
* VI. "[[Túrin among the Outlaws]]"
*# [[Of Mîm the Dwarf]]
* VII. "[[Of Mîm the Dwarf]]"
*# [[The Land of Bow and Helm]]
* VIII. "[[The Land of Bow and Helm]]"
*# [[The Death of Beleg]]
* IX. "[[The Death of Beleg]]"
*# [[Túrin in Nargothrond]]
* X. "[[Túrin in Nargothrond]]"
*# [[The Fall of Nargothrond]]
* XI. "[[The Fall of Nargothrond]]"
*# [[The Return of Túrin to Dor-lómin]]
* XII. "[[The Return of Túrin to Dor-lómin]]"
*# [[The Coming of Túrin into Brethil]]
* XIII. "[[The Coming of Túrin into Brethil]]"
*# [[The Journey of Morwen and Niënor to Nargothrond]]
* XIV. "[[The Journey of Morwen and Niënor to Nargothrond]]"
*# [[Niënor in Brethil]]
* XV. "[[Niënor in Brethil]]"
*# [[The Coming of Glaurung]]
* XVI. "[[The Coming of Glaurung]]"
*# [[The Death of Glaurung]]
* XVII. "[[The Death of Glaurung]]"
*# [[The Death of Túrin]]
* XVIII. "[[The Death of Túrin]]"
* Tables
 
* Genealogies:
* Tables - Genealogies:
*# The House of Hador & the People of Haleth
** The House of Hador & the People of Haleth
*# The House of Bëor
** The House of Bëor
*# The Princes of the Noldor
** The Princes of the Noldor
* Appendix
* Appendix
*# The Evolution of the Great Tales
** The Evolution of the Great Tales
*# The Composition of the Text
** The Composition of the Text
* List of Names
* List of Names
* Note on the map
* Note on the Map


==Writings and publication==
==Writings and publication==
A brief version of the story formed the base of chapter XXI of ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', 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.
A brief version of the story formed the base of [[Of Túrin Turambar|Chapter 21]] of ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', setting the tale in the context of the wars of [[Beleriand]]. Although based on the same texts used to complete the new book, Christopher Tolkien abridged the tale to avoid overcharging his edition.


Other incomplete versions have been published in other works:
Other incomplete versions have been published in previous publications:
*The ''[[Narn i Hîn Húrin]]'' in ''[[Unfinished Tales]]''.
*The "[[Narn i Hîn Húrin]]" in ''[[Unfinished Tales]]''.
*Items in the ''[[History of Middle-earth]]'' series, including:
*Items in ''[[The History of Middle-earth]]'' series, including:
**''[[Turambar and the Foalókë]]'', from ''[[The Book of Lost Tales]]''
**"[[Turambar and the Foalókë]]", from ''[[The Book of Lost Tales: Part Two]]''
**''[[The Lay of the Children of Húrin]]'', an early narrative poem.
**"[[The Lay of the Children of Húrin]]" (a narrative poem), from ''[[The Lays of Beleriand]]''
None of these writings forms a complete and mature narrative. The published ''Children of Húrin'' is essentially a synthesis of the ''Narn'' and of the account found in ''The Silmarillion''.
None of these writings forms a complete and mature narrative. The published ''Children of Húrin'' is essentially a synthesis of the ''Narn'' and of the account found in ''The Silmarillion''.


{{blockquote|"''It has seemed to me for a long time that there was a good case for 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, despite the unfinished state in which he left some parts of it.''"|Christopher Tolkien}}
{{blockquote|It has seemed to me for a long time that there was a good case for 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, despite the unfinished state in which he left some parts of it.|Christopher Tolkien}}


