This weekend Hall of Fire will once again be doing a chapter-by-chapter weekly livechat about The Lord of the Rings — starting with The Fellowship of The Ring.
“It will have to be paid for,” they said. “It isn’t natural and trouble will come it!”
This weekend in the Hall of Fire, we will be discussing one of the great (and tragic) stories of Tolkien’s Legendarium, Akallabêth: The Downfall of Numenor.
A land was made for the Edain to dwell in, neither part of Middle-earth nor of Valinor, for it was sundered from either by a wide sea; yet it was nearer to Valinor. It was raised by Ossë out of the depths of the Great Water, and it was established by Aulë and enriched by Yavanna; and the Eldar brought thither flowers and fountains out of Tol Eressëa. Akallbeth, The Silmarillion.
The usual Christmas and New Year shenanigans mean that in The Hall of Fire we’ve only just arrived at the ninth chapter of The Children of Húrin. It’s short, but crucial — climaxing with the death of Beleg.
That’s not really a spoiler; the chapter is literally named “The Death of Beleg”.
It’s a — possibly the — key turning point in Túrin’s life. Until his death, Beleg is a strong stabilising influence on Túrin’s action. The absence of that support, combined with the manner of Beleg’s death, profoundly affect Túrin’s subsequent behaviour. Continue reading “The death of Beleg. Is Túrin culpable?”
I’ve been recently re-reading Chapter VIII of The Children of Húrin in anticipation of our Hall of Fire chat tomorrow.
One thing that particularly struck me is the invidiousness of Túrin’s position on Amon Rudh: whether he and his growing band of outlaws fight or hide, their prospects are grim.
Beleg summarises the conundrum neatly:
“…a king or the lord of a great host has many needs. He must have a secure refuge; and he must have wealth, and many whose work is not in war. With numbers comes the need of food, more than the wild will furnish to hunters. And there comes the passing of secrecy.
Amon Rûdh is a good place for a few – it has eyes and ears.
But it stands alone, and is seen far off; and no great force is needed to surround it – unless a host defends it, greater far than ours is yet or than it is likely ever to be.”
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
This weekend (in just a few hours in fact), Hall of Fire will be chatting about the sixth chapter of The Children of Húrin, which documents Túrin’s time in the wilderness of west Beleriand as a member of a desperate group of outlaws, scofflaws and outcasts.
Túrin the outlaw
In his persona of “Neithan the wronged”, one wonders if Turin’s feels that he’s finally found his people after (often) feeling so out of place in Doriath.
But, for mine, the most interesting aspect of the chapter is the moral dimension: over and again, Túrin is forced to confront what he will do — and is willing to permit others around him to do — in order to survive. Continue reading “Analysing The Children of Húrin: Túrin the outlaw”
Hurin and Morgoth – Ted Nasmith This weekend Hall of Fire is delving into the third chapter of The Children of Húrin. (Our discussion starts at 6pm ET. Feel free to join us as we dive into Chapter 3.)
The Words of Húrin and Morgoth
It’s a key one, dominated by a long conversation between Húrin, and his captor, the Valar, Morgoth.
We’re likely to have many talking points but for me, the most pivotal is the Curse of Morgoth. Morgoth promises Húrin:
…upon all whom you love my thought shall weigh as a cloud of Doom, and it shall bring them down into darkness and despair. Wherever they go, evil shall arise. Whenever they speak, their words shall bring ill counsel. Whatsoever they do shall turn against them. They shall die without hope, cursing both life and death.
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
This weekend Hall of Fire will once again be doing a chapter-by-chapter weekly livechat about The Lord of the Rings — starting with The Fellowship of The Ring.
This weekend in 
The usual Christmas and New Year shenanigans mean that in The Hall of Fire we’ve only just arrived at the ninth chapter of The Children of Húrin. It’s short, but crucial — climaxing with the death of Beleg.
I’ve been recently re-reading Chapter VIII of The Children of Húrin in anticipation of our Hall of Fire chat tomorrow.
This weekend (in just a few hours in fact), Hall of Fire will be chatting about the sixth chapter of The Children of Húrin, which documents Túrin’s time in the wilderness of west Beleriand as a member of a desperate group of outlaws, scofflaws and outcasts. 