28. Is He Hot Or Is He Tall?

Tolkien's posthumously published book The Children of Húrin.

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Ned’s choice of topic: The Children of
Húrin. The final posthumously published form of one of Tolkien’s original
creations from the Book of Lost Tales, the 2007 book, edited and retouched
slightly by Christopher Tolkien, The Children of Húrin primarily tells the
story of the oldest child, Túrin. One of Tolkien’s most compelling figures,
Túrin not merely verges on the antiheroic but at points nonheroic,
simultaneously a figure driven by vengeance and justice for his losses and
those of his family but ultimately causing the death and destruction of most
of what he holds dear—he slays one of Morgoth’s chief lieutenants, the dragon
Glaurung, but Glaurung exacts a terrible cost even in death. Is Túrin’s course
in life truly the working out of a curse by Morgoth or is it the result of
rash actions taken in the face of wiser counsel almost every step of the way?
What does it say that it is one of Tolkien’s most vividly physical stories,
including various humiliating fates, at one point the threat of rape, and in
the end, drawing on one of humanity’s deepest taboos, unwitting incest? For
all that various flawed or doomed heterosexual relationships define much of
Túrin’s life, what does it say that the deepest connection he feels is to the
Elf Beleg, and what does his own tragic death signify? And maybe to end on a
lighter note, are those potatoes that the Petty-dwarves are digging up or
what?

Jared’s
doodle. Tol
Morwen, one of Middle-earth’s loveliest and saddest places.

Yes, Ned is a fan of RuPaul’s Drag
Race in all its forms. He
could go on.

The announcement of Warner Bros’s planned anime
film, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

Kenji Kamiyama has quite the
rep, trust us.

And yes, as we talked about in episode
25, plenty of history already with
Japanese animators and Tolkien!

That Fellowship of Fans Twitter
thread with
the Amazon contract details. Cross yer fingers...

TheOneRing.net’s
piece with its
best speculation about the whole issue of rights divisions going on about now.

The Children of
Húrin—and there’s
a lot going on.

That Tumblr post with Túrin describing himself as
the ultimate goth. He would.

Kullervo, the Finnish anti-hero that
was the general source for Túrin but not the sole one. Tolkien’s
translation, created
before he created the Book of Lost Tales but only published formally in 2015,
is one of his earliest works.

It’s a little obvious to mention—and Kullervo’s story overall is closer—but
yes, Oedipus Rex is also a key
template for the dramatic end of the story.

Ned’s old 2007 blog entry on reading The Children of Hurin.

Episode 2—and Tuor is still just a
guy.

Glaurung, Tolkien’s other main
dragon creation in Middle-earth...is a piece of work.

Is there Turin and Beleg fan
art?
C’mon, you know the answer.

Alan Lee’s illustration from the
book of Glaurung approaching Brethil.

The Petty-dwarves have their
own tangled tale, mostly unknown.

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