One of the earliest stories of J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium committed to writing was the tragic tale of Túrin Turambar. As Tolkien himself acknowledged, in creating Túrin’s tale, he drew on elements of real-world legends, particularly those of Sigurd the Volsung, Oedipus, and the Finnish Kullervo. In this capsule, we’ll take a brief look at the interplay between these legends (in the forms that young Tolkien had likely encountered them) and Tolkien’s own creation of the tale of Túrin.