Day Shall Come Again

Last of all Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed; and it is sung that the axe smoked in the black blood of the troll-guard of Gothmog until it withered, and each time that he slew Húrin cried: ‘Aurë entuluva! Day shall come again!’ Seventy times he uttered that cry…

J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Silmarillion”

Among the many epic scenes of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, this is one of my most favorite.

This quote takes place at the fifth battle of the First Age of Middle Earth: the Nirnaeth Arnoediad (Battle of Unnumbered Tears). The dark lord Morgoth not only breaks through the siege encircling him, he practically wipes out all future resistance against him. The downfall of the Elven kingdoms is all but a forgone conclusion now.

Húrin, one of the chieftains of faithful tribes of Man (the Edain), sacrifices himself as a rearguard to allow the Elven king of Gondolin to retreat, and his situation is hopeless. Indeed, Morgoth doesn’t let him or his descendants off easy.

And yet, Húrin knows that this is not the end. Day will come again.

Indeed, as the story of Silmarillion unfolds, the darkness is eventually defeated and a new age of Middle Earth begins.

So, when I feel crushed with despair at the growing darkness in the world, I try to remind myself that things will get better. I don’t know if I will live long enough to see it, but I can still contribute toward that end in my own small way. Indeed, many characters in the Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings made seemingly small contributions, but together they defeated the Darkness.

Aurë entuluva, dear readers, day shall come again.