The Children of Húrin

[Scott]

Anybody read this? Gene, I know you did. I think it will be the next book I read. Any comments?

Scott

[geneweigel]

I haven't finished it. Its like reading the chapter from THE SILMARILLION but with extras and pictures so it isn't bad but its basically a reread.

[Scott]

How many pages did he stretch it out to?

Scott

[geneweigel]

Without the introduction, appendix and color plates (with blank backs) CHILDREN OF HURIN has about 212. B&W pics are intermingled with the text.

From 29 pages of THE SILMARILLION.

The fonts are both around 1/8 of an inch but the space in THE SILMARILLION is 1/16 compared to CHILDREN OF HURIN's 1/8 text gap.

212 / 2 = 106

The B&W images take up 6 pages if combined.

106 - 6 =100

Theres a few big gaps interspersed throughout that take up about 5 pages in total.

100 - 5 = 95

95 - 29 = 66 new pages

[Scott]

Film rights are being shopped around as well.

Scott

[geneweigel]

Well, Morgoth on film would be cool to see as well as the Hurin battle at the beginning and a cinema treatment of a Tolkien dragon might be a treat as well.

[Scott]

I agree on all points.

Scott

[GRWelsh]

This a book I've been wanting to get, as well, but mostly as a collector and to get the Alan Lee paintings. From what I have read in reviews, 75% or so of this text has already been published in previous forms, such as the "Turin Turambar" chapter in The Silmarillion and "Narn I Hin Hurin" in Unfinished Tales. So it is not a newly unearthed Tolkien novel.

Still, I'm glad it's been assembled and produced, because of all of Tolkien's stories aside from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, I think it has the most potential to be a cool movie. It has many of the classic elements: a dragon, a curse, a grimly proud and doomed warrior (pre-Elric), a black sword (also pre-Elric), elves, dwarves, orcs, a Dark Lord enemy, and battles. It has a lot of echoes of the Sigurd story. I would actually rather see this, before a new movie treatment of The Hobbit.

[Scott]

I don't think the detail I'd like to see could be accomplished in a single movie. There is a lot of time to cover, and a lot of events I'd like to see with more detail than the Silmarillion short version.
From what I've read, this would be after the Hobbit.

Scott

[geneweigel]

Ack!! I totally overlooked the "history" and the "tales" books. I have too many distractions of late with all these publishing ventures getting processed.

[grodog]

I was given a copy for Father's Day this year, but haven't made the time to start reading it yet. I did re-read the Silmarillion recently, so I'll be curious to see how much of CoH is duplicate content....

[GRWelsh]

I'm also curious. When Children of Hurin was published, I reread the chapter in the Silmarillion -- which really is an overview of the events, keeping with the high, narrative tone of that book -- and the "Narn i Hin Hurin" in Unfinished Tales -- which is more along the lines of Tolkien trying to flesh out that same chapter in the Silmarillion into a story with dialogue, detail and more character development. I think that is why I was so surprised to see Children of Hurin announced -- my impression all these years was that the more fleshed-out and complete story was never finished -- hence, its inclusion in the Unfinished Tales. I suspect publishing pressure to come out with a "new Tolkien story" moreso than any true unearthed discoveries of (yet more) lost texts. But I'll reserve judgment until I read it.

Also, I wasn't suggesting a single movie to encompass the entire Silmarillion, but just that a single slice of it -- The Children of Hurin -- would make a good movie. I doubt the entire Silmarillion could ever be done justice, even in a series of movies. LOTR was hard enough, it was a complete story with dialogue, fleshed out characters, etc. But Children of Hurin is probably about as close as one could get to finding another movie-possibility, for the Tolkien works -- other than The Hobbit. I think some flashbacks to the big battles, such as Dagor Bragollach, would work pretty well in a film, to show (rather than tell) the overall conflict and dark ages feel of Beleriand -- similar to the way they showed the Last Alliance battle against Sauron in the beginning of FOTR.

[Scott]

For a movie, I didn't mean the Silmarillion either. I meant the The Children of Húrin. I don't think it would translate well into a single movie for the reasons I stated. It's a small story in the Silmarillion, but a lot happens over a long period of time.

Scott

[GRWelsh]

True, but I still think it may be do-able without having to explain the bulk of the Silmarillion. The basic background to establish would be that the Eldar and their mankind allies have been fighting a long war against the Dark Lord Morgoth, and in the most recent large battle the human hero Hurin was captured. I don't think a lot of the other stuff, like the Creation of Arda, the Valar, the kinslaying, the Silmarils, etc. would need to be brought up, for the movie to work. The time covered for this particular story is within the span of a young man's life -- Turin's -- not a long period of time. Basically, you show his childhood, his transition to become foster-son of King Thingol, in a few short scenes, and then the rest of the movie moves through the various episodes of Turin's life. The battle in which Hurin is captured, and his subsequent imprisonment and cursing by Morgoth could be a prelude, and/or interludes.

I think what could potentially bog it down would be the attempt to explain too much. If it is focused mainly on Turin's character, and the tragedy of his family, I think it could work. Turin is a great warrior, but tends to be bitter, brooding and makes some bad choices... and he's cursed. It's very much in keeping with the Siegfried/Sigurd stories, and has that Norse Mythology feel to it. It makes the Dark Lord personally evil, as well, focusing his malice on a particular family -- very petty and diabolic, in contrast to the more abstract evil of Sauron as portrayed in LOTR.

[Scott]

I started this today. The art isn't really impressive.
It's quality stuff, but for the most part, the subject matter doesn't really grab you, or it's presented in a way that fails to impress. Perhaps it is the result of the lack of specific details by Tolkien on certain personalities. The painting of Glaurung, for example, you know what it is because of the context, but otherwise it would be, "What is that? Is that a dragon maybe?".
There are some good paintings, but overall the artwork isn't too impressive.

Scott

[Scott]

I just finished plodding through the appendices. Christopher Tolkien is a long-winded follow.
Basically, this is a book for Tolkien collectors. There is nothing new, just expanded text. The writing has the same historical narrative feel as the previous versions of the tale, never a sense of urgency, or action.
It’s a good read, but in no way does it ‘grab’ you.

[geneweigel]

Wow, I completely forgot about it but I've been busy in the development grind of many things lately.

[Falconer]

I like the version in Unfinished Tales better. The Children of Hurin adds in too much extra stuff like the flashback to Hurin and Huor's Gondolin episode, and the full explanation of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, which disrupt the flow of the tale.

Also, I've never liked Alan Lee's art.

Nevertheless, I always thought it deserved to be published between its own two covers as a standalone book. So I'm glad the book exists for those who are afraid of UT/HoMe.

But The History of The Hobbit is definitely the major release of the year. Regards.

[grodog]

falconer said:

But The History of The Hobbit is definitely the major release of the year. Regards.

Details, please :D