==Publication history and gallery==
==Publication history and gallery==
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|File:Children of Húrin 2007.png |2007 hardcover
|File:Children of Húrin 2007.png |2007 hardcover
|File:Children of Húrin 2007 large.png |2007 hardcover large print
|File:Children of Húrin 2007 large.png |2007 hardcover large print
|File:Children of Húrin 2007 deluxe.png |2007 [[The Children of Húrin: Deluxe Edition|deluxe hardcover]]
|File:Children-of-hurin-deluxe-edition-w-stamp.jpg |2007 [[The Children of Húrin: Deluxe Edition|deluxe hardcover]]
|File:Children of Húrin 2007 leather.jpeg |2007 [[The Children of Húrin Signed Limited Edition|deluxe leather bound]]
|File:The Children of Hurin Signed Limited Edition - 2.jpg |2007 [[The Children of Húrin Signed Limited Edition|deluxe leather bound]]
|File:Children of Húrin 2008.jpeg |2008 paperback
|File:Children of Húrin 2008.jpeg |2008 paperback
|File:Children of Húrin 2008 special.jpeg |2008 'overseas' paperback
|File:Children of Húrin 2008 special.jpeg |2008 'overseas' paperback
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*[[HarperCollins]] hardcover ([[2007]]), pp. 320. ISBN 0007246226  
*[[HarperCollins]] hardcover ([[2007]]), pp. 320. ISBN 0007246226  
*[[HarperCollins]] large print hardcover ([[2007]]), ISBN 0007252250  
*[[HarperCollins]] large print hardcover ([[2007]]), ISBN 0007252250  
*[[HarperCollins]] hardcover with slipcase ([[2007]]), ISBN 0007252234  
*[[HarperCollins]] [[The Children of Húrin: Deluxe Edition|hardcover with slipcase]] ([[2007]]), ISBN 0007252234  
*[[HarperCollins]] hardcover with leather traycase ([[2007]]), ISBN 0007252242  
*[[HarperCollins]] [[The Children of Húrin Signed Limited Edition|hardcover with leather traycase]] ([[2007]]), ISBN 0007252242  
*[[HarperCollins]] paperback ([[2008]]), ISBN 0007252269
*[[HarperCollins]] paperback ([[2008]]), ISBN 0007252269
*[[HarperCollins]] paperback ([[2008]]), ISBN 0007309368  
*[[HarperCollins]] paperback ([[2008]]), ISBN 0007309368  
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*[[HarperCollins]] large print paperback ([[2014]]), ISBN 0008108323  
*[[HarperCollins]] large print paperback ([[2014]]), ISBN 0008108323  


;[[The Children of Húrin (audiobook)|Audiobook edition]]
;[[The Children of Húrin (audiobook)|Audiobook editions]]
[[Image:The Children of Hurin Audiobook.jpg|150px|thumb|''The Children Of Húrin'' Audiobook]]  
[[Image:The Children of Hurin Audiobook.jpg|150px|thumb|''The Children Of Húrin'' Audiobook]]  
An unabridged audio recording of ''The Children of Húrin'' read by [[Christopher Lee]] was released in November 2007. Lee spent five days in the studio recording the book for HarperCollins.[http://christopherleeweb.com/node/73?s=2fe5c0abd7a86ace5f51d633fba86a37&] The audiobook also features [[Christopher Tolkien]] reading his preface and introduction to the story.
An unabridged audio recording of ''The Children of Húrin'' read by [[Christopher Lee]] was released in November 2007. Lee spent five days in the studio recording the book for HarperCollins.[http://christopherleeweb.com/node/73?s=2fe5c0abd7a86ace5f51d633fba86a37&] The audiobook also features [[Christopher Tolkien]] reading his preface and introduction to the story.


* [[HarperCollins]], [[2007]] ([[17 September|September 17]]), ISBN: 9780007269648
* [[HarperCollins]], [[2007]] ([[17 September]]), ISBN: 9780007269648
* [[HarperCollins]], [[2007]] ([[19 November|November 19]]), ISBN: 9780007269631
* [[HarperCollins]], [[2007]] ([[19 November]]), ISBN: 9780007269631
* [[HarperCollins]], [[2007]] ([[25 November|November 25]]), 1st edition CD Audio ISBN: 9780007263455
* [[HarperCollins]], [[2007]] ([[25 November]]), 1st edition CD Audio ISBN: 9780007263455
* [[HarperCollins]], [[2008]] ([[1 August|August 1]]), ISBN: 9780007298136
* [[HarperCollins]], [[2008]] ([[1 August]]), ISBN: 9780007298136


