History of the Truly Ancient World

It is time for my report on The Children of Hùrin. You must read it. Of course, that's the answer to be expected from me, so let me provide some detail.

The Children of Hùrin is an expansion of The Tale of Tùrin Turambar, which was one of Tolkien's central tales in the history of the First Age. The expansion is well done. There is only one change to the actual events (and it's footnoted), but now the version in the Silmarillion feels like the Reader's Digest condensed version of this tale. The writing is clean and well done. There are beautifully drawn pictures included all throughout. And there's a map of the appropriate regions.

The story itself is excellent. However, it is a tragedy, and the most brutal I've read, so don't expect a happy ending. If fact, as direct or indirect results of the events of this tale, every last stronghold in Middle Earth is destroyed. Entire people groups are destroyed and displaced. Hamlet, this ain't.

The only trouble I foresee is that this book is targeted at those who read The Lord of the Rings, and who want more, but haven't been able to tackle The Silmarillion. The trouble is that the history right up to the beginning of this story can be significantly important. At the very least, just jumping in will get you confounded by all the people and place names. Thus I present Stephen's condensed history of Middle Earth. Yes, this will be on the test.

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In the beginning, God (called Eru or Ilùvatar) created a bunch of angels (the Ainur, divided into Valar and Mair). They sang a big song together, which actually semi-predestined the history of the world. Some of them entered into the world to make it all happen.

Melkor (also named Morgoth) was a rebellious Valar, and sought to rule the world. There was war between him (with those that rebelled with him) and the rest of the Ainur. In the battle, the first light source for the world was destroyed.

The good Valar created two trees to give light, placing them on a continent to the west (Valinor). They took a stance of isolationism, fearing to wreak havoc on the Earth when the Elves were due to awaken.

The elves awoke far to the east. Oromë (the hunter Vala) found them, but not before Melkor had nabbed any who wandered away and bred orcs from them (well, that’s really just the Elves’ best guess for the origin of orcs). The Valar came and crushed Melkor’s kingdom, imprisoned him in the halls of Mandos (the Vala of death and fate), then asked the elves to come to Valinor.

Some stayed behind. Those are the dark elves (because they never saw the trees). Only one of them enters into the later history. Some went partway. Those are the gray elves (the Sindar). Of those that went all the way, there were three major groups: the Vanyar, the Noldor, and the Teleri. The Vanyar tended to be artistic and poetic. The Noldor were master craftsmen (which meant many were good artists too), and the Teleri tended to be sailors.

After a long time of happiness, Melkor was brought to a retrial, where he repented. He was set free to serve, but really was scheming. During this time, the greatest craftsman of the Noldor (Fëanor) created three jewels called the silmarils. These are the most beautiful items ever crafted by hand, and they glowed with the light of the trees of Valinor. Melkor planted lies in the mind of Fëanor, who became rebellious. When Melkor was caught, he fled Valinor back to the eastern continent (which is Middle Earth). Fëanor was punished for his acts of rebelliousness (like pulling weaponry on his brother, the first time mortals ever threatened mortals).

Melkor met up with a giant spider demon-creature named Ungoliant. The two of them went back to Valinor during the festival season. Fëanor had left the silmarils locked at his home. Melkor stabbed the two trees, and Ungoliant drank them dry, becoming bloated and nasty (well, nastier). Then they went to Fëanor’s house, killed Fëanor’s dad, and stole the silmarils (and everything else of value). Then they returned to Middle Earth, where they fought. Ungoliant fled to the south, and Melkor created a huge stronghold (Angband).

Fëanor convinced the entire Noldor people to go back to Middle Earth. They took a terrible oath (thus cursing themselves much as Adam’s sin cursed mankind) and left. On the way, they ask to use the Teleri’s boats. The Teleri refused, so the Noldor attacked and defeated them. The Noldor are split into two groups, those who follow Fëanor and those who follow his half-brother (Fingolfin). Fëanor’s group eventually abandoned the other at a point where the only path to Middle Earth is a perilous crossing on constantly shifting (and crushing, and falling, etc) ice. Fingolfin’s group made the crossing. As they finished, the moon rose for the first time.

While the Noldor were traveling (and slaughtering their brethren), the Valar were busy trying to save the trees. It could not be done, but they gave one last fruit and one last flower. From these are crafted the sun and moon.

The Noldor immediately laid siege to Angband and trapped Melkor. They made peace with the other kingdoms of Middle Earth. The sun rose and mankind awoke, eventually traveling to the west of Middle Earth and meeting the elves.

The siege lasted a long time, but in the end, it was broken. There remained three great strongholds. The first was Gondolin, a kingdom hidden in the midst of encircling mountains. The second was Nargothrond, a kingdom whose capital was hidden in caves. The third was Doriath. It was founded by the original King of the Teleri. During the journey west, he ran into a Mair in a forest. He fell madly in love with her and his people were unable to find him. They founded Doriath with other Grey Elves, and the Maia (Melian) used her power to put a girdle around the kingdom, keeping it safe.

Now just before The Children of Hurin occurs, The Tale of Beren and Lùthien takes place. And the stage is set…