The Narn i Hîn Húrin in

[Gabo]

Hi, reading the Unfinished Tales I found that the story of Turin is missing something, I remember in the Silmarillion how Turin goes to Nargothrond and the encounter with Glaurung there. Now in the part I am at, he just left the outlaws and Mim and went to Dor-Lomin, and at the halls of Broda it says something about the curse of Glaurung and starts mentioning Finduilas.

I guess that is why it's called Unfinished Tales? I haven't read The children of Hurin yet but found this gap in this book (and I dont remember Christopher Tolkien explaining it, I might have missed it). Anyhow, can somebody elucidate on this missing portion and why it was put like that by CT?

Thanks!

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

The title of the book is just as it's meant to mean, Unfinished Tales. These are pieces of stories that have been published as Tolkien left them, unfinished.

The Silmarillion is made up of narrative fragments left by Tolkien that were modified to connect into a full, coherent book as it's published. So that's why Unfinished Tales doesn't have all of the parts to the story in it as The Silmarillion does.

 

[Gabo]

Makes sense, I thought that would be the case but just wanted a more educated confirmation =) Thanks

 

[Elthir]

Hello Gabo! There's a brief explanation in the introduction to the tales in Unfinished Tales, made briefer here by my edits...

"But the central section of the narrative (...) constituted a much more difficult editorial problem. The Narn is here at its least finished, (...)

"For the first part of this central section, as far as the beginning of Turin's sojourn in Mim's dwelling on Amon Rudh, I have contived a narrative, in scale comensurate with other parts of the Narn, out of the existing materials (with one gap, see p. 101 and note 12); but from that point onwards (see p. 110) until Turin's coming to Ivrin after the fall of Nargothrond I have found it unprofitable to attempt it. The gaps in the Narn are here too large..."

See also the Appendix of the Narn in Unfinished Tales.

When you get to the constructed Children of Hurin published in 2007, there is also some description with respect to how that version was constructed.

 

[Valandil]

Move to "Unfinished Tales" Forum?

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

Done!