==See also==
==See also==
*"[[Of Túrin Turambar]]" (chapter of ''[[The Silmarillion]]'')
*''[[The Story of Kullervo]]'' (the precursor to ''The Children of Húrin'')
*''[[Beren and Lúthien]]''
*''[[Beren and Lúthien]]''
*''[[The Fall of Gondolin]]''
*''[[The Fall of Gondolin]]''
*''[[The Story of Kullervo]]'' (the precursor to ''The Children of Húrin'')
*[[:Category:Images from The Children of Húrin|Images from ''The Children of Húrin'']] illustrated by [[Alan Lee]]
*[[:Category:Images from The Children of Húrin|Images from ''The Children of Húrin'']]
*[[The Children of Húrin Release Party|Release party]]
*[[The Children of Húrin Release Party|Release party]]


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* [http://wormtalk.blogspot.com/2006/09/j.html Blog post] by [[Michael D.C. Drout]]
* [http://wormtalk.blogspot.com/2006/09/j.html Blog post] by [[Michael D.C. Drout]]
* [http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/childrenofhurin.htm Article on TolkienLibrary.com]
* [http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/childrenofhurin.htm Article on TolkienLibrary.com]
{{title|italics}}
{{title|italics}}
{{Publishedmajorbooks}}
{{Publishedmajorbooks}}
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[[Category:Publications by title]]
[[Category:Publications by title]]
[[de:Die Kinder Húrins]]
[[de:Die Kinder Húrins]]
[[fr:Les Enfants de Húrinn]]
[[fi:Húrinin lasten tarina (teos)]]
[[fi:Húrinin lasten tarina (teos)]]
[[fi:The Children of Húrin]]
[[fi:The Children of Húrin]]

Revision as of 14:49, 13 February 2023

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).
The Children of Húrin
Children of Húrin 2007.png
AuthorJ.R.R. Tolkien
EditorChristopher Tolkien
IllustratorAlan Lee
PublisherHarperCollins (UK)
Houghton Mifflin (US)
Released17 April 2007
FormatHardcover; paperback; deluxe edition
Pages320
ISBN0007246226
Preceded byThe Peoples of Middle-earth (1996)
Followed byBeren and Lúthien (2017)

The Children of Húrin, also known as Narn i Chîn Húrin: The Tale of the Children of Húrin, is a novel based on J.R.R. Tolkien's writings, edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and published in 2007. The main text had been previously published as "Narn i Hîn Húrin" in Unfinished Tales, here edited by Christopher to form a consistent narrative as an independent work. First and most subsequent editions were illustrated by Alan Lee.

The plot consists in the expanded account of the story of the wanderings and deeds of Túrin Turambar, son of Húrin, and his sister Niënor, in their struggle against fate (and the curse cast upon Húrin's kin). It is considered to be among the darkest examples of any of Tolkien's works.

The story is one of three "great tales" set in the First Age of Tolkien's Middle-earth, the other two being Beren and Lúthien and The Fall of Gondolin.

Synopsis

Christopher Tolkien:

"There are tales of Middle-earth from times long before The Lord of the Rings, and the story told in this book is set in the great country that lay beyond the Grey Havens in the North: lands where Treebeard once walked, but which were drowned in the great cataclysm that ended the First Age of the World.

"In that remote time Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in the vast fortress of Angband in the North; and the tragedy of Turin and his sister Niënor unfolded within the shadow of the fear of Angband and the war waged by Morgoth against the lands and secret cities of the Elves.

"Their brief and passionate lives were dominated by the elemental hatred that Morgoth bore them as the children of Húrin, the man who had dared to defy and to scorn him to his face. Against them he sent his formidable servant, Glaurung, a powerful spirit in the form of a huge wingless dragon of fire. Into his story of brutal conquest and flight, of forest hiding-places and pursuit, of resistance with lessening hope, the mythological persons of the God and the Dragon enter in fearfully articulate form. Sardonic and mocking, Glaurung manipulated the fates of Túrin and Niënor by lies of diabolic cunning and guile, and the curse of Morgoth was fulfilled.

"The earliest versions of this story by J.R.R. Tolkien go back to the end of the First World War and the years that followed; but long afterwards, when The Lord of the Rings was finished, he wrote it anew and greatly enlarged it in complexities of motive and character: it became the dominant story in his later work on Middle-earth. But he could not bring it to final and finished form. In this book I have endeavoured to construct, after long study of the manuscripts, a coherent narrative without any editorial invention."

