In our now concluded story on the Children of Hurin, we detailed the great tragedy surrounding
the demise of Turin Turambar, Nienor and Morwen, yet the patriarch of the family persisted. The
man who had once cried in defiance, “Aure Entuluva” – “Day shall come again” even as
the Union of Maedhros crumbled before his eyes, now was a bare husk of the man he had once been.
The curse of Morgoth had destroyed his family and brought low the Kingdom of Nargothrond and
the men of Brethil, among others. Yet the misfortune attached to the House of Hador
was not yet at its end. In this episode, we will detail the death rattle of Húrin
Thalion and the intertwined fate of the lands of Doriath and Gondolin,
bringing to a final brutal conclusion the doom of this great House of the Edain.
Húrin had been released from Morgoth’s prison in FA 500 following the death of his children Túrin
and Nienor, under the pretence of Morgoth’s pity, as the Dark Lord acknowledged that he had defeated
one of his most defiant adversaries. However, as was always his way, the Dark Lord instead hoped
that the woe which had befallen the Children of Húrin would have poisoned the mind of his captive,
and he would facilitate the creation of greater chaos and strife upon whichever path he would now
tread and in doing so bring low those few who now resisted Morgoth following the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.
Unfortunately for the free folk, not even Morgoth himself could have imagined the
destruction to follow in Húrin’s wake during the final years of his life.
Húrin returned to Hithlum and his former home of Dor-Lomin. He was to find a land much changed in
his absence. The peoples who had once prospered under his wise rulership were kept beneath the
cruel yoke of the Easterlings led by Lorgan. The cruel overlords of this region initially did not
recognize this tragic hero of a long-forgotten battle and instead feared him, believing Húrin
to be one of Morgoth’s most trusted servants. Seeing now that the House of Hador lay in ruins,
Húrin was forced to turn his back upon the land of his fathers, and he was to be joined by seven
outlaws in his journey South. The company made their way to the Vale of Sirion, where Húrin would
abandon his companions and seek out his former Lord, Turgon of Gondolin. After searching for an
entrance to the city, Húrin soon began to despair, as King Turgon initially kept the entrance closed,
as was the strategy which had kept the city hidden throughout the preceding years.
This infuriated the aged warrior, whose weariness soon brought anger as he cried out against Turgon
and his hidden city. Unbeknownst to Húrin, this was to bring with it death and destruction of
unquantifiable proportions as he was being watched and had inadvertently revealed the
city’s general location to Morgoth’s spies. Seeing now that he had been abandoned by
the elf for whom he had sacrificed all, Húrin turned aside and left the area. Only too late
then did Turgon send the eagles to bring Húrin within the vale and the protection of Gondolin.
From that day onwards, Morgoth was to set a vigil upon the region in the hopes of finding
a way to raze the last great bastion of defiance within Beleriand to the ground, all inspired by
the woe and heartbreak which forever lay upon the House of Hador almost akin to a funeral shroud.
From here, Húrin made his way to Brethil, where he bore witness to the tombstone of his fallen
children and the final moments of Morwen’s life. This was the final straw for Húrin,
who was now engulfed by an all-encompassing fury and sought to enact vengeance upon all those
who had failed his offspring. The first such group to feel his wrath would be the Haladin,
who were now ruled by Hardang, who detested the House of Hador due to the petty rivalries
present among the Edain in these days. Therefore upon Húrin’s arrival, Hardang assaulted him, yet
even in Húrin’s advanced age, he remained a potent warrior and could easily injure Hardang. However,
Húrin was taken captive and set to be tried for his crimes at the 301st Folkmoot of Judgment.
The crimes he was charged with included the wounding of Hardang, ungrateful and discourteous
conduct towards the guards who had found him in Haudh-en-Elleth and entering Brethil to slay
Hardang at the behest of the Lord of Angband. However, Manthor, the Captain of the Guard and
Master of the Northmarch, who had befriended Húrin following his discovery at the Haudh-en-Elleth and
during his imprisonment, would speak on Húrin’s side. Therefore Hardang, who sat upon the Angbor
or doom rock alongside his lieutenant Avranc, would argue at length with Manthor and Húrin,
with the opinion of the Haladin swaying between both sides as the trial continued. Manthor
conducted an eloquent defence on Húrin’s behalf, culminating in the accused’s heartfelt testimony.
