The Children of Hurin

(Published in April, 2007)

All of you Lord Of The Rings fans get ready for another masterful story by J. R. R. Tolkien! Tolkien's son, Christopher, has edited and finalized one of the major stories of Middle Earth!

As the title suggests, the story centers on the children of Hurin: Turin and Ninenor. This is a heroic story with a tragic ending. Here we encounter the Dark Lord Morgoth (of whom Sauron served as lieutenant), his servant Glaurung the dragon, and the Elvish Kingdoms that existed long before Hobbits appeared on the scene.

The story begins with Hurin leaving his pregnant wife, Morwen and his young son, Turin, to fight against the Dark Lord, Morgoth. The armies of Elves and men are defeated and Hurin is captured. Although at Morgoth's mercy and subject to his taunts and torments, Hurin defies and scorns the Dark Lord. For this Morgoth curses the family and children of Hurin and binds him high on a throne giving him his eyes where he is forced to helplessly witness the playing out of the terrible curse on his family.

Hurin's land becomes overrun with Easterlings who plunder the land and make themselves lords over the region. Morwen sends Turin away to live among the Elves at Doriath. Not long after, Morwen gives birth to a daughter, Ninenor. The story continues with Turin fleeing the Elvish realm and becoming an outlaw due to a miscarriage of justice. However, Turin soon finds himself on the side of Elves again battling Orcs. Even so, it seems every good deed is over shadowed by Turin's pride and the evil of Morgoth's curse. Every victory Turin gains is won at the cost of great pain and tragedy.

I won't go into any more detail, you need to read this story for yourself! The first chapter is by far the most difficult to get through. Even so, I highly recommend you stick to it and wade through the introduction as well. The story is worth the effort!

After chapter one with all of the difficult and obscure names and genealogies, the story picks up pace and does not slow down! You will not be disappointed with this beautiful and sad story! This is "fairy tale" in its true mythic sense. If you loved The Lord of the Rings and The Silmirillion, you will love this book!