[ESP/ENG]

n  En el principio estaba Eru, el Único, que en Arda es llamado Ilúvatar; y primero hizo a los Ainur, los Sagrados, que eran vástagos de su pensamiento, y estuvieron con él antes que se hiciera alguna otra cosa. Y les habló y les propuso temas de música; y cantaron ante él y él se sintió complacido.n

Segunda lectura

Este libro lo leí por primera vez a las bravas, es decir, habiendo leído solamente El señor de los anillos y El hobbit. Sólo sabía que era la historia antigua de ese universo, y que la gente o lo amaba o lo odiaba. Allí me fui yo a la librería a por esta edición especial aniversario, y me dispuse a leerlo. Primera parte, inicio de todo: La Ainulindalë. Boom, enganchado para los restos. En esta segunda lectura, ya conociendo mucho más del fondo y del autor, la he disfrutado todavía más. Es un libro muy complejo y completo, y debo decir que esta vez lo he leído siguiendo un plan de lectura, poco a poco, y creo que es la mejor forma de enfrentarlo.

Aquí tenemos todo lo que sucede antes de la historia conocida por todos. Desde este inicio del mundo creado mediante canciones, pasando por la creación y aparición de todas las cosas, las edades de las lámparas y los árboles, la primera edad, la segunda, todo se cuenta aquí. Es cierto que hay algunos pasajes que pueden hacerse un poco más farragosos, principalmente debido a tanto nombre, pero el libro trae un glosario de nombres y líneas genealógicas del que echar mano cuando eso pasa. Además cuenta con unos apéndices en los que se narra alguna cosa de la tercera edad.

El cuerpo principal del libro hace referencia a la creación de Los Silmarils y su devenir en la historia, que provocarán no pocas tragedias. En cuanto a las historias más importantes de esta edad antigua son 3, que luego se desarrollarán en sus respectivos libros: Beren y Lúthien, Los hijos de Húrin y La caída de Gondolin, junto con la Akallabêth, o La caída de Númenor

La única pega que se le puede poner es que esto no lo publicó El profesor en vida, sino que lo hizo su hijo debido a su constante reescribir las historias, y por tanto en algunos puntos puede quedar algo inconcluso y hasta contradictorio. Pero el trabajo realizado por Christopher es realmente de alabar, y consigue dar una sensación de cohesión aunque no fuese escrito así.

En definitiva, es una obra que todo fan de Tolkien debería leer, para saber todo lo que solo se intuye en pinceladas en las obras más famosas.

Primera lectura

Un libro imprescindible para cualquiera que haya leído algo de Tolkien, en el que se narra la historia de la creación del mundo y todo lo que ocurre desde entonces, la era de las lámparas y los árboles, toda la primera edad, con un resumen de la creación y finalidad de los anillos de poder y la caída de Númenor.

Mi parte favorita es sin duda la Ainulindale, una gozada de leer y que merecería adaptación a imagen real.

اونجوری که فکر میکردم نبود

یه جاهایی به شدت جذاب و جاهای دیگه حوصله سر بر بود

باید سر فرصت دوباره برم سراغش. بعضی از مطالب رو درست متوجه نشدم

و کتابی نیست که به همه پیشنهاد کنم ، باید عاشق دنیای تالکین باشی تا لذت ببری ازش …

2023 review

So I was asking myself - Jen, how do you review the Silmarillion? How do you review the events of thousands of years of heavily condensed material and make it palatable that this is in fact, a classic and a must for all Tolkien fans?

Well I've thought about that. I'm not going to review the material itself, or I'd just end up rewriting the book. But what I can say about this is that reading the Silmarillion, although incredibly challenging to keep up with all the names, battles and the second names Tolkien gives to characters and battles ("It was known as X in the tongue of the Elves, but Y in the tongues of men, but the dwarves called it Z" - if you know you know), is a fantastic experience in terms of what I'd like to call a taste of Tolkien. There are so many stories squished into this epic that just as you get invested into one, a new one starts. But if you find a story that resonates with you, there is a small possibility that Christopher Tolkien has adapted this in a more narrative and expanded form. Case in point - The Fall of Gondolin, Beren and Lúthien, The Children of Húrin or The Fall of Númenor: and Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-earth. It is a likelihood, considering the Fall of Numenor was published after Christopher's death, that the Tolkien estate will continue to find writers to expand upon the genius material that Tolkien has given to us. So if you want a taste of Tolkien, read the Silmarillion and choose from there.

