[Aiwendil]

One thing I like about Tolkien is that, for all that modernist critics may bewail his absolutist view of good and evil, there are many shades of grey in his works. Even in action or speech that is wrong or at fault, there is often some element of right or truth. A prime example of this subtlety is the curse upon the children of Hurin.

The prime example of this ambiguity is in the tension between fate and free will that operates in the Narn (it's similar to the tension in LotR between internal evil and external evil). Nearly all of Turin's misfortunes seem, on the surface, to be solely the result of his own actions and choices. If we were given the Narn without the introduction concerning Morgoth's curse, we could very well imagine that Turin is simply a tragic hero along the lines of, say, Hamlet - that is, that his misfortunes are all the result of an internal flaw. The story would work well enough this way.

But we know that there is something else at work. We know that the tragedies in Turin's life are the result, in some way, of Morgoth's curse. This, of course, doesn't invalidate the fact that Turin's ills are the results of his own decisions. But neither does Turin's weakness invalidate the controlling power of Morgoth's curse.

Hurin's defiance of Morgoth is a scene wrought with similar subtlety. We start with some fairly predictable stuff - Morgoth declares himself to be the Elder King, Hurin does not believe him, etc. Hurin scores something of a victory with "You are not the Lord of Men, and shall not be, though all Arda and Menel fall in your dominion . . ." Morgoth's reply doesn't seem to quite meet the challenge. It is now already a very poignant scene with real force within Tolkien's mythology. But it is the end of the scene that I find the most deeply affecting, and the most chilling. Morgoth: "You shall see and you shall confess that I do not lie," followed by Morgoth's setting Hurin upon Thangorodrim and cursing his kin. The chilling part is that, for all the valour and real wisdom in Hurin's words, Morgoth is right. Morgoth really can curse Hurin's kin; he really can come at Hurin through them; he really does seem to be, in some sense, master of the fates of Arda. None of this invalidates the truth in Hurin's words, and the rightness of Hurin's defiance; but neither does Hurin's defiance invalidate Morgoth's power.

I think that this is a very Norse result. One of the things that seems to have attracted Tolkien to northern mythology is that the world was doomed to end in catastrophe, in the Ragnarok; not only was final victory not assured for the heroes, there was no chance of final victory. But in spite of this certainty of defeat, the heroes still did not give up; they persisted in fighting evil despite the certain knowledge that they could not win. Of course, the situation is quite different in Tolkien; but on some level, I think we can observe the same thing in the constant struggle of his characters against "the long defeat".

Lindil - I'm also not so sure that Morgoth's curse was a direct result of Hurin's words. Morgoth was primarily interested in the location of Gondolin, and he mentions the possibility of coming at all Hurin's "accursed house" early in the conversation. I also don't see excessive pride in Hurin's words. He only asserts his faith in the Valar, and that Morgoth is not the lord of Arda. I don't think he is at fault in his defiance. But I do think that it is the same tendency toward defiance, the same stubbornness, that causes Turin do make the wrong decision time after time, and Hurin as well, after his release.

I don't think that pride in itself is, within the Legendarium, a failing. The adjective is often used with no negative connotations. It is excessive pride that is a failing. But I think that the way in which excessive pride is a failing is slightly different from the way we in the modern world tend to see it. We often think of pride as a failing because it leads to arrogance, selfishness, or a false sense of superiority or entitlement. But I think that in Middle-earth (again probably influenced by Norse mythology) it is the overconfidence or foolhardiness that comes from pride that is the vice. This is why it is not contradictory for Turin to be both proud and filled with pity: pride and pity are not opposed. Turin's excessive pride consists in his overconfidence in his own abilities and, sometimes, unwillingness to accept aid. Along with this came a certain sense of duty. Because (as he thought) he could defy the might of Morgoth, he must defy it; hen Saeros insults Turin's kin, he feels the duty to defend them by retaliating against Saeros. But Hurin's pride, in his words to Morgoth, seems to be not to be excessive.

About the Narn being the inverse of Beren and Luthien and The Lord of the Rings - a very interesting idea and an apt comparison. Of course, there is honour and true friendship in the Narn. But whereas in The Lord of the Rings hope continually wins out over despair, in the Narn despair comes out of apparent hope.

Still (and in another example of Tolkien's subtlety), at every juncture in the Narn, though the wrong choices are made, those wrong choices seem reasonable, or at least understandable. Morwen does not immediately flee. But after all, she had no news of Hurin's death; what if he was still alive and free, and would return? We know that Morwen made the wrong decision, but we can see why and we can even sympathize with the decision. Turin makes a mockery of Saeros - clearly wrong. But Saeros did both insult his family and then attack him. We know that Turin's action is wrong, but at the same time part of us (well, part of me, at any rate) is glad to see Saeros get what was coming to him, as it were. We know that Turin's policy of open warfare is not the best strategy; yet his words in defence of it have force - ". . . victory is victory, however small, nor is its worth only in what follow from it. But it is expedient also; for if you do nothing to halt him, all Beleriand will fall beneath his shadow before many years are passed, and then one by one he will smoke you out of your earths. And what then? A pitiable remnant will fly south and west, to cower on the shores of the Sea, caught between Morgoth and Ossë. Better then to win a time of glory, though it be shortlived; for the end will be no worse." His view is wrong, but his argument really does make sense. Moreover, just as with Morgoth's last words to Hurin, the things he asserts are true. All Beleriand does fall under Morgoth's shadow; one by one the Elves and Edain are smoked out of their hiding places; they do fly south and west, a pitiable remnant cowering on the shores of the sea. The only thing left out of his reckoning is Earendil - but how could he have predicted that? It's a microcosm of the whole long defeat/final hope situation: Morgoth's eventual victory = the certainty of the long defeat, Turin's defiance of him = the heroic resolve to fight evil in spite of the certainty of its final victory, Earendil = the final hope, lacking in Norse mythology but inherited in Tolkien from Christianity.

As for Hurin's end I have always seen Melian's words [which I take as canon despite their secondary origin] to him opening his eyes and for a final moment softening his heart, as evidence of the 'light of Melian' and it's effects on the last part of his sopul still open to truth, but he willfully chose to leave Menegroth and Melian's influence and then was cast back into his old despair, and doubtless morgoth was aiding this from afar, so his suicide is like his son's, in knowledge of the truth but so crushed and pained by Morgoth's curse and it's devastating effects on all he has known that he is left with no hope.

But Melian's healing words are not found in any of Tolkien's actual texts. As fitting as they seem, I don't take them as canon. Of course, there's no knowing how the story would have gone had The Wanderings of Hurin reached Doriath. The sense I get from Christopher's version is not that Hurin incorrectly leaves Menegroth and thus loses the light of Melian; rather, that he is freed entirely of Morgoth's spell, but now he understands fully what has happened and thus goes forth and kills himself - but as a free man. But none of Tolkien's versions have such a sugarcoated ending; though Hurin has never actually given in to Morgoth of his own will, he remains under the power of Morgoth's curse.