Turin the Hopeless?

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by tumhalad2

[I]
I'm drawn to the idea that CoH is in some ways ... a moral repudiation of the doctrine of "eucatastrophe". When the story ends, Hurin knows that his wife "had died" in his arms. No more is said, and no more need be said.

While CoH has (posthumously) been published as a separate book and can, to some extent, be enjoyed in its own right, I think its purpose and meaning can really only be interpreted or understood in the context of the world and mythos in which it is set.

Tolkien's concept of eucatastrophe relies on an appreciation of how bad and hopeless things are before the eucatastrophe occurs. Eucatastrophe refers to the sudden, joyous, turn which cannot be anticipated from what has gone before.

Thus, if good is gradually winning over evil and finally achieves victory, that is not a eucatastrophe. The war of wrath *was* a eucatastrophe because, while the elves and men might wish for divine intervention, they had no basis for expecting it based on anything that had gone before. The Valar had turned a deaf ear to all the destruction and killing of elves and, even, of Men (who had not been involved in rebellion).

Similarly, if there had been no death and destruction (if the Elvish kingdoms had simply managed to continue the siege of Angband indefinitely) the divine intervention and defeat of Morgoth would not be that special. Most Elves might just feel "we had things sorted just fine, thank you. We had our realms and here you come sinking our realms under water - destroying all we built. why didn't you just let us handle it."

In this context, the value of the eucatastrophe is proportional to the defeat and destruction and failure that preceded it. CoH (the Narn i hin Hurin) is one (the longest and most poignant) story of that evil - played out very personally in the lives of (in the mythos) real men and women with real egos, and loves, and strengths and faults.

The more we grieve at the evil of Morgoth (felt personally in CoH more than in any other tales of those days), the more we cheer or weep with joy at his eucatastrophic defeat.