Quenta 21 — Of Túrin Turambar
Chapter 21 of the Quenta Silmarillion
Summary
After Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Morgoth’s wrath fell upon the house of Húrin, and the chapter follows the doom that pursued his son Túrin from the slaying of Saeros to the edges of the world. Túrin, fostered in Doriath and cursed by the malice of Morgoth, fled into the forest as a leader of outlaws and, taking the sword Gurthang, became known as the Blacksword of Dor-Cúarthol. In Nargothrond he rose to be the Mormegil of the hidden realm, but his wilfulness brought down the dragon Glaurung, who slew and deceived the people and stripped the caverns bare. His wanderings led him through the dark woods until he dwelt at last in Brethil, where, unknowing, he wedded his sister Nienor whom the dragon’s spell had bereft of memory. At Cabed-en-Aras Túrin slew the dragon and learned the truth too late; master of doom by doom, he cast himself upon the sword, and the tale of the Children of Húrin was ended in grief. The whole of the longer tale, beyond this chapter’s compass, is told fully in the separate Narn i Chîn Húrin.