Great and one of the most difficult books to read ✊

برای بار دوم خوندن این کتاب معرکه رو تموم کردم و میدونم قراره چندین و چندبار بخونمش. هر چی بیشتر از تالکین میخونم بیشتر عاشق دنیاش و اتفاقات و جزئیاتش میشم. کتابی برای عاشقای ارباب حلقه ها و دنیای تالکین.
تو این کتاب برمیگردیم به اولین لحظات شکل گیری این دنیا و اولین کسایی که وارد این دنیا میشن.
میبینیم که چطوری الف ها به عنوان اولین فرزندان ایلوواتار قدرت میگیرن و سال ها بعد اولین انسان ها پا به آردا میذارن. قدرتمند شدن اونا رو میبینیم و با پیروزی ها و جشن هاشون خوشحال میشیم و با خیانت ها،نفرین ها،دروغ ها و .... غمگین میشیم.
دو قسمت کتاب رو بیشتر دوست داشتم و تو ذهنم ثبت شد.
یکی داستان عاشقانه و زیبای برن و لوتین( که تو فیلم و کتاب های ارباب حلقه ها بهش اشاره شده).
و یکی دیگه هم داستان هورین و خانواده‌ش.( یک کتاب دیگه هم منتشر شده در مورد همین داستان که به صورت کامل تر نوشته شده)

از دل این کتاب میشه کلی کتاب دیگه نوشت و روز ها اونا رو خوند. با اینکه نسبتا کتاب سنگینی بود ولی وقتی تموم میشه میری دنبال کتاب های دیگه‌ این دنیا میگردی‌.
من به همه پیشنهاد میکنم اول کتاب هابیت رو بخونن و بعد ارباب حلقه ها. اونوقت بیان سراغ این کتاب و لذت ببرن.
این کتاب هیچ شباهتی به هابیت و ارباب حلقه ها نداره و هنر تالکین در به تصویر کشیدن خلق دنیاش رو به ما نشون میده. دنیایی جادویی که زمانی طولانی قدرتمند ترین و زیبا ترین انسان ها و الف ها در اون زندگی کردن. و بزرگترین داستان های عاشقانه و پیمان های دوستی و اتحاد در دل جنگ و خونریزی و خیانت پدیدار شدند. خیلی ها از جان و عشق و سرزمین خود گذشتند تا از آردا محافظت کنند.

n  "En el principio Eru, que en la lengua élfica es llamado Ilúvatar, hizo a los Ainur de su pensamiento; y ellos hicieron una Gran Música delante de él. En esta música empezó el mundon

Continuándo con la aventura de leer completo el Legendarium de Tolkien llega "El Simarillion", la clase de libro sobre el que no tengo idea de como hablar ¿Cómo juzgas la obra de una vida? ¿Cómo hablas de la manera que tiene Tolkien de explotar y dar tantos matices a su tema recurrente (a.k.a. la obsesión)? ¿De que manera hablas de los personajes cuando son tantos y tan bien definidos? Supongo que no hay manera correcta de hacerlo aunque trataré de dar algo de sentido a mis palabras.

Esta obra es literalmente el inicio de Arda, el mundo donde seubica la Tierra Mieda, de como Ilúvatar la concibió y los Valar la construyeron. La primera historia, Ainulindalë, es absolutamente hermosa. Concentrar tanta genialidad en tas pocas paginas es asombroso, sólo con esa yo ya quería continuar y ver como se desenvolvía.

Lo que ya entra de lleno a la Quenta Simarillion se me hizó pesado de leer, no porque aburra sino porque son tantos sucesos, tantos personajes, tantos nombres que mi cabeza pedía tiempo para procesarlo todo, y la verdad es que, aunque los Valar son importantes en toda la historia, el verdadera protagonista innamovible fue Melkor, creador del mal en Arda y "el Valar caído", cuya existencia influye en todo lo que suederá en la Tierra Media.

No creo que exista en el género obra similar ni un mundo tan bien pensado y es poco probable que lo que Tolkien ha creado alguien logre igualarlo.

Full disclosure. Although I tried reading it again, I still don't really get The Silmarillion. It's more of a history book, with endless descriptions of battles and lands and the Elves who were there. Most of what is discernable comes from familiar names known from Tolkien myths: Morgoth and the Valar etc.

This is primarily known to me because of exploration from fandom, which is what these spinoff books are truly about. The videos, the maps and nonfiction-type guides, the discussions with friends. It's the community that makes Middle Earth worth revisiting time and again, and that's my point...

