Annotation of the Children of Hurin

The purpose of this essay is to be a book review, and an analysis of the writing as a whole. It has been said that this is Tolkien’s darkest work, which goes along with the theme of Darkness and Wickedness throughout the book. Tolkien’s time period, religion, and upbringing have shaped his works; including this one. Quote “he can make one feel the darkness and wickedness, and its insidious nature as it silently seeps into human hearts and minds, which alters their behavior leading to human demise. This is very true in The Children of Hurin; there are characters that because of their wickedness that is inside, or cast upon them end up perishing due to their choices and behaviors. I do not necessarily agree with Witherington that human pride goes before the fall, and it makes us vulnerable to powers of darkness. I do not understand the connection of how pride can cause vulnerability to the darkness. If someone is prideful then they may not take heed to others advice and counsel, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it will cause them to fall into darkness easier than someone who isn’t. The protagonist Turin sets out on his journey in a world that is occupied with evil and wickedness. So far Turin hasn’t fallen into obscurity and evil ways and he has a lot of pride in this story. What is personally interesting to me in this essay is Witherington’s correlation of “Tolkien’s use of the motif of the creeping darkness of evil which falls upon the realm owes more to the Biblical notion of the effects of the Fall than to Norse lore. ”