Atanatárion
The Atanatárion was a literary work dealing with the three "Great Tales" as written down in Númenor that were primarily concerned with the heroes of the Edain of the late First Age.
These three Great Tales, which were later preserved in Gondor, were:
1) Narn Beren ion Barahir ("Tale of Beren son of Barahir") or Narn e·Dinúviel ("Tale of the Nightingale")
2) Narn e·mbar Hador ("Tale of the House of Hador"), which consists of:
- a) Narn i·Chîn Húrin ("Tale of the Children of Húrin") or Narn e·’Rach Morgoth ("Tale of the Curse of Morgoth")
- b) Narn en·Êl ("Tale of the Star") or Narn e·Dant Gondolin ar Orthad en·Êl ("Tale of the Fall of Gondolin and the Raising of the Star")
Etymology
The title Atanatárion is Quenya for "(Legendarium) of the Fathers of Men", with the later part of the title forming a genitive plural of the term Atanatar ("of the Fathers of Men"), while the "Legendarium" part of the title is implied in the English gloss of the title of the work.
The Sindarin cognates of the title are Nern in Adanath and Nern in Edenedair, where the "Legendarium" part of the title is explicitly translated, with the term Nern being the plural of the noun narn ("a tale").
Composition
Tolkien wrote about the Atanatárion and the titles of the three Great Tales on a small slip with the heading: Memorandum, some time in the 1950's. According to Christopher Tolkien, he probably considered composing them in the form of three shorter stories as Appendices to The Silmarillion.
Referencias
1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 21/05/2026.
