Kurúki

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This content is considered pre-canon. While the subject of this article is based on official information, it was replaced or emended in later stages of the legendarium.

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Kurúki
Biographical information
Realms	In or near some woods
Weapon	Baneful drink
Physical description
Gender	Unknown

"Tirannë and Vainóni fall in with the evil magician Kurúki who gives them a baneful drink…Vainóni succours him, but the dragon in dying tells her all, lifting the veil Kurúki has set over them."

—The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, "Turambar and the Foalókë", Notes and Commentary

Kurúki, or Kurûki, was a character in a preliminary early sketch that possibly predated the tale of "Turambar and the Foalókë" in The Book of Lost Tales.

Biography

Kurúki was an evil magician whom Vainóni and her mother, Tirannë, fell in with. As a result, Kurúki gave to them a baneful drink, causing them to "forget their names and wander distraught in the woods". Later, when the dragon called the Foalókë exhaled his last breath, he lifted Kurúki's veil "set over them", restoring Vainóni's memories. Vainóni was greatly disturbed at some of these memories and fled through the woods until she threw herself off of a waterfall.

Etymology

The meaning of Kurúki is not given, though it is comprised of the Qenya word kuru ("magic, wizardry"), and possibly the Qenya element ki ("nearer possibility, may").

In later versions of Tolkien's Quenya language, an updated version of Kurúki would likely be Curucé since the word kuru became curu ("skill") and the particle ki became cé ("may be seeming").

In other versions

In later versions of the tale of the Children of Húrin, the character of Kurúki was discarded, and Glaurung took on the magician's former role of erasing Nienóri's memory in addition to his own role of breaking the spell of forgetfulness. Also in the final version, "a band of Orc-hunters" chase Niënor into the Forest of Brethil rather than fleeing immediately after losing her memory. Interestingly, Christopher Tolkien notes in his commentary that it is probable that the outline fragment involving Kurúki may be a unique glimpse into a draft of the Tale of Turambar that predates even the erased text written beneath many of the stories in The Book of Lost Tales.