And if the Silmarillion wasn't enough, jump straight into the History of Middle Earth series. A massive undertaking but one I recommend if you couldn't get enough.

In the end, it's incredibly sad to me that we never got to read Tolkien's own expanded version of these stories. It's one of the great tragedies of classic writers, though I may be biased. I totally am. Enjoy what was, what is and what has not yet come to pass.

La historia se hace muy difícil con tanto nombre. Toda la genealogía te ayuda a entender mejor cómo se forjó "El Señor de los Anillos".

The story becomes very difficult with so much name. All genealogy helps you better understand how "The Lord of the Rings" was forged.

n  Sauron was become now a sorceror of dreadful power, master of shadows and of phantoms, foul in wisdom, cruel in strength, misshaping what he touched, twisting what he ruled, lord of werewolves; his dominion was torment.n

Ah, Sauron, Maia of Aulë—beyond doubt the singularly most enthralling antagonist whom I encountered as a young reader, possessing all of the malevolence and dark charisma and naked power of Satan, but unhobbled by the multi-aspectual morphology of Christian theology and popular culture that far too often rendered the Devil a ridiculous figure: a wild-eyed and beastly fornication ringmaster cavorting with naked acolytes; a scarlet-skinned, pitchfork-wielding fashion model for forked-tails and forehead horns; or slyly smiling traveling salesman, pitching his gimcrack wares backed by loosely-enforced contracts claiming lien upon some drink-tossed wastrel's dubiously-valuable soul. But Sauron—the dude fell, the dude schemed, the dude was scary, whether donning the raiments of a beautiful, translucent ring-wise man or an unbearably, searingly abhorrent humanoid vessel of the void.

There exists no other book that I've read as many times as The Silmarillion. Much more than the questing, heroic storyline of n  The Lord of the Ringsn was I drawn to the background of all those tumultuous events, the grand personages and royal lineages that stretched back into the mists of primordial time. Where did Sauron come from? From what pit originally arose the Balrog? What order was Gandalf exactly a member of? Who were Beren and Luthien, and what relevance did their own story have to this ultimate chapter of the War of the Rings playing out on the pages before me? Immediately that I finished the trilogy I rushed into the Silmarillion; and though at that time I was still too young to appreciate the allusions to other great mythologies, to the wonderful intricacies of the languages that Tolkien had constructed for his Middle-Earth races, to the powerful theme of tragedy—always linked with a hubris of the striving spirit—that was enjoined to the Noldorin rebellion against the Valar and their heroic-but-doomed struggle against Melkor, He Who Arises in Might, Morgoth Bauglir the Black Enemy—Radical Valar Renegade, Spawner of the Orcs, Dark Lord of the Balrogs, Tutoring Patron of Sauron; in toto, Supreme Badass Motherfucker of all Middle-Earth—still I was held spellbound by these glimpses into the Great Creation, the Dawn of Elves and Men, the Noldorin Exile and the fate of the Silmarils, which ended with such a perfect balance, the priceless jewels at rest at the bottom of the sea, the deepest of earthen chasms, and the highest heights of the heavens. What's more, after the breaking of Beleriand the reader is presented with the awesome arc of the founding and the doom of Númenor, in which Sauron gloatingly laughed atop the Island's mountain temple and lustfully defied the punishing lighting strokes that sizzled through the nighttime air; and the concluding overview of the War of the Rings, in which much is explained that makes The Lord of the Rings even more enjoyably complete than when the trilogy—and its prequel The Hobbit—were the only source for the incredibly deep history that Tolkien had woven from his lifelong love of language.