He would speak of the deaths of his wife and children having drawn him to the grave and
brought half of those gathered to his side. The trial results were to bring further bloodshed
to the Forest of Brethil, as a civil war of sorts among the Haladin erupted. The Hall of the Haladin
was razed to the ground, with Hardang and Avranc barely emerging from the flames with their lives,
only for the fleeing chieftain to be struck down by a spear lodged firmly between his shoulder
blades. With his death ended the line of Haldad and most of the survivors were to follow Húrin,
who now led them toward the ruins of Nargothrond, seemingly abandoned
following the death of Glaurung. However, unbeknownst to those who had
made their way to the desolate shell of a once mighty Elven kingdom, the halls of Nargothrond
had not been entirely abandoned. For now, the caves were occupied by Mim, the Petty Dwarf,
as he had claimed the great hoard of Glaurung following the dragon’s death at Túrin’s hand.
Húrin, facing the dwarf who had caused much misfortune to his offspring, was filled with
great anger. The father of Túrin then asked the dwarf to reveal his identity in order to confirm
the subject of his anger, and this exchange was to seal the doom of the last of the Petty Dwarves,
“‘I am Mîm; and before the proud ones came from over the Sea, Dwarves delved the halls
of Nulukkizdîn. I have but returned to take what is mine; for I am the last of my people.”
“Then you shall enjoy your inheritance no longer,’ said Húrin; ‘for I am Húrin son of Galdor,
returned out of Angband, and my son was Túrin Turambar, whom you have not forgotten;
and he it was that slew Glaurung the Dragon, who wasted these halls where now you sit;
and not unknown is it to me by whom the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin was betrayed.”
Húrin, entirely overcome with rage and wrath of an insurmountable nature, ignored the desperate pleas
of the petty dwarf and slew Mim before the gates of Nargothrond. This drew from Mim a final curse
that the dragon hoard would bring nought else but woe and misfortune to those who would take
possession of it. With Mim’s passing, the last of the petty dwarves of Middle-Earth went extinct,
ending these exiled cousins of Durin’s folk for good and all. The details as to who slew the
dwarf, the nature of the hoard and the size of the group of outlaws vary in the retelling. Yet the
most crucial detail remains: Húrin’s band would take the now-cursed dragon hoard from the Halls.
The curse upon the hoard would soon drive the Haladin who accompanied Húrin mad, and they
quickly turned upon one another, with many of them slain on the journey through petty squabbles over
the division of the wealth of Nargothrond. The broken Húrin cared little for the wealth he now
possessed and continued on a direct course toward those he blamed most for his family’s suffering.
The former wielder of the Dragon Helm of Dor-Lomin came to the Girdle of Melian and sought to enter
into Doriath to ensure that Thingol was made aware of his failure as a ward to his wife and children.
Húrin was found by the border guards of Doriath, who barely recognized this grim and aged warrior,
yet they brought him still to their lord within the thousand caves. Thingol likewise struggled
to recognize Húrin, the man who had once stood at the forefront of what it meant
to be of the Edain in the days before all hope had been lost in the struggle against Morgoth.
However, the realization of the man who now presented himself to the King of Doriath
brought an insurmountable immensity of grief and regret to Thingol. Despite his best efforts,
he had failed the House of Hador and allowed its destruction to occur under his stewardship.
Thingol’s greeting was filled with the respect which should be duly accorded
to one of the Edain’s finest, returned from years of torture wrought upon him
for his efforts against the Dark Lord. Yet Húrin remained silent and reached within his tattered,
dirty cloak to bring forth the greatest treasure of the now-cursed hoard of Nargothrond, for he
presented to the King of Doriath the Nauglamir. This dwarven forged necklace had been presented to
Finrod Felagund many years prior. Its majesty was clear to all those gathered, yet the intent behind
the gifting of such a fine piece of jewellery was only matched by the vile curse which lay
upon it due to Mim’s final words. Húrin handed the necklace over to the man who had once taken
his children as wards and seen to the safety of his much-beloved wife by casting it at the King’s
feet. “‘Receive thou thy fee,’ he cried, ‘for thy fair keeping of my children and my wife!”
