Character of Month: Túrin

In his lecture-turned-essay On Fairy-stories, Tolkien coins the term eucatastrophe: that emotional thrill when catastrophe is averted and, against all odds, the story winds up with a happy ending. August's character of the month, Túrin Turambar, is the precise opposite. Firstamazon, the author of this month's biography, notes that he embodies the idea of dyscatastrophe. No matter what he does, Túrin's life ends up in the dumpster in the back alley of Doom.

Túrin's is one of what Tolkien considered the three great tales, and Tolkien spent more time on his story (of which several versions exist) than he did on many other parts of the legendarium. As such, Túrin's biography will be in three parts, with the first part focusing on his childhood sorrows, his fosterage in Doriath (and the dyscatastrophic turn that took), his fall (or Saeros's fall, if you want to be literal about it), and finally, his years of outlawry. Firstamazon untangles Túrin's story from the various versions that exist to bring forth the story of a young man beset by the worst luck ever (and—spoiler alert!—it will only get worse). Check out the first part of Túrin's biography here.

Posted on 5 August 2022 (updated 30 September 2022) by Dawn Felagund