Which brings me to the (for some reason) controversial series The Rings of Power. I can unequivocally state that watching that show made the experience of reading this challenging book far more rewarding.

It's the introduction that begins with tales of Numenor, and later chapters summarizing the rise of Sauron, that add to the famous appendix to Lord of the Rings of which the new streaming show is based upon. While the middle of this tome is still much too dense, I appreciate that new interpretations of the lore have expanded my knowledge and enjoyment of all things Middle Earth.

There's a certain narrative on the internet, that the "real" fans are against any new adaptations. It's always hard to judge how much of online non-discourse reflects reality, but in my case this is very far from the truth. I'm no literary scholar, but I'm a lover of the 2000s films and read and reread and listened and relistened to audiobooks of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings a great deal multiple times. And I'm also into the Rings of Power because I want more quality Middle Earth stories, and then it got me back into this fourth-best Tolkien book which I like a bit less. So, do I count as a real fan?

In fact, there have always been scholars and older readers who disliked the now-classic films when they first came out. Criticism is of course valid, and not everything is for everyone. I'm no fan of the bloated Hobbit trilogy, by the way, but I hardly thought it was worth it making that my entire personality. There can be a wide range between the best of the best, and other spinoffs to also enjoy with varying degrees.

Anyway, this isn't really a review of the Silmarillion. It's not quite a defense of The Rings of Power either, not specifically. It's about being a fan of a mythos, of watching films and reading books about another world over the course of my whole life, and that I enjoy that. As a--I hope I may claim--thoughtful reviewer, I want to be able to criticize without bad faith cynicism pervading over this doomed social media clickbait age. And, also, I just like to geek out and enjoy the world-building within this beloved fantasy epic.

So that's what I'd like to express, via Goodreads right here :)

To me, “The Silmarillion” is the crown jewel of Tolkien’s work – the silmaril, if you will.

I knew the basic themes long before I started the book, and after “The Lord of the Rings” I also knew that “The Silmarillion” would be what I had been waiting for. The concept was not only radically new in its time, but is still unique in any given time-frame: a made-up cosmogony and mythology (well, it always is) of a made-up world, inhabited of made-up peoples, made-up history, made-up languages etc. Everything started from scratch. Still, that is not nearly the most remarkable thing. Because if I had not known what I was dealing with, I never would have considered this to be a modern rendition rather than a mythology rooted in and legitimised by its community.

Meaning to say: This sounds (reads) so staggeringly authentic! Every mythology has a familiar ring to it. After all, the do all consist of archetypical elements with a more or less prominent individual twist. And in “The Silmarillion” you get an abundance of everything to choose from. There are the imperious, demanding mania of Biblical proportions, the noble yet distant fierceness of the Edda, the disturbing darkness of the Wälsung (or Völsung) or the Kullervo as major threads. Minor ones include a cataclysm nothing short of Atlantis, a hill populated by deities of sorts, race carts in the sky etc. And an entire heap of motifs and elements that I missed or left out. Including heroes, monsters and maidens. (And with blackjack and hookers!)

The prose itself is worthy of every classic, scholarly translation of an ancient source. But equally important and far more exciting on quite an instance was the linguistic splendour and brilliance, flowing into a nuanced stratification of languages, dialects, structures, system and even loanwords within Arda. A friend said that some parts of Tolkien’s opus only a philologist could find interesting. I would hardly call it interesting. My expression of choice would be a never-ending wet dream.

In addition to that, Tolkien knows very well how to make use of emotions or to restrain them. He knows how to alternate between climaxes and anti-climaxes, when to engage and when to slow down, while keeping and intact, continuous pace. This tale is so epic in the original sense of the word, so full of glory, pride, hubris, tragedy, pathos, rise and downfall that it left me no less in awe than my favourite “real” mythologies. “The Silmarillion” is not only a perfect mimesis. It unfolds das Erhabene, the sublime, right in front of you, without emotional over-burdening. You can be enchanted and amazed, but you could hardly shed any tears over this. Anyway, would you over e.g. Beowulf? (Both the epic and the character.)

Once the tale is finished, or even before it is finished, everything falls into place. Every line of “The Lord of the Rings” and every event in Middle-earth. For with everything that it is, “The Silmarillion” is also primarily an account of the decline of a people sprouted out of their world, yet not essentially belonging to it: the Elves.

