Incorporating The Children of Hurin into The Silmarillion

[Warholston]

Hi guys,

I'm about to begin my 6th read of The Silmarillion and I've been toying with the idea of incorporating The Children of Hurin with my reading of The Sil. Put another way, replace the chapter dealing with Hurin in The Sil, with the Hurin book. I've read the Children of Hurin only once, and I can't recall how much overlapping takes place. I'd like it be as concise as possible...

Has anyone attempted to do this? Or have any pointers on how to do it without hurting the structure of The Sil? Thanks!

 

[Bucky]

Hi guys,

I'm about to begin my 6th read of The Silmarillion and I've been toying with the idea of incorporating The Children of Hurin with my reading of The Sil. Put another way, replace the chapter dealing with Hurin in The Sil, with the Hurin book. I've read the Children of Hurin only once, and I can't recall how much overlapping takes place. I'd like it be as concise as possible...

Has anyone attempted to do this? Or have any pointers on how to do it without hurting the structure of The Sil? Thanks!

Yes, I've been doing it since 1980 when the entire CoH came out in Unfinished Tales, albeit with a bit of back & forth digging between the UT narrative, it's footnotes & part of the story in The Silmarillion itself...

All CoH does is put it all together in a nice, neat package & tie it in a bow. :*cool:

My understanding from the real experts is that about 200 words are changed from the way it was all those years to it's now finished form in CoH proper.

That's it.

 

[Sulimo]

I also have substituted in the Narn from the Unfinished Tales. However, my last read through after the Children of Hurin came out, I read them separately. I think it will work fine either way, and if you have already read it a number of times, it may be fun to change it up a bit.

 

[Sulimo]

I have now introduced two friends to both the The Silmarillion and the Children of Hurin. With both I had them insert the COH at the point of the Battle of Unnumbered Tears. Both were very dubious, but thanked me for it afterward. They felt that it enhanced the overall plot, and provided a great deal more depth to what is a rapidly moving cliff-notes summation of the First Age. That being said The Silmarillion is still my favorite book.