"It's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer." - Samwise Gamgee "Day shall come again!" - Hurin
@@gisli1131 The tragedy of Turin Turambar is my favourite story set in Middle-Earth. People who think Tolkien was never R-rated have not read about the children of Hurin.
Hurin is such a legend. Not only for his battlefield prowess but his mental fortitude and wisdom, he kind of matched wits with Morgoth, which essentially no other mortal man did that we have history of, recognized his lies and called him out face to face amid torment. Absolutely brilliant character.
@@Thehomelessathlete iirc, there were a few who returned but become thief, bandit, and deserters in general. This was from the Children of Húrin's book where Túrin joined a group of outlaw and there were indeed some of them who ran from Nirnáeth Arnoédiad.
Hurin is just a simple mortal man. He's brought face to face with the literal Devil of his world.... and Hurin basically tells him to go eat a dick lol he's incredible!
and he paid a great price, not only him, but his entire line. don't cross the greatest evil. he was secured to a throne to watch what evil became of his children. later he inadvertently betrayed the elves and brought ruin to a hidden city. in a brief moment of clarity he saw what evil he had also wrought, and threw himself into the ocean to end it.
Actually a few possibilities Agnor the oldest of the gurwaith outlaws Turin leads he he deserted the nirnaeth. Also possibly Androg who was from dorlomin
I'm imagining Saruman, before his corruption, reading this passage from the Narn I Hin Hurin, maybe in Rivendell or the courts of Arnor and Gondor, enthralling his audience with the power of his voice, and bringing to life the deeds of their ancestors.
As much as I adore Beren and his many heroic and commendable deeds, I think Hurin is my favorite of all the men of the first age. An incredible warrior, and a will of steel. The only man to insult Morgoth to his face and not think twice about it.
Turin is my favorite. Tuor, Beren & Hurin are amazing heroes, though. Look @Hurin. He’s of smaller stature than the typical tall men of Hador, but he’s probably the mightiest warrior they ever had. And he had an iron will that even Morgoth couldn’t daunt.
Hurin Thalion is the greatest warrior the race of Men ever produced. I'll argue that until I'm dead, lol I do also agree that Hurin is my favourite of the Men of the First Age. Beren is great, but I kinda feel like sometimes he just carries Luthien's purse around while she puts in the work. Love Turin, but he never had a chance honestly. Hurin is a straight bad ass. The fact that at one moment, the Battle of Unnumbered Tears was literally one mortal man vs. the Hordes of Morgoth is incredible. You have to wonder, what the other Valar thought when that was happening. They're just sitting there, and a simple mortal man is fighting the endless legions of evil alone, screaming that one day this world will know the light again.... couldn't have been a proud moment for them. Hurin then going face to face with the Ultimate Evil and basically telling him to eat a dick is also incredible! No one beats The Steadfast in my books!
No matter how dark times might seem, there is always light after. And he was right! He did not live to see it, but his actions allowed for that light to come forth and be victorious over the evil of Morgoth. There was a time when I was in a rough spot mentally and was severely depressed, and moments like these gave me hope. Now I feel like I'm past that luckily, and I'm so glad I had these moments to cling to. There are many more throughout the legendarium, especially the main LoTR storyline is sprinkled with moments of high hope - Estel - amid overwhelming darkness. First that comes to mind is Sam's steadfastness in Cirith Ungol and later in Mordor: "(...) Though here at journey's end I lie in darkness buried deep, beyond all towers strong and high, beyond all mountains steep, above all shadows rides the Sun and Stars forever dwell: I will not say the Day is done, nor bid the Stars farewell. "
If I recall correctly, in the Silmarillion Huron tells one of the elvish princes that he needed to escape saying something like “and this I say to you with the eyes of death, that from both our houses shall come the one who will deliver the free peoples.” Not exactly what he said, but you get the idea. He knew he was to die so that hope could remain.
@@spasjt Hurin's brother Huor said that, not Hurin, to the King of Gondolin, Turgon, who also became the King of the Noldor after this battle, as Fingon was slain as well. Its a foretelling of Huor's son Tuor eventually making his way to Gondolin, and then banging Turgon's daughter, so they could make Earendil the Mariner, who of course saved Arda in the First Age, thus fulfilling Huor's prophecy.
@@spasjt No problem. Honestly its bound to happen with the Silmarilllion. So many similar names, Finwe, Fingolfin, Finarfin, Fingon, Finrod, Hurin, Turin, Huor, Tuor, etc.