These annals, with their brilliantly-etched admixtures of beauty and short-lived heroic triumphs set against an overpowering sense of futility and tragic defeat at the hands of an enemy whose cunning is as deep as the infernal pits of his cavernous dungeons and whose malice engirds the star-kissed world, whose very corruption has been bled into the core of creation itself, were just what were needed to spark a young imagination; Tolkien's private amusements and delights mirrored my own in their fledgling form, and inspired me to tributary tasks of creation that nobody else could understand or appreciate but which gave me immense personal satisfaction. They awoke within me the powerful demiurgical desire to craft worlds, populate them, endow them with their own gods and mythologies, formulate a history, laden it with political systems, the whole works, all in the service of a time-bound fate that culminates in an apocalyptic showdown betwixt the dark and the light. At that point in a person's life, when the complex and inscrutable mathematical rituals and hierarchical causality of all-powerful modern science have immense appeal but few handholds, the prismatic and primal allure of myth and magic, the intuitive interconnectedness of nature with the sorcerously creative will of man, even at that tender age a force struggling to avoid restraint and desperately endeavoring to draw power from those spiritual furnaces deep within, the font of dreams, such tales of heroism and fortitude in the face of the supernatural are, for many, very hard to resist. What's more, the channeling of natural phenomenon into organic spirits with anthropomorphic features and forms offers another intuitively-appealing means to understanding a vast material world that otherwise seems awesomely inexplicable and frighteningly unpredictable. Stories that tap into our innate desire both to be entertained and be edified by human theatre set within the panoramic vistas of a horizon-hid past—Tolkien delivered in spades.

I don't care that it was edited by Christopher Tolkien and Guy Gavriel Kay and, thus, can't be declared canonical. Who gives a shit? Some complain that it reads like a Middle-Earth bible, that its archaic style and portentous prose are a labor to struggle through, and provide nothing as satisfying as the great trilogy he had wrought. Ah, tell it to the judge. They read like the annals composed from the mythological strains that wend across a mysterious, fate-bound history that they, in fact, are: it's just that this particular history was played out solely within the mental confines—a rich cerebral theatre—of the author, and possessed a coherence and potency to rival the mythologies of the Greeks or the Northmen. What more could a reader want? If Tolkien's labour of love, crafted and edited, reworked and rewritten, was of such an amazing expressiveness and beauty and power that it both upheld the Ring Trilogy and lit its mythological intimations with a fulgent blaze that only served to augment one's appreciation of the latter's depths, then why not put it out there for that multitude of fans who were dying to sample more of the mystical marvels from one of the greatest and most uniquely imaginative minds of the past century?

Moja omiljena knjiga.
Nista nikada kao Tolkinov Silmarilion!

This is the epic backstory and mythology of Middle Earth. The grandeur and beauty of the language, and indeed the content, is reminiscent of the King James edition of the Bible, beloved by Tolkien.

Its beauty is sometimes counterbalanced by its opacity. My child was keen to read it, but aged only 7 or 8, struggled, so I read it aloud, which was quite a challenge: convoluted sentences half a page long, and complex genealogy, exacerbated by characters and places referred to by two or more names from different mythical languages (“There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar.”). Sometimes I had to go back to the start of a sentence or paragraph because I’d forgotten how it started. My child, blessed with an incredible memory for matters of interest, took in more than I did.

Ultimately, the important thing is the majesty of immersion and the feelings that instils, rather than conscious understanding of detail (like the Bible?!).


Image: The 1657 Polyglot Bible, at the Chained Library, Wells Cathedral (Source.)

If you're expecting something like The Hobbit (or even LotR), this will be a surprise - but an enriching one, I hope.

What’s Missing?

Reading this clarified two aspects of Middle Earth I’d vaguely pondered in The Hobbit and LotR:

Religion
Tolkien devised the history, mythology, culture, and languages (he was an early conlanger) of the many races of Middle Earth in intricate detail, and he was a devout Catholic. There is often a sense of the sacred and profane (“The Light failed; but the Darkness that followed was more than loss of light.”), but there’s not even passing mention of temples, priests, prayers, rituals, sacraments, or holy texts. The elves come closest, but even so, I find it odd that there are no invocations in the darkest times - on the eve of battle or beside the dying - or thanksgiving at the happiest.

Families
Where are the women and children (other than the entwives, which Treebeard explains)? Obviously, they’re unlikely to go on a dangerous quest, let alone to battle, so wouldn’t be major characters, but it’s strange that there’s so little mention of longing for them or just moaning and gossiping about them. I think there are two related reasons. The families are mostly back in the Shire, because that’s the happy, heavenly safe place (until it isn’t), as well as in the elven forests, and dwarf communities. Perhaps because Tolkien attended a single-sex day school and then a singe-sex Oxford college, that felt like the natural order of things.

