Of Túrin Turambar, Tuor, and the Silmarils
 

Over the last few days, I have been reading the Narn - the Tale of the Children of Húrin again.

As I was reading the story, some things began to pop out at me.

First - Of Tuor and Túrin, they were sons of two brothers, who served King Turgon of Gondolin. Húrin and Huor fought bravely in battle along side the King. The fates of the Fathers were each different. One was killed nobly in battle with a word of prophecy upon his lips. The other, a thrall of Morgoth, imprisioned in fetters on Thangorodrim. What made the doom of these brother's so different?

Now on to Túrin and Tuor. Tuor was a vassel of Ulmo, fostered by the Elf Annael. His path lead him to Gondolin into service of the King. But Túrin's path was much different. His path lead him to King Thingol of Menegroth, then as a servant/son, into the wilds. As his life continued, he became an outlaw of outlaws, a murderer of friends.

Now, on to my questions. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

What made Túrin's and Tuor's path so different? Was it that Túrin had stepped into the Doom of the Noldor by being fostered by Thingol? Did the Silmarils have anything to do with his fate, though he was not directly involved with them? He was the kinsman of Beren, who took the Silmaril from the Iron Crown of Morgoth.

One big reason for the differences is the curse that Morgoth placed upon Hurin's children. It was one of the driving forces in Turin's tragic life.

It's interesting to examine the numerous parallels between Turin's and Tuor's life. They were of course cousins; they were each raised at least for some time by an Elf; they each came to live in and be important figures in the kingdom of another group of Elves; they were each advisers to an Elven king; they each loved that king's daughter; they each had a guide that led them to the kingdom as well as a political opponent within the kingdom, and in both cases the opponent also loved the king's daughter; the kingdoms both fell; they each then came to a new home that was not a great kingdom and thus escaped or seemed to escape Morgoth. I'm sure there are more.

Most importantly, though, the destiny of each was in some way determined by a Vala. Turin lived under the curse of Morgoth, which can be seen as having driven most of the events in his life; Tuor's fate fulfilled the prophecy and the designs of Ulmo. I think this is the main contrast between them: the malice of Morgoth versus the mercy of Ulmo.

Yes, but what made the malic of Morgoth be upon Húrin and his line? What made these two brothers favorable to these Valar, each for a different purpose?

Need we look past the explicit cause? Huor was slain in battle, while Hurin was taken alive. Had Huor been captured, and defied Morgoth as Hurin did, surely Tuor's fate would have been different.

It does say that Hurin was taken alive by Morgoth's command. Maybe his intention was to capture Hurin and Huor, but the over-zealous Orcs killed Huor without thinking.

Lucky for Tuor then. And a few others...

It could be that Morgoth knew that Hurin had children and thus thought he could be influenced by threatening them. Tuor was born in the wild beyond the knowledge of Morgoth.

Turin had a lonely, painful and destructive fate. This is in part due to his spirit, he was violent and in many ways foolish. Basically he was 100% pure man (yes I know he was called Elf Man that’s beyond the point). Tuor, on the other hand, had that slightly more mythical, more peaceful, more beautiful aspect to him, he was more Elven, probably due to being raised by them. This could account for the differences between the two cousins. Turin lived a short, violent life, whereas Tuor lives a long (indefinite?) life and he creates more than destroys (Earendil).