Kurúki

Unknown
Kurúki
Biographical Information
Position	Magician
Location	In or near some woods
Affiliation	Evil
Notable for	Causing Vainóni and Tirannë to forget their names.
Physical Description
Gender	Unclear
Weaponry	Baneful drink
Gallery	Images of Kurúki

”

Tirannë and Vainóni fall in with the evil magician Kurúki who gives them a baneful drink…Vainóni succours him, but the dragon in dying tells her all, lifting the veil Kurúki has set over them.

The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, "Turambar and the Foalókë", Notes and Commentary

Kurúki was an evil magician in a preliminary sketch of the Tale of Turambar, according to the early version of the legendarium in The Book of Lost Tales.

History

Vainóni and her mother Tirannë met with Kurúki and were given a baneful drink. This caused them to forget their names and wander distraught within the woods. Eventually, upon the death of the Foalókë, the dragon lifted the veil that Kurúki had placed on Vainóni, causing her to flee through the woods and throw herself over a waterfall.

Etymology

The meaning of the name Kurúki is unclear, but it seems to contain the Qenya word kuru ("magic, wizardry").

Other versions of the legendarium

In later versions of the tale of the Children of Húrin, the character of Kurúki was discarded, and Glaurung took on the magician's former role of erasing Nienóri's memory in addition to his own role of breaking the spell of forgetfulness. In addition, Nienor is chased into Brethil by Orc-hunters in the final version. Interestingly, Christopher Tolkien notes that it is probable that the outline fragment that Kurúki appears in may be a unique glimpse into a draft of the Tale of Turambar that predates even the erased text which many of the stories found within The Book of Lost Tales were written over.