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Unfinished Tales or Children of Hurin?

vexx801 Rivendell Jan 8 2013, 10:57pm Views: 822 Unfinished Tales or Children of Hurin? Hey folks. Long time forum watcher, post now and then. I have read through most of The Unfinished Tales, and all of the Tales from the Perilous Realm, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I also own the Children of Hurin and I'm considering purchasing at least some of the History of Middle Earth. Point being, I'm almost done with The Unfinished Tales. One of the sections I've yet to read is Narn I Hin Hurin, and I have not started reading The Children of Hurin. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I am under the impression that the tale in UT is an unfinished version of The Children of Hurin. So to make a long post even longer, here is my question for fellow Tolkien readers: should I read the unfinished version first or The Children of Hurin edited by Christopher? Also, wasn't there a version of this tale in The Silmarillion? It has been a while and thanks to this forum I've been going back and reading through some of it, but I wanted to double check. I am not very familiar with a lot of the stories in The Silmarillion hence why I'm also re-reading. Thoughts?

Fredeghar Wayfarer Lorien Jan 9 2013, 9:13am Views: 567 Correct on all points The story appears in several versions -- an abridged summary in The Silmarillion, an unfinished version in Unfinished Tales, and a complete novel in The Children of Hurin. (Also an epic poem in The Lays of Beleriand but I haven't read that yet.) Which one you read first depends on how interested you are in Tolkien's writing process. Whichever you read first, you may get deja vu because the text in Children of Hurin and Unfinished Tales is nearly identical in places. If you just want to experience the full story, I would recommend reading Children of Hurin. If you want to compare the different versions and what was added later, read Narn I Hin Hurin in Unfinished Tales first. (This post was edited by Fredeghar Wayfarer on Jan 9 2013, 9:15am)

vexx801 Rivendell Jan 9 2013, 9:31am Views: 511 Hmm. Alright, thank you. It takes me a few reads sometimes to get a good handle on the story written by Tolkien (unless it's The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings) so I wondered if perhaps reading a shorter version (albeit unfinished) would help me familiarize myself with it. And as most people probably assumed this thread was about whether they preferred The Unfinished Tales over Children of Hurin, perhaps the good and bad of each, someone can feel free to start discussion on that. I figured the best place to ask my question would be here in the Tolkien community.

N.E. Brigand Half-elven Jan 9 2013, 1:48pm Views: 502 Most readers can now skip the "Narn" in UT. There's very little there that is not incorporated into The Children of Hurin. If you want an introductory version of Turin's story, read the relevant chapter in The Silmarillion. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Discuss Tolkien's life and works in the Reading Room! +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= How to find old Reading Room discussions.

Al Carondas Lorien Jan 10 2013, 4:50am Views: 597 As I think I recall reading (albeit long ago) the gist for Christopher's publishing of The Children of Hurin book form was to give readers an uninterrupted, self-contained version of the tale. So that they could simply enjoy the story as the author intended it to be read. I am so grateful to him for that. I love it. So I recommend the book. "Good Morning!"