(That much we had in common. After roughly three months, I too had to leave Middle-earth behind. I knew it would be painful. But I also knew I wanted a dignified closure after pouring so many emotions into this and after everything essential had already been said. No notes, no drafts, no unfinished stories. That would only have been an ugly and ungracious life-support.)

When I have a moment to sit and think of all the worlds I have visited in literature, I know that Middle Earth will always be my favourite. Tolkien created something that has had such a profound effect on me, and it's mainly down to my Father, that I have such a wondrous appreciation.

This is different from my favourite, The Lord of the Rings, and there is such intricate detail included in here, so if you're looking for more beyond The Lord of the Rings, this is your book.

Whatever you do though, just don't go and watch 'The Rings Of Power" on Prime. I'll never recommend it.

I'm not going to lie, this was pretty tough going at times. I love the subject matter, but a lot of it just didn't flow, so it was a case of re-reading parts again, sometimes without any prevail. This was in no way something I would consider to be light reading.

The first half of the book is essentially about creations, who has created what, descendants and who rules which part of the lands. The elves are most important, so we are told much about these in tremendous detail.

This is where things become incredibly confusing, as the vast amount of characters are also referenced to as different names throughout, which is baffling, to say the least. I understand why my Father mentioned that parts of this book were dry.

As I read beyond the halfway mark, the book took a significant turning point, and things started to become more interesting, in particular, learning about Aragorn's ancestors. This was a long, in-depth read, that simply couldn't be read in one sitting, but I'm especially glad to have finished it..

Ever since I joined GR I’ve been putting off the writing of this book’s review… but since I’m high as fuck on cold medicine I feel like I can do it so here suffer thru it!:


Along long time ago a little 3rd world kid with an afro became fascinated of what he read on the internet about some British writer named Tolkien… he wanted his books… it became his obsession… so he embarked on a quest to find his books and read the shit out of them… but alas! The book was no where to be found on his dumb little island… but that wasn’t going to stop our little afro hero… he looked and looked, he went to used bookstores, he ordered 5 times in the expensive ones, he looked online, on the streets, even on the flea markets… but they were not to be found… one day after wating for 2 hours for his translator to finish translating and E-copy of The Lord of The Ring: The Fellowship of The Ring. Into Spanish and realizing that it made no fucking sense once translated… our little afro hero went into the internet and founded the only bookstore with most of Tolkien’s work on stock… in Spanish! But there was only one problem… the fucking bookstore was in freaking Spain… the cost of the books + S&H was way more of what our hairy friend had on his piggy bank… so he did the unthinkable… his parents had been bitching about his afro for months…. So he proposed to them that in exchange of his fro they should give him the books he wanted… and they accepted… in an act of self mutilation* our fuzzy friend shaved his head to show his parent’s his anger over making him lose his fro… after that the money was given to him… he could order now (his parents weren’t as stupid as he always thought) and that day.. That day the curse was born!!! It was like the curse of Feanor… but lame, the books took an entire year to arrive… now imagine our froless hero waiting and waiting and calling and emailing and checking and re checking for a whole mother fucking year with his shaved head… (for those of you who wonder this is why I will never again buy a book from the internet, I’m fucking traumatized) but when they got there… how to put it into words… I read the first book (600 pages) in one day… the second in 3 days, the third in 2 days, the fourth on a day and a half… and then it was time for the Silmarillion…


I didn’t know nothing about the Silmarillion… I left it for last cuz I thought it would be the most boring one… and boy was I wrong! The first part The Music of the Ainur was such a mind blowing experience to me to the point of I cannot talk about anything else but how metal it sounded that my friends started complaining (somebody got to the point of threaten me that if said something else about Melkor being the coolest I was going to get punch in the balls) I mean if you ever read this book you should know how Melkor invented heavy metal on it… then it was the lamps and all the gay stuff that I didn’t like… that’s when I used to think Melkor was the coolest… then came The Trees… and I was just fascinated of how beautiful everything was… I know it sounds mad gay! But it was!!! And then Melkor did something that made me stop thinking of him as the coolest… he killed The Trees… is not like I cried or anything like that… but you know that was fuck up! The guy is cool and all but I know it sounds stupid… but I did like those Trees man… =( by this time I was so lost in this book that one could actually call it an obsession… I was walking while reading, talking to the characters… (if I were to get a penny for every time I told a character on this book “turn back you fool” I’d be rich by now!)… look I don’t wanna ruin anything to anybody I could honestly talk for hours about how fucking awesome Feanor is…. Or how big Fingolfin’s balls are (bigger than Steven’s) or how beautiful Luthien was and how I wished she never met Beren, or how fucking sick and twisted Morgoth gets… I mean the man was sick! But I need to stop! Cuz if I don’t I’ma be here for ever… I wanna say is that Tolkien was the mother fucking greatest of all times man… this is just such a beautiful book…


*:(even tho the paper don’t agree with me on this… it was self mutilation!!! She has no idea how “attached”
I was to that fro!!!!)

