Unfinished Tales - Part One - I - Of Tuor and His Coming to Gondolin

[Inziladun]

At this later date, I can't remember exactly when I first read UT. I don't think it could have been before the mid 90's, though, when my Tolkien interest went through a renaissance that ultimately led me here to the Downs.

I'm quite fond of this first story. To me, Tuor really is the anti-Túrin; humble and accepting of advice, yet valiant when put to it. He hears the call of Ulmo and goes to the Sea, where he receives a task he had not looked for. Like Frodo much later, he accepts the errand on faith, not knowing where it will lead him in the end, but realizing that such is his part to play. I admire that.

Also, the imagery here is superb. As has been mentioned, the visualization of the empty, yet enduring halls of Vinyamar is compelling. The sound of the waves, the sunlight streaming in, and the sense of wholesomeness mixed with intrigue: where had the Noldor there gone? Tuor would find out rather soon.

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

I have always seen Voronwe as the analogue of Gwindor - Gwindor guides Turin to Nargothrond and Voronwe guides Tuor to Gondolin. That parallel goes deeper - if you recall, Finrod and Turgon both had dreams sent to them by Ulmo urging them to found hidden cities, and Nargothrond and Gondolin were the respective results. It's also worth noting that in the Book of Lost Tales, Voronwe was an escaped thrall from Angband just as was Gwindor ('Flinding' in the Lost Tales). Indeed, I've always kind of suspected that Tolkien changed Voronwe's background to avoid making the analogy too blatantly obvious.

Gwindor as a parallel to Voronwë works very well. I like Voronwë as is, better. As you say, with Gwindor we already have a picture of what happens to the prisoners of Angband. With Voronwë, we get the insight of an Elf trying against hope to return to the West, failing, and yet being saved to play his own part in a drama much greater than himself.

[Boromir88]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Also, the imagery here is superb. As has been mentioned, the visualization of the empty, yet enduring halls of Vinyamar is compelling. The sound of the waves, the sunlight streaming in, and the sense of wholesomeness mixed with intrigue: where had the Noldor there gone? Tuor would find out rather soon.

Speaking of imagery, not only in the physical landscape, but the imagery provided by the various types of birds stirs beautiful imagery. The great seagulls, the swans of the Teleri, and the Eagles circling, guarding the Sirion from Orcs. And I believe there is a great statue of Thorondor in Gondolin.

It reminded me of a statue I recently saw visiting Salem, MA outside a courthouse. Large golden eagle, wings spread, which made me wonder about symbolisms of eagles. Quite majestic, royal, the lions of the sky?

[Formendacil]

It's an interesting question you bring up, Aiwendil, regarding Christopher Tolkien's choice to place "Of Tuor" first in Unfinished Tales, over the Narn, and since this is a discussion of UT as a whole as much as UT's individual units, it's an interesting one to consider. Given Christopher Tolkien's rubric of putting the first three sections in chronological order, "Of Tuor" and the Narn are essentially interchangeable, because they cover a contemporary timeframe. True, the Narn starts a few years earlier, because Túrin is Tuor's elder, but it also brings the story a few years later--Tuor and Voronwë's chance encounter with Túrin leaves the entire final, and most finished, section of the Narn yet to come, starting with his return to Dor-Lómin.

Nonetheless, I don't think it was strict chronology that led Christopher Tolkien to place "Of Tuor" first. Aiwendil has already given an adequate account of why it might be a more hopeful first choice, and I'll merely add to that by saying it's a question of balance. If the Narn had gone first, it would have completely unbalanced UT as a whole. As the longest narrative in the book (and arguably the most complete, as shown by its ready transition to a little changed form in the stand-alone, commentary-free Children of Húrin), the Narn would have changed the book from Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth to The Narn i Hîn Húrin and Other Unfinished Tales.


Also, while we're reminiscing about when we first read UT, I'm trying to think when I did. I read both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings when I was 11 (or about 11... I'm not actually sure), and had my first attempt at the The Silmarillion shortly after, and was temporarily defeated... but not permanently defeated, because I think that after another reread or two of the LotR I read the Silm for a second time and then had the inertia to leap into UT. All these books were purloined from my dad's college-era bookshelves, and I vaguely remember that my post-Silm trepidation was much allayed by the references I could see to the more familiar world of Men and the Third Age, so I must have been no older than 12 or a very early thirteen, since I definitely read it a few times (if not several) before the movies came out a month or two before I turned 15. I'd tentatively date my first read, then, to 1998 sometime.

It's a fascinating study of my own chronology, even if it interests no one else.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

I'm enjoying the posts here! Question: Would you like another week to discuss this chapter, or are you ready to move on to the next one?

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

I'm enjoying the posts here! Question: Would you like another week to discuss this chapter, or are you ready to move on to the next one?

I'm of the mind that there's no reason this thread must cease once the next begins... but insofar as I have not yet reread (or skimmed) the Narn in preparation... well... holding off wouldn't hurt me.

[Boromir88]

Esty, I have no preference, but curious, were you planning on breaking up the sections of the Children of Hurin?

[Guinevere]

I was wondering about that too. The Children of Hurin is much longer than an average chapter, and it will probably take me about a week to reread it.