@@spasjt so Dagor Dagorath, the Great Battle, might be the only justice the house of Hador and the race of Men ever got- and I remember this all the more, considering Húrin's last stand, and the tragedy that was Túrin's life. Dagor Dagorath is supposedly no longer canon- I just refuse to believe that.
@@stardestroyerism Indeed, the race of men really shined in this battle. However, how was Dagor Dagorath made non canon? It seems this book made the House Hador's legendary sacrifice more concrete. Was some other written work done to undermine this story?
Hearing the voice of Sir Christopher Lee narrate one of the one most memorable parts of the Silmarillion really does bring the story to life. Of all the actors who could’ve played Saruman I’m glad it was someone who loved the Tolkien Legendarium as much as he did
One of the greatest passages Christopher preserved from his father's work. Many centuries from now the stories from Middle earth will continue to inspire and remain relevant
Game of thrones and Harry Potter will eventually become niche interests, but lord of the rings will go down amongst the stories such as beowulf it was inspired by
I just can't get enough of this. I keep coming back to it. Such an epic scene and a wonderful picture of willfully choosing to maintain hope despite a hopeless situation.
This was always one of my favorite moments in the Legendarium, and hearing it in Christopher Lee's voice is both awe-inspiring and terrifying. Thanks for posting this.
Aragorn is such a badass and such a noble character in the Legendarium, but I would argue that what Hurin and the men of the House of Hador did to protect Turgon during the rout of the Nirnæth Arnodiad was the greatest achievement and the pinnacle example of the strength of men in Middle Earth.
@@shogunmadness Yes, and I think that was Tolkien's point. Virtually ALL of the men of the House of Hador were killed in that battle. The House was essentially extinguished because they chose to protect Turgon's retreat. Also, the men of the House of Hador would have been near-mythical in human stature from the perspective of Aragorn or anyone of the Third Age. They were probably greater than the Numenoreans who descended from them. They easily slaughtered thousands of orcs in their last stand.
To think that those sorry dogs hired by Amazon had all these tales at their fingertips... And those evil curs chose to make their hateful abomination, rather than give life to the sad but beautiful epics of a man greater than they... So sickening. So sad. The glory and wealth they could have obtained... yet they proved their hate, and their desire to destroy. But alas, that is all that evil can do, imitate, and destroy. It makes me weep.
I'm glad that they didn't try to adapt The Silmarillion. I'd go so far as to say that it is unfilmable, frankly. Any portrayal of the gods would be a disappointment, a portrayal which diminishes them. And there's no budget which could properly capture the War of Wrath onscreen. The story of Turin Turambar would have been a good idea, but then imagine how angry you'd be if they failed to adapt it successfully.
@@JimmySteller Agreed. Literally the only way one could even try to adapt the Silmarillion is in animated form, akin to Prince of Egypt. And even then it would be incredibly difficult.
Eerily similar to the story of Nikola Skobaljic, a famed Serbian Voivode who had defeated the Ottoman Empire at Leskovac and Krusevac in 1454. Skobaljić's continued resistance to the Ottoman invasion lasted for two more months but was ultimately broken when Sultan Mehmed, furious at the failure of his generals against the aforementioned Voivode, personally took command of his armies and finally defeated Skobaljić's army at Trepanja on 16 November 1454. Skobaljić was captured and killed by impalement, along with his uncle. Sultan Mehmed II ordered Nikola and his uncle's heads to be sent to Constantinople as a reminder of the consequences of resistance to the Sultan. It is said that Nikola Skobaljić was the first Serb to be impaled by the Ottomans, a practice that would continue and grow for centuries forward. During this last and final act of Nikola's defiance, he and his men inflicted great, grievous losses to the imperial Ottoman army, but were ultimately too few to prevail, and were cut down to a man, whereas Nikola slew dozens of men before exhaustion withered his strength and made it possible for the Ottomans to take him, prisoner.
Sit now there; and look out upon the lands where evil and despair shall come upon those whom thou lovest. Thou hast dared to mock me, and to question the power of Melkor, Master of the fates of Arda.
he paid a great price, not only him, but his entire line. don't cross the greatest evil. he was secured to a throne to watch what evil became of his children. later he inadvertently betrayed the elves and brought ruin to a hidden city. in a brief moment of clarity he saw what evil he had also wrought, and threw himself into the ocean to end it.