3.5/5 stars

With a new interest and determination, I have finally finished reading The Silmarillion.

I have failed this book twice and I was so sure that I won’t attempt reading it again. However, I have just finished re-watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy extended editions and reading the Three Great Tales of Middle-Earth that’s edited by Christopher Tolkien. I know this is not the recommended reading order but it's only because of doing these two activities that I found a new interest, knowledge, and motivation to actually persevere and finish this book.

Picture: Fingolfin versus Morgoth by Art-Calavera



Finishing The Silmarillion for the first time was one of the most difficult reads I’ve ever attempted in my life. It was so difficult that in my opinion, reading this book alone was harder than reading the entirety of Malazan Book of the Fallen. My main problem with it was that that I found it the first half of this book to be extremely boring. I’m talking about hundreds of names (characters, places, events) being fired non-stop at readers, monumental events happening in two sentences, and the extreme difficulty in caring with the characters because there was close to zero character’s thoughts exploration due to the biblical style of writing. However, after reading the three Great Tales of Middle-Earth, these names started to become more familiar and much easier to remember. In fact, when I got back to it, I found the second half to be so full of engaging and epic events.

n  n   

“All have their worth and each contributes to the worth of the others.”

n  n

I won’t be reviewing each story in this book, there are way too many of them and I genuinely think a lot of Tolkienist can do a much better job in explaining the greatness of this book. Instead, I’ll say this. The First Age of Middle-Earth makes the event of the Third Age (events in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) looks like a normal skirmish. There were so many incredible and epic battle waged; tons of tragedy and loss; unmeasurable evil of Morgoth that makes Sauron looks like a brat. Out of all the stories included in this book, there were two that stands out the most to me. One is obviously the story of Turin Turambar that has already been told in full details on The Children of Hurin. I have done a full review on this story but to summarize it, I absolutely loved it and I have no doubt it will be even better upon a reread one day.

Picture: The Sack of Nargothrond by Donato Giancola



The other favorite story was definitely the War of Wrath which depicts the final battle of colossal proportion that ended the First Age of Middle-Earth. It’s such a shame though that this chapter was super short. Like many of the stories contained in this book, I genuinely think that if the right author re-wrote these stories with multi-characters POV to follow instead of an omniscient biblical style of writing, War of Wrath would definitely be one of the most epic fantasy war to be written. It’s seriously hard to explain the scope of this battle, instead, I’ll show you an image of the battle between Earendil (the tiny blue light in the picture) and Ancalagon the Black.

Picture: The Dragon and the Star by Manuel Castañón



The Silmarillion was not an easy read and the first half of the book was completely not fun at all to read. Due to the nature of writing style, there were also a lot of events that could’ve worked so much better rather than making me feel so distant. However, this book clearly shows Tolkien’s capability as a pioneer in fantasy world-building. I didn’t even know how rich the lore and history behind Middle-Earth was until I’ve read this one. I highly recommend this book for patient readers and obviously, fans of Tolkien. If you’re not a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, I really think that it’s not mandatory for you to push through this book if it’s not working for you. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of great scenes that really shows Tolkien's imagination at its highest level. But overall, I think I'm left wanting more out of the stories than feeling completely satisfied.

You can order the book from: Book Depository (Free shipping)

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

Exceelent addition to Middle Earth , an excellent story, read the book 2 times during my life. I can't get enough of this authors work.

Amazingly detailed and deep in lore. Every little detail is thought of lovingly by Tolkien, in his depiction of continual decline and defeat
But of bliss and glad life is little to be said before it ends

Greed, (sexual) desire, envy, anger, cowardice, stubbornness and complacency: the elves and men in the Silmarillion are much more their own enemies than the dark enemy of the world Morgoth. No realm endures, every good intention is subverted and decline and fall are inevitable, despite the most valiant acts of bravery. If only there was more on the fall of Gondolin…

The Silmarillion brings epic to new heights and is a rightful classic!
The language of J.R.R. Tolkien uses is biblical, with lots of foreshadowing and depth. One does ask oneself, why do immortal elves care about heirs?
I love the snideness of the elves against each other, with quips like: You have my leave, not my love
Turin his story is a (sad) highlight (besides Beren and Luthien one of the longest and most detailed), with Turin being too human in his pride and stubbornness, showing that elves are far from the only ones who are dramatic. The dangers of a charismatic leader are clearly illustrated here, accentuated by some foolish actions, like taking a cursed sword, why not Beleg.
I do wonder how did Morgoth respond to losing a Silmaril? Not a good look for him.
And how come Ulmo can’t just retrieve the sea Silmaril?
But these are minor observations in one of the most layered and richly contextualised books one can find!

