Archaisms in the published Children of Húrin

[cesar.ewok]

In the appendix named "The Evolution of the Great Tales", CT states:

For this reason I have attempted in this book, after long study of the manuscripts, to form a text that provides a continuous narrative from start to finish, without the introduction of any elements that are not authentic in conception.

He also states, in the next appendix ("The Composition of the Text"), that:

In this book I have reconsidered the original manuscripts and reconstituted the text, in many (usually very minor) places restoring the original words, introducing sentences or brief passages that should not have been omitted, correcting a few errors, and making different choices among the original readings.

Túrin's last words to his sword in Narn's (UT) account are the following (my italics):

Then he drew forth his sword, and said: "Hail Gurthang, iron of death, thou alone now remainest! But what lord or loyalty dost thou know, save the hand that wieldeth thee? From no blood wilt thou shrink! Wilt thou take Túrin Turambar? Wilt thou slay me swiftly?"
And from the blade rang a cold voice in answer: "Yea, I will drink thy blood, that I may forget the blood of Beleg my master, and the blood of Brandir slain unjustly. I will slay thee swiftly.

Now Cf. the account in the published CoH (my italics):

"Then he drew forth his sword, and said: "Hail Gurthang, iron of death,
you alone now remain! But what lord or loyalty do you know, save the hand that wield you? From no blood will you shrink! Will you take Túrin Turambar? Will you slay me swiftly?"
And from the blade rang a cold voice in answer: "Yes, I will drink your blood, that I may forget the blood of Beleg my master, and the blood of Brandir slain unjustly. I will slay you swiftly."

How the published text came to this? Was it a reconsideration of "the original manuscripts"? The Grey Annals' account is identical to Narn's. In the brief final narrative concerning Húrin's meeting with Morwen, we have:

'But you are late,' she said. 'too late. They are lost.'
'I know,' he said. 'But you are not.'

This narrative is clearly extracted from The War of the Jewels' "Wanderings of Húrin", where the text is as follows:

'But you are late,' she said. 'too late. They are lost.'
'I know,' he said. 'But thou art not.'

Could this possibly be an "original reading" too?! What happened to the CoH's text?

[William Cloud Hicklin]

For all we know (until the manuscripts become available), both could possibly be authentic readings. JRRT himself was often undecided about thee/thou forms, and frequently changed them and then sometimes changed back again.

I am inclined to suspect, though, that CRT might have made the substitution for the sake of consistency throughout, since his father certainly wasn't! On the other hand, CoH may represent (as it plainly does in other cases) a restoration of the original where the Narn had been edited. CRT has stated on several occasions that he regards the original texts more scrupulously than he did a quarter-century ago.

Some day we'll find out.