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J.R.R. Tolkien’s Children of Hurin to be Released
Some excitement is brewwing over at the Tolkien Camp. It would appear that J.R.R. Tolkien’s son Christopher has been a busy guy.
Christopher Tolkien has spent the past 30 years working on The Children of Hurin, an epic tale his father began in 1918 and later abandoned. Excerpts of The Children of Hurin, which includes the elves and dwarves of Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings and other works, have been published before.
I wonder about projects like this and I can’t help but instantly think of the worst.
Is Christopher publishing this to honour his father? Finish a work his father never did? Or is this an attempt at the offspring of the worlds most notable fantasy writer to gain popularity based on the name of his father?
You know what? After the initial speculations, I dont care. This is more Tolkien. Really. More.
Who would have thought. This has shadows of Natalie Cole singing a duet with her dead father all over it, but it means we get to be exposed to the wonderfully creative mind of Tolkien once more.
I just hope its GOOD. I don’t know just how much was written by dad before son spent 30 years working on it.
Erm … you do know that Christopher helped compile at least 7 volumes of his fathers notes, lesser works, unfinished tales, etc.? If there’s anyone who might have any idea of how his father wanted the tale fleshed out, it’s Christopher. Sure, it may not end up being anyone’s favorite, but I can point to passages from the legendary THE HOBBIT and the stellar THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING that could’ve been hacked, too.
This isn’t the right place to put this but I had too and the article about the Dirt movie is old so here it goes.
I just came back from the Motley Crue/Aerosmith concert that I mentioned in the other comment section and well. Motley Crue sucked ass and Vince Neil sounded like a chipmunk (Alvin). Then there was Aerosmith and they kicked royal ass and you could actually hear the lyrics(shocker).
To the topic I have never heard of this story but its Tolkien so my hopes are up and I hope it’s great.
Dude,
Let me just add to the weight of what’s been said: Christopher Tolkein is his Father’s greatest scholar and editor already and has been for DECADES. This is nothing new for those of us who read books… or who already care about other things that Tolkein wrote.
I have to agree with the comments already posted. If anyone knows how that story should end Christopher is the one. This reminds me a bit of Brian Herbert who, a few years back, started writing more stories based on the Dune universe. They’re not as good as the originals but they do stand well on their own. I can only hope that Chris manages the same.
Why can’t people atleast look into things before they acctually comment on them. J.R.R had a alot of unfinished work lying around, his son is just trying to get theese out to the world, he di 12 volumes of the history of middle earth, plus silmarillion and unfinished tales. Anyone who acctually read anything more then just the trilogy and hobbit would to 95% know this.
Rodney maybe you should read Silmarillion or the History of middle earth and form you own opinion on how Cristopher is doing.
I myself havn’t read that much of the post Tolkien stuff that Christopher has been shaping. I did read The Similarion when it first came out and read it in one sitting. I loved it. Christopher is no hanger on. Getting the remainder of his fathers’s work out to th public is a labour of love, and I look foward to the new volume.
themarina its different to Brian Herbert, he doesnt know what he is doing and only got as far as he did because he is Franks son and Kevin J. Anderson wrote them for him. Or thats the way i see it anyway
In my opinion The Silmarillion is just as good as The Hobbit. As stated before The Silmarillion was collected by Chris.
All the previous volumes Christopher Tolkien has released have been done with impeccable scholarship. Much of the narrative of the Children of Hurin is contained in fragmentary form in these books, specifically in ‘Unfinished Tales’. If you’ve read these, then you know that the Children of Hurin is one of Tolkien’s most sorrowful and tragic stories. This is not a feel-good tale. But, of course, Tolkien maintains his inimitable vision of stoic heroism throughout. Tolkien was never engaged in writing stories of “when bad things happen to good people” so much as “when bad things happen to Great and Noble Souls”. I’ve always found this a difference worth thinking about. I’ve also felt that people who focus too much on how simplistically clear the line between good and evil is drawn in his books have kind of missed the point. Tolkien saw most of the friends of his youth die on the battlefields of Europe, and as all of us who have read the final passages of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ know, he didn’t truly believe in happy endings. Tolkien doesn’t provide an answer to the problem of suffering, but in the end, he never fails to say ‘Do your best.’
More Tolkien is always amazing. I’ve followed The History of Middle-Earth, and Christopher Tolkien, in my opinion *more* than does his father justice; anyone who thinks this is some ploy to make money or play on his father’s name doesn’t understand the past twenty-some-odd years of his dedication.
Besides, the “Turin” saga was always my favorite of the three “Great Tales”: Luthien, Turin, Tuor. If Christopher Tolkien plays by his own past standards, there’s no way in Mandos he can screw this up.
As far as I am concerned, I have to agree with Edward Lee, only Christopher Tolkien, Tolkien’s son who basically had the same academic career as his father, could possibly be qualified to write The Children of Hurin. He did an outstanding job on the Complete Guide to Middle Earth series. Christopher Tolkien has also had an outstanding academic career and while he might not completely be his father, he has certainly accomplished enough to justify faith in his work on writings his father was unable to complete. He is the only one to do this in my opinion.