[Bear_in_RoseBear]

the fragments are among the best things Tolkien wrote. Such a sad and wonderful story, isn't it? It could have rivalled Narn i hin Hurin.... which is beautiful but I don't really like it.

I agree with you there, about both the story fragments and the "Narn". It's just so darn *depressing*... very much like a Greek tragedy, in that Turin's troubles come as much from his own failings as they do from anything else.

[JenB]

Exactly; it's got so many shades of "Oedipus" and similar Greek tragedies... Tolkien is, IMO, at his best when drawing on the "Northern" mythologies as opposed to the "Southern" stories.

Speaking of north/south... (cue bad segue music) in answer to Corin, I used to live in the DC suburbs. I have been told that there are both hills and trees in VA, but the fact remains, I never saw a raccoon in a trash can until I moved to PA.