Quotes

•t“Now the Elves made many rings; but secretly Sauron made One Ring to rule all the others, and their power was bound up with it, to be subject wholly to it and to last only so long as it too should last. And much of the strength and will of Sauron passed into that One Ring; for the power of the Elven-rings was very great, and that which should govern them must be a thing of surpassing potency; and Sauron forged it in the Mountain of Fire in the Land of Shadow. And while he wore the One Ring he could perceive all the things that were done by means of the lesser rings, and he could see and govern the very thoughts of those that wore them.”

•t“Shall we mourn here deedless forever a shadow-folk mist-haunting dropping vain tears in the thankless sea?”

•t“It is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance that is in this Earth; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen.”

My Other Tolkien Reviews

•tThe Hobbit HERE.
•tLetters from Father Christmas HERE.

Although I’ve read the three volumes of Lord of the Rings, I’ve not done so recently, and there are plenty of excellent reviews of them on GR already.


This Silmarillion review is totally new (except for a couple of sentences), August 2019.

J.R.R Tolkien books has since I've started being interested in other books than children's book, intrigued me. It took an embarrassing long time for me to get into his way of writing and prose but when it was worth every try and fail to come to this point. Love is world building now and his way of writing and compelling story line and characters

❧ audiobook review

THIRD READ

I may or may not be a little bit in love with this book.

Okay, a lot in love.

n  For a great madness of rage was upon him, so that his eyes shone like the eyes of the Valar. Thus he came alone to Angband’s gates, and he sounded his horn, and smote once more upon the brazen doors, and challenged Morgoth to come forth to single combat. And Morgoth came.n

Chillllllsssss.

SECOND READ

EVEN MORE AMAZING AND HEARTBREAKING THE SECOND TIME.

Just as good as the first time! I’m going through it a lot faster this time. I love it so much. Melian’s story stood out to me more this time and gosh, I love her. Yavanna too.

n  Greatly though he had desired to see again the light of the Trees, in the face of Melian he beheld the light of Aman as in an unclouded mirror, and in that light he was content.n

As ever: fucking Fëanor. The oath he makes everyone swear before the Kinslaying and march - UGH. I feel awful for his wife. And his mother. Like that whole part is so, so heartbreaking.

The moment where the eagles save Maedhros just before Fingon is forced to shoot him gets me every time. Just such a beautiful, harrowing passage.

n  Maedhros therefore, being in anguish without hope, begged Fingon to shoot him with his bow; and Fingon strung an arrow, and bent his bow. And seeing no better hope he cried to Manwë, saying: ‘Oh King to whom all birds are dear, speed now this feathered shaft, and recall some pity for the Noldor in their need!’n


FIRST READ REVIEW:

n  But fair-seeming were all the words and deeds of Melkor.n

I’ve been ruminating on this one over the months that it took me to get through it. I very much did not want to rush and I’m glad I didn’t. I feel like the whole thing is still fresh in my mind. Honestly, I loved every story, every tale, every poem and I cannot recommend it enough. Amazing. Absolutely mind-blowingly good.

I love The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit so much and have since childhood, but it took me a while to get to The Silmarillion. I actually started this after watching The Rings of Power and I love swapping between the two. I love, love, love this book. The scope and lore and years and time are just so beautifully done, enthralling, heartbreaking, gorgeously written and interesting. I got to the end and actually wanted more! I won’t say I love it MORE than the other Tolkien books on Middle-earth, as they are incomparable, I think - a children’s book, a war epic and an epic of epics that is more of a summation of history than a novel. But each one paints such a vivid depiction of Tolkien's universe.

n  ‘For that woe is past,’ said Galadriel; ‘and I would take what joy is here left, untroubled by memory. And maybe there is woe enough yet to come, though still hope may seem bright.’n

THOUGHTS AS I READ/LISTENED:

- I really love that we have an entire book about the history of Tolkien’s world. I love everything from the idea of the music, to the trees, to the adventures that follow in the early years of Middle-Earth.
- The whole backstory of Melkor, Ungoliant and the rest is so fascinating and dark and creepy. The unlight and the draining of trees by Ungoliant making even Melkor afraid, etc.
- Melkor burning his hands on the Silmarils permanently and putting them in his crown and then refusing to take it off enough though it always hurt him is such ‘fuck us all I guess’ energy.
- The Doom of Mandos, Fëanor and his dad, and Finarfin’s turning back scene had me ;_;
- Eöl, Aredhel and Maeglin’s stories are so sad.
- The duel of Morgoth and Fingolfin is fascinating, epic and devastating. (Although I did temporarily mix up Fingolfin with Finrod Felagund, oops.)
- Tol-in-Gaurhoth or the Isle of Werewolves - OH COME ON, MAIRON.
- Beren and Lúthien's chapter is the one I was looking forward to the most! And oh my gosh, it's perfect!