Το Σιλμαρίλλιον, των εκδόσεων «Αίολος», ήρθε στα χέρια μου το έτος 2011. Ο Έκτωρ είχε δει ότι διάβαζα παντού και ότι οι μυθολογίες είχαν μια ξεχωριστή θέση στην καρδιά μου. Έτσι ανάμεσα σε ατελείωτες και βαρετές ώρες στα εργαστήρια της σχολής, άσκοπους καφέδες, τσιγάρα και έρωτες ο Έκτωρ μου δίνει το Σιλμαρίλλιον.

«Δεν το έχω διαβάσει» μου λέει. «Το έχει διαβάσει, όμως, η μητέρα μου» μου ξαναλέει. «Της άρεσε πολύ, αλλά να ξέρεις είναι δύσκολο. Κρατούσε σημειώσεις για μπορεί να συνεχίσει το διάβασμα.»

Μου το δίνει, λοιπόν, παίρνουμε έναν καφέ από μια καφετέρια στην Ναυαρίνου και αρχίζουμε να περπατάμε στην Δημητρίου Γούναρη. Εκεί, είχε βγάλει ένα πάγκο με βιβλία το βιβλιοπωλείο «Βιβλιοβάρδια». Ρίχνω μια ματιά στην πραμάτεια του πάγκου και εκείνη την στιγμή ακούγεται η φωνή της υπεύθυνης του βιβλιοπωλείου: «Διαβάζεις την Βίβλο;» Η κοπέλα μου ανοίγει κουβέντα για την σύνθεση του βιβλίου, με αποτέλεσμα να συζητήσουμε αρκετή ώρα την θεματική «λογοτεχνία του φανταστικού».

READ MORE HERE: https://nikolasinbookland.wordpress.c...

„Силмарилион“ е същинската творба на живота на Джон Толкин... Професорът е започнал да работи по нея далеч преди „Хобитът“, а пък е издадена след смъртта му, благодарение на неговия син Кристофър. За голямо съжаление не е успял да я завърши приживе и да разгърне пълния потенциал на тази великолепна митология… но и в този вид книгата е много стойностна! Без силната връзка със света на „Силмарилион“, може би „Властелинът на пръстените“ е нямало да се превърне в такова явление в литературата и впоследствие фентъзи жанрът да придобие своята популярност… Силно препоръчвам книгата на всеки любител на митове и легенди!





„Когато се озовали сред Пустотата, рекъл им Илуватар:

— Вижте своята Музика!

Разкрил им видение там, где преди бил само звук и съзрели Айнурите свят сред Пустотата — от нея роден, ала различен от нея. И както се взирали изумени, започнала да тече неговата история, сякаш живеел и раснел. Дълго гледали и мълчали, докато изрекъл Илуватар отново:

— Вижте своята Музика! Туй е вашата песен; всеки от вас ще съзре тук сред общия замисъл онова, що си мисли, че сам е сътворил и добавил. А ти, Мелкор, ще откриеш тайните замисли на душата си и ще проумееш, че са само част от цялото, смирено покорна на неговото величие.

Още много изрекъл тогаз Илуватар пред Айнурите и поради спомена за словата му, обединен с познанието на всеки от тях за онзи дял, щом сам е сътворил, знаят те какво е било и какво ще бъде, тъй че малко остава скрито за взора им. Ала има и неща незнайни за тях, та не всичко могат да вършат сами, защото никой освен Илуватар не знае какво е замислил и затуй във всяка епоха се случва по нещо ново и непредвидено, непознато от прежната песен. И докато се разстилало пред тях туй видение на света, зърнали в него Айнурите чудеса, за които не били и помисляли. Изумени видели те как идват Чедата на Илуватар и какъв дом им е приготвен; разбрали, че увлечени в своята музика всъщност са изградили този дом, без да знаят и без да се грижат за друго, освен за красотата на песента.“