The Children of Hurin - By JRR Tolkien

~ By Hailey

•  6 stars
• Ages 14-Ault
• Pages: 313

Summary: In the lands of Middle Earth, there dwelled a dark lord named Morgoth (or Melkor) whose evil knew no bounds. He was at one time one of the Valar, a realm of the elves, but he wanted more than what he was given; he wanted to control all things in his realm. He came to Middle Earth and built a kingdom for himself in the northern mountains of Angband, where he created his own armies. In the year FA 462, there lived a man named Húrin, who broke the siege of Barad Eithel, in which his father and countless others died, leaving him to eventually stand alone. Morgoth ordered that he be taken alive as a captive, but Húrin defied Morgoth, and in turn, Morgoth cursed him, his wife Morwen, and all of his kin and set Húrin in a high place of Thangorodrim, where he sat for twenty-eight years seeing the world through the dark lord’s eyes. And that is where this story begins… Húrin and Morwen had three children, Túrin, their oldest and a son, Erwen, (also called Lalaith) who died when she was young, and Niënor, their youngest daughter. When Túrin was not ten years old, Morwen (who was pregnant with Niënor at the time) sent him to live in Doriath, an elven kingdom, to live in safety, where he was fostered by King Thingol. He lived there for many years in the king’s favour, until the death of the elf-man Saeros (who despised Túrin) made to look like his doing made him flee form the king’s wrath and into the forests south of Teiglin.

And throughout the years of his life, he lived among outlaws, dwarves, elves, and men, ever aware of his fateful curse. He fought many battles, was a great leader, mistakenly killed his true friend Beleg Strongbow, and killed the dragon Glaurung in his lifetime, accomplishing feats against Morgoth that few have ever done before.  This story, truly remarkable and well-written, had much heroism and honourable characters that will live on in the memory of all who read this book.


Turin Turambar



Negative Elements (none being best, 5 being worst)
Violence- 3

• There is several somewhat disturbing elements of violence in this book: There are some talk, references, and mentions of torture, a man is blinded and has his arms and legs hacked off and is left to die,  it is mentioned that Túrin is beaten/whipped by orcs, and an elf-woman named Finduilas is pinned to a tree with an orc-spear and dies that way

Romance, Sensuality, or Sexuality: 1

• Túrin undresses Saeros to shame him, and when Túrin’s sister Niënor is searching with her mother Morwen for her lost brother, she is separated  from Morwen during an ambush and flees into the forest, the branches tear off her clothing, and thus Túrin finds her in the wild, naked. 
• The elf-woman Finduilas is betrothed to the elf-man Gwindor, though he was  rescued from Morgoth’s hand by Túrin and then he and Finduilas fall in love.
• The man Brandir is in love with Niënor, and he tells her it, even though she is married to Túrin.
• Túrin and Niënor wed, although they do not know that they are in fact brother and sister. 

Closing Comments: (warning, a spoiler) I did not care at all for the way that the book ended; both Túrin and Niënor commit suicide, giving up on all hope when they learn that they are truly brother and sister, and when they think that each other is dead. Also as listed above.