Unfinished Tales - Part One - II - Narn I Hín Húrin

[Pitchwife]

Allright, Túrin's band of outlaws. Here we get another look at 'ordinary' Men of the First Age and how the disasters of war affected (or rather ruined) their lives:

Originally Posted by UT Narn, Túrin among the Outlaws

For in that region of ruin houseless and desperate Men went astray: remnants of battle and defeat, and lands laid waste; and some were Men driven into the wild for evil deeds. They hunted and gathered such food as they could; but in winter when hunger drove them they were to be feared as wolves, and Gaurwaith, the wolf-men, they were called by those who defended their homes.

So while some of Túrin's band, such as Forweg and Andróg, were outlaws and criminals to begin with, I think it's safe to assume that most of them were originally decent enough folk, driven to prey on their own kind by the extremity of need.

It's also interesting how Túrin comports himself among his new companions. First he just keeps aloof and does "little to restrain their evil deeds", although they disgust and at times enrage him. Then, after witnessing the attempted rape of a woman by Forweg and Andróg, he leads them into the wild in order to avoid further confrontation with their fellow Men; but only after he has met Beleg again (being thus reminded of how deep he has fallen) does he think of actively turning them to a better purpose and begins forging them into a guerrilla force fighting the servants of Morgoth. It's like he had forgotten himself and needed Beleg to remind him who and what he is.

This chapter and the following (Of Mîm the Dwarf) also contain two jewels of vividly drawn and delightfully morally ambiguous characters: Mîm (who will always remain another of my favourites) with his peculiar sense of honour, his deep but not unfounded resentment of Elves, his grudging respect for Túrin and his acerbic lines of dialogue, and on the other hand his antagonist Andróg, whose shrewd cynicism earns him my sympathy in spite of his rotten character.

As for the chapter The Return of Túrin to Dor-lómin, containing Túrin's reunion with Sador Labadal, his revenge on the usurper Brodda, Sador's death and Aerin's suicide in the burning hall, this is to me the part of the Narn which is closest to the spirit of Icelandic sagas, especially in the cameo character of Aerin.

Originally Posted by G55

But in the first two he is still called "Turin" in the narration. However, after he asks the Men of Brethil to forget his name and call him "Turambar" instead, the narration also switches the name! When the narration channels someone's thoughts from outside (Morwen, Nienor, Mablung, etc) he is referred to as Turin, but when it talks about him specifically, he is called Turambar, until, I believe, the last chapters when all is revealed. It is as if he commanded Tolkien himself to forget his real name!

Nice observation, I hadn't noticed that.

Originally Posted by G55

Evidently, the third "name/identity change" was the most significant. And the most "complete". And the name that he takes is the least connected to his past ("Master of Doom" says little, at least compared to "Neithan" and "Agarwaen").

Not coincidentally, I think - the name represents his attempt to distance himself from his past, turn over the metaphorical page and 'begin a new life' (something that never works out in my experience, as Túrin will find out soon enough).