Thingol’s gaze was then cast upon the jewel which now lay upon the floor of the thousand caves,
and although he understood the gravity of the item presented to him, he also understood the
intent behind such a gift. Thingol displayed a great degree of pity and restrained the anger
which would ordinarily have accompanied such a demeaning act committed by Húrin against one of
the great Elven Kings. Before the situation could be further escalated through the scorn
which had at this point overtaken the father of Túrin, Melian, in her great wisdom, spoke:
“Húrin Thalion, Morgoth hath bewitched thee; for he that seeth through Morgoth’s eyes, willing
or unwilling, seeth all things crooked. Long was Túrin thy son fostered in the halls of Menegroth,
and shown love and honour as the son of the King; and it was not by the King’s will nor by mine that
he came never back to Doriath. And afterwards thy wife and thy daughter were harboured here
with honour and goodwill; and we sought by all means that we might to dissuade Morwen
from the road to Nargothrond. With the voice of Morgoth thou dost now upbraid thy friends.”
At this, Morgoth’s curse upon the House of Hador since the Nirnaeth Aernoediad and the devastation
of the Union of Maedhros was broken for good and all. Húrin realized now that the weight
he had carried for years prior should have, by all rights, lay at the feet of the Dark Lord himself.
However, the former bearer of the Dragon Helm now knew that he had allowed the trials and
tribulations of his recent history to taint and destroy all those he had come into contact with
since the passing of his wife. Therefore as he stared long and hard into the eyes of the Queen
of Doriath and protected from the vile tendrils of Morgoth within her Girdle, he stooped low
and picked up the Nauglamir before handing it to Thingol, stating: “Receive now, lord, the Necklace
of the Dwarves, as a gift from one who has nothing, and as a memorial of Húrin of Dor-lómin.
For now my fate is fulfilled, and the purpose of Morgoth achieved; but I am his thrall no longer.”
Following this final candid interaction with the King of Doriath, Húrin turned his back on the
Thousand Caves and never returned to the Girdle. None stood willing to stop him or even ask where
he intended to go, for the weight of woe upon his shoulders was one none of the kingdom could bear.
Nor did any of the people of Doriath take note of where Húrin was now headed.
This was to have devastating consequences as Húrin, now devoid of purpose and desire to
continue his existence in the absence of his wife and children, found himself in despair. In this
lowest moment, the patriarch of the House of Hador decided upon his final course. Rather than bring
further suffering upon those he encountered, Húrin cast himself into the Western Sea and ended the
life of the mightiest warriors of the Edain. Yet despite his efforts, his final actions,
influenced by Morgoth’s vile taint, were to have devastating consequences for the Kingdom
of Doriath, which had welcomed his kin with open arms. Thingol gazed upon the Nauglamir,
and his thoughts were drawn towards the Silmaril that Beren and Luthien had brought to his kingdom.
For in these days, the Dwarves still made their way from Nogrod in great companies through the
kingdom of Doriath and thought was hatched within Thingol’s mind that the Silmaril could be attached
to the Nauglamir. While the lust of the dwarves was initially brought to the forefront of their
thoughts by the combined view of the Nauglamir and Silmaril, they initially agreed to the works.
Yet, such lust amongst Durin’s folk was only ever temporarily satiated.
However, this is a tale for our next video on the history of the First Age, which will focus on the
destruction of Doriath and the early inroads made by Morgoth precipitating the Fall of Gondolin.
The next few videos in this series will be dedicated to the last desperate battles of
this age before the sundering of Beleriand in the War of Wrath,
but we are planning to cover the battles of many other fantasy, sci-fi, and space opera universes,
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