n  Then Beren looking up beheld the eyes of Lúthien, and his glance went also to the face of Melian and it seemed to him that words were put into his mouth. Fear left him, and the pride of the eldest house of Men returned to him; and he said: ‘My fate, O King, led me hither, through perils such as few even of the Elves would dare. And here I have found what I sought not indeed, but finding I would possess for ever. For it is above all gold and silver, and beyond all jewels. Neither rock, nor steel, nor the fires of Morgoth, nor all the powers of the Elf-kingdoms, shall keep from me the treasure that I desire. For Lúthien your daughter is the fairest of all the Children of the World.’n

- I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

n  Therefore Huan and Lúthien sought him in the isle; and Lúthien found him mourning by Felagund. So deep was his anguish that he lay still, and did not hear her feet. Then thinking him already dead she put her arms about him and fell into a dark forgetfulness. But Beren coming back to the light out of the pits of despair lifted her up, and they looked again upon one another; and the day rising over the dark hills shone upon them.n

- I LOVE THEM SO, SO MUCH.
- Poor Finrod. My gosh, I just adore his character so much.

n  ‘The wolf howls. The ravens flee.
The ice mutters in the mouths of the Sea.
The captives sad in Angband mourn.
Thunder rumbles, the fires burn—
And Finrod fell before the throne.’n

- FINRODDDDDDDD NOOOOOO!!

n  ‘For the spirit of Beren at her bidding tarried in the halls of Mandos, unwilling to leave the world, until Lúthien came to say her last farewell upon the dim shores of the Outer Sea, whence Men that die set out never to return.’n

- Their whole chapter was devastating and beautiful.

n  And it is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance else that is in this Earth; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen.n

- This quote always makes me think of the first episodes of The Rings of Power and the ending of The Return of the King. Galadriel's little swan boat, Halbrand diving into the sea, the crossing between Middle-earth and Valinor. It's also interesting when you contrast it with the fear and dislike Melkor's followers had for water.

n  When the Valar entered into Eä they were at first astounded and at a loss, for it was as if naught was yet made which they had seen in vision, and all was but on point to begin and yet unshaped, and it was dark.n

n  But the sons of Men die indeed, and leave the world; wherefore they are called the Guests, or the Strangers. Death is their fate, the gift of Ilúvatar, which as Time wears even the Powers shall envy. But Melkor has cast his shadow upon it, and confounded it with darkness, and brought forth evil out of good, and fear out of hope.n

n  But fair-seeming were all the words and deeds of Melkor in that time, and both the Valar and the Eldar had profit from his aid and counsel, if they sought it; and therefore in a while he was given leave to go freely about the land, and it seemed to Manwë that the evil of Melkor was cured. For Manwë was free from evil and could not comprehend it, and he knew that in the beginning, in the thought of Ilúvatar, Melkor had been even as he; and he saw not to the depths of Melkor’s heart, and did not perceive that all love had departed from him for ever. But Ulmo was not deceived, and Tulkas clenched his hands whenever he saw Melkor his foe go by; for if Tulkas is slow to wrath he is slow also to forget. But they obeyed the judgement of Manwë; for those who will defend authority against rebellion must not themselves rebel.n

- Everything about this passage is just so well done. I’m so fascinated by the whole back story.
- Morgoth as the OG villain really is fascinating and I’m very curious about his relationship with Manwë before his discord.

n  Then Fëanor ran from the Ring of Doom, and fled into the night; for his father was dearer to him than the Light of Valinor or the peerless works of his hands; and who among sons, of Elves or of Men, have held their fathers of greater worth?n

- I don't like Fëanor and so much of what he does is egregious and reprehensible, but I also really love this quote and his love for his father is very admirable.