Contents

Beleg Departs form Menegroth by Alan Lee
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • Note on Pronunciation
Narn I Chîn Húrin: The Tale of the Children of Húrin
  • Tables - Genealogies:
    • The House of Hador & the People of Haleth
    • The House of Bëor
    • The Princes of the Noldor
  • Appendix
    • The Evolution of the Great Tales
    • The Composition of the Text
  • List of Names
  • Note on the Map

Writings and publication

A brief version of the story formed the base of Chapter 21 of The Silmarillion, setting the tale in the context of the wars of Beleriand. Although based on the same texts used to complete the new book, Christopher Tolkien abridged the tale to avoid overcharging his edition.

Other incomplete versions have been published in previous publications:

None of these writings forms a complete and mature narrative. The published Children of Húrin is essentially a synthesis of the Narn and of the account found in The Silmarillion.

It has seemed to me for a long time that there was a good case for 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, despite the unfinished state in which he left some parts of it.
—Christopher Tolkien

Publication history and gallery

2007 hardcover  
2007 hardcover large print  
2008 paperback  
2008 'overseas' paperback  
2014 paperback  
2014 paperback large print  
Audiobook editions
The Children Of Húrin Audiobook

An unabridged audio recording of The Children of Húrin read by Christopher Lee was released in November 2007. Lee spent five days in the studio recording the book for HarperCollins.[1] The audiobook also features Christopher Tolkien reading his preface and introduction to the story.

See also

External links


A J.R.R. Tolkien book guide
Books by or mainly by Tolkien
On Arda Authored by
J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit · The Lord of the Rings
(i.The Fellowship of the Ring · ii.The Two Towers · iii.The Return of the King) ·
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil · The Road Goes Ever On · Bilbo's Last Song
Edited by Christopher Tolkien The Silmarillion · Unfinished Tales · The History of Middle-earth series
(i.The Book of Lost Tales: Part One · ii.The Book of Lost Tales: Part Two · iii.The Lays of Beleriand · iv.The Shaping of Middle-earth · v.The Lost Road and Other Writings · vi.The Return of the Shadow · vii.The Treason of Isengard · viii.The War of the Ring · ix.Sauron Defeated · x.Morgoth's Ring · xi.The War of the Jewels · xii.The Peoples of Middle-earth · Index) ·
The Children of Húrin · Beren and Lúthien · The Fall of Gondolin
Edited by others The Annotated Hobbit · The History of The Hobbit · The Nature of Middle-earth ·
The Fall of Númenor · The Maps of Middle-earth
Not on Arda Short stories
and poems
Leaf by Niggle · Farmer Giles of Ham · Smith of Wootton Major · Letters from Father Christmas ·
Mr. Bliss · Roverandom · Tree and Leaf (compilation) · Tales from the Perilous Realm (compilation)
Fictional works The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún · The Fall of Arthur · The Story of Kullervo · The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun
Translations and academic works Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo · Finn and Hengest ·
The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays · Beowulf and the Critics · Tolkien On Fairy-stories ·
Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary · A Secret Vice · The Battle of Maldon
Collected letters and poems The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien · The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien
Edited old texts A Middle English Vocabulary · Sir Gawain and the Green Knight · Ancrene Wisse · The Old English Exodus
Books by other authors
Biographies J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography · The Inklings · Tolkien and the Great War
Reference works The Complete Guide to Middle-earth · The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide
Scholarly studies The Road to Middle-earth · The Keys of Middle-earth · The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion ·
The Ring of Words · A Companion to J.R.R. Tolkien · Tolkien's Lost Chaucer ·
Tolkien's Library · Tolkien on Chaucer, 1913-1959
Scholarly journals Tolkien Studies · (The Chronology)
Other works by Tolkien
Linguistic journals Vinyar Tengwar various issues · Parma Eldalamberon issue 11-22
Collections of artwork
and manuscripts
Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien · J.R.R. Tolkien: Life and Legend · J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator ·
The Art of The Hobbit · The Art of The Lord of the Rings · Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth ·
Tolkien: Treasures · J.R.R. Tolkien: The Art of the Manuscript
This list is only a selection of works, for a fuller bibliography of Tolkien see here or here. See also a timeline and an index.