If i had a nickel for every time Christopher lee was a good giy turned bad in films, id have two nickels, which isnt a lot but weird that it happened twice
I think this is an excerpt from Mr. Lee reading the entire Narn I hin Hurin. While I've read it countless times, I could only listen to maybe half of the account as read by Christopher Lee. It was just too upsetting to listen to any more of it...
Not sure. I know he read The Silmarillion for Audible and it was posted here on YT a long time ago, before YT started taking down all the Audible readings.
The House of Hador singlehandedly redeemed the race of Men with this act. The greatest betrayal of Men and their most honourable moment take place in the same battle... Tolkien really is unmatched.
@@KS-xk2sojust to expand on what you said, and as I’m sure you already knew, Hurin and Huor bade Turgon to return his army to Gondolin while they stood and fought. They made this sacrifice with the knowledge that as long as the hidden city stood, Morgoth would always know fear in his heart. Just a little added context for those who haven’t read the Sil or were wondering.
@@18laxX yeah, I believe also that knowing he was about to die Huor had some sort of premonition and vaguely predicted Earendil to Turgon. His comment is the main reason why Turgon lets Tuor into his kingdom all those years later.
@@KS-xk2so interesting. that’s something I might’ve missed on, though it makes perfect sense given the context of the scene. Was the connection to Earendil mentioned directly in the text or is it more of a reader’s deduction? Either way now I almost want to do my second read-through even though it hasn’t even been 6 months since my first🤪
@@18laxX It's pretty obvious..... I mean he doesn't come right out and say "My sons gonna nail your daughter and their kid named Earendil will totes save the world." or anything that blatant. He says something about their two houses joining together to form a new star that will lead the world from darkness or something like that.... given that Earendil eventually sailed the heavens as a star, makes a lot of sense.
@@KS-xk2so Hurin took suicide after Melian freed him from Morgoths darkness. Before that he had lost his wife, daughter and son, I doubt he got any rest.
@@langskeppet9887 I dunno.... wouldn't be much of a Gift if your mortal sorrows followed you into the afterlife. I'd hope he was reunited with his loved ones in some way and they were all truly freed from the taint of darkness... but we'll never know.
@@KS-xk2so I mean, Turin will give revenge on Morgoth for his curse upon his family in the dagor dagorath. Either way, Turin Turambar and Hurin Thalion and the book Hurins children is my favorite Tolkien book.
@@langskeppet9887 yeah its up there in the Silmarillion stories for me too.... I simply love the sheer daring of the men of the House of Hador, especially The Steadfast. I truly wonder what Turin might have achieved without Morgoth's curse weighing him down.
There is an interesting meter to it. I am not versed enough to explain it well; but I hear the same rythm, text, description etc, followed by a short pause and the final one or two syllable word of the sentence (even if the sentence runs on, that one syllable word at the same meter is still emphasized thus). It is like poetry but in regular prose. Interesting
This part, right here, is my favorite bit of the Silmarillion, even though I prefer Tuor over his uncle Húrin. As a sidenote, even with English as a second language to me, I cannot hope but to marvel as how poetic Tolkien’s prose is. Perfection.
For me, the tragedy of Turin Turambar is the most compelling account in The Silmarillion. He was one of the mightiest warriors of the Edain, and could have been one of their greatest heroes. But Morgoth's curse destroyed him and all who knew him.
The House of Hador shall know claim retribution against the Fell Enemy if unto the end of all things must their spirits await the call to one final duty and mission, and Hurin and Turin shall stand at the fore of their valiant host.
@@bryanmatthews2370 Its easy to take the music in LOTR fils for granted because of how captivating the cinematography is and how well the actors perform their roles, but the score for LOTR is amazing.
@@spasjt It follows pretty much the same story as the "Of Túrin Turambar" chapter in the Silmarilion, but in more detail. It is a beautiful book, I highly recommend it.
Its a shame we never know gandalf saruman or any of the white councils thoughts on the heroes of the first age. My dad used to read me this when I was a kid. Hes gone now and I considered making it a tradition to read it to my kid/kids if I have any.
I cannot stress enough to fellow Tolkien fans: listen to Christopher Lee’s reading of the Children of Hurin. One of the greatest and most beautiful literary tragedies of all time.
@@JimmySteller thank you for the suggestion! I’m glad I found this band, been listening to their catalogue all day at work! So many worthy tributes to Tolkien’s beautiful creations❤️