n  But in that hour Finarfin forsook the march, and turned back, being filled with grief, and with bitterness against the House of Fëanor, because of his kinship with Olwë of Alqualondë; and many of his people went with him, retracing their steps in sorrow, until they beheld once more the far beam of the Mindon upon Túna still shining in the night, and so came at last to Valinor.n

- THIS WHOLE PART MADE ME ;_;

n  Upon the cape west of Eglarest Finrod raised the tower of Barad Nimras to watch the western sea, though needlessly, as it proved; for at no time ever did Morgoth essay to build ships or to make war by sea. Water all his servants shunned, and to the sea none would willingly go nigh, save in dire need. With the aid of the Elves of the Havens some of the folk of Nargothrond built new ships, and they went forth and explored the great Isle of Balar, thinking there to prepare a last refuge, if evil came; but it was not their fate that they should ever dwell there.n

- FINROD!!

n  Morgoth held hurled aloft Grond, Hammer of the Underworld, and swung it down like a bolt of thunder. But Fingolfin sprang aside, and Grond rent a mighty pit in the earth, whence smoke and fire darted. Many times Morgoth essayed to smite him, and each time Fingolfin leaped away, as a lightning shoots from under dark cloud; and he wounded Morgoth with seven wounds, and seven times Morgoth gave a cry of anguish, whereat the hosts of Angband fell upon their faces in dismay, and the cries echoed in the Northlands.n

- Fingolfin is amazing, oh my gosh.

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How can a mere 300 pages be this epic? I’m in awe of and in love with this book – the characters, the supense, the world-building, the whole range of emotions, the scope of it all. I never expected to live in this world as I did; I expected to be overwhelmed, intimidated, and lost – but I never was. The brilliantly funny and immersive "Tor Silmarillion Primer" helped (thank you for the tip, Linda) and I took notes, printed maps and genealogies and I completely enjoyed nerding out over this book.

I’m not saying experiencing this wasn’t a challenge, considering it reads like a bunch of synopses (of many epic novels) and considering the sheer number of alliterative and assonantic names, but I had a lot of fun meeting that challenge. Honestly, reading this mythology, this Elvish in-world history book, made me so very happy – and occasionally very unhappy considering what befalls our heroes as not every chapter gives us one of those famous Tolkien eucatastrophes. (Some are more akin to a Greek tragedy.)

All in all, I did not expect to be as emotionally invested in the many characters as I was, considering we don’t get to spend much time with most of them. I think part of it is Tolkien’s skill and part of it is that this book has it all: love – both unrequited and fulfilled, loyalty, loss, desire, ambition, pride, deception, revenge, greed, lust for power and immortality, envy, evil, but also beauty. It encompasses what the whole human (and Elvish) experience has to offer and makes it all the more compelling – in this sense fantasy is grounded in reality.

What is hard to bear, though, is that Tolkien keeps doomsaying events (you can’t call it foreshadowing anymore) – some would even call it spoiling – and it freaking killed me. I mean wtf? Just casually announce the whole country is doomed:

"Thus Turgon lived long in bliss; but Nevrast was desolate, and remained empty of living folk until the ruin of Beleriand."

Now I only wish some company will eventually be allowed to buy the rights to the entire Silmarillion and make a bunch of mini-series out of this; seriously, amazon‘s Rings of Power is just not enough when you have source material like this. (I mean how many novels could this have been?) I know there are many obstacles that keep an adaptation from happening, like the rights issue and the fact that many claim The Silmarillion is unfilmable, but one can dream.

So what’s next for me? My friend Aria suggested reading the three novels (Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, The Fall of Gondolin) which expand on the respective three chapters from The Silmarillion next. And then hopefully the Unfinished Tales. So that’s what I’ll do!

And I will definitely listen to the audiobook read by the brilliant Andy Serkis now that I know what’s going on. (I don’t recommend reading the audiobook first; you will miss too much.) I already know I will re-read this many times in the years to come; I can’t wait to get more and more out of this. For now, I’m tempted to say that The Silmarillion is now my favorite Tolkien book, but as it reads so differently from both LotR and The Hobbit it’s tough to compare. But it sure is close.

PS: Here is the link to the fabulous Silmarillion primer by Tor: https://reactormag.com/columns/the-si...

PPS: This edition is gorgeous! Next to the illustrations it has sprayed edges and two colored maps of Beleriand. It looks very nice in my bookshelf!

A collection of tales and myths from an extraordinary mind, the Silmarillion is a vast, beautiful and sad tragedy. Nothing is simple, and everything contributes to something else. Mostly, people say it is difficult to get into it, but for me is precisely the Music of the Valar and the creation of Arda what blew my mind, so, by the time Fëanor and Morgoth seal the destiny of elves my interest in the story was absolute. It is quite impressive what Tolkien did, difficult to review but outstanding. And just for the record: Beren and Lúthien is my favorite part.


Las grandes historias de fantasía siempre me han llenado el corazón, no había manera en que no fuera a disfrutar de El Silmarillion. Una obra rica en detalles y extensa en su propia mitología. La relectura después de tantos años me hace apreciarla todavía más. Es imposible iniciarla sin que en algún momento te sumerjas por completo, ya que exige tu atención completa.

Si quisiera hacer una reseña extensa y profunda que sería imposible así que ni lo intentare me quedaría vacía, hay demasiado contenido, pero me da curiosidad que Tolkien se vuelque tanto en la tragedia por qué bien mirado, el libro es desgracia tras desgracia, la carga de los errores de nuestros antepasados, como moldean inevitablemente el futuro y la manera en que dejamos que influya en nuestras vidas. Toda la historia de los Hijos de Hurin, o la Caída de Numenor, o el final de Thingol son partes que terminan en tristeza o decepción.

No digo mucho de los personajes porque son muchos, y todos igual de importantes. Las primeras paginas y la historia de Beren y Luthien son mis partes favoritas y ojalá la caída de Numenor fuera más extensa por que es igual de increíble que el Quenta Silmarillion.

No podemos dejar de lado una verdad absoluta, le pidieron casi exigieron una continuación de El Hobbit, y fue precisamente esa "continuación" LOTR, que vino a cambiar para siempre el género de fantasía, a quien debemos echar la culpa de que El Silmarillion, y toda su majestuosidad sea una historia incompleta. Me parece un pensamiento extraño teniendo en cuenta mi enorme amor por la trilogía. Hoy en día a ningún gran autor de fantasía se le pondría un solo pero si quisiera dedicarse a un libro mas informativo de su propia historia.

Se podría decir mucho, pero la lectura es una experiencia para cualquier fan del género. Siempre es recomendable darle una oportunidad a la obra maestra absoluta de la fantasía.

n  "Y así fue que los Silmarils encontraron su prolongado hogar: uno en los aires del cielo, y uno en los ruegos del corazón del mundo, y uno en las aguas profundas"n

I was quite apprehensive going into this. I needn't have been.

This isn't exactly a story like LOTR itself but an account of the beginning of the Tolkien universe until the events at the end of LOTR, all written in an almost novel-like fashion.



Want to know Galadriel's family tree? Or where the White Tree of Gondor comes from (the Tree of the King)? Or how the Orks were made? If Sauron was the worst and most powerful bad guy ever? What the difference between Elves, dwarves and men are? Why the elves in the LOTR book(s) didn't fight alongside humans anymore? Then this book is for you.

There are some names that I recognized early on (simply because certain elves are that old) but most was completely new. However, that didn't hinder my enjoyment one bit. I might not be able to quote the history of this universe after this first read but that's also not necessary. I simply enjoyed the hell out of the writing style and depth of the history. Tolkien not only came up with some interesting kingdoms, not even only with a fascinating planet, but with an entire vast universe. He combined typical mythological figures with Christian elements and made it more about the actual events than single characters.
Not to mention that there is one hell of a lot of magic here, and magic of a few very specific kinds that worked perfectly together. Thus, we not only get the creator of the universe, his immediate children, their offspring and eventually elves and dwarves and men, but also magical trees and giant always-hungry spiders, special jewels and more.

There is a lot of information packed into this. However, thanks to Tolkien's wonderful writing style, it read like a very well-crafted mythology book. Well, and it is. But here's the kicker: while it's true that every mythology is made up, though "real" mythology is grounded in humanity's history, Tolkien took elements from the Norse and Greek mythology (and, possibly, some others) and created a completely new one that is just as vivid, interesting and engaging. In short: it's realistic as hell. What I mean is that if there's a WW3 and all knowledge gets destroyed along with every human except for small children and if those children were then to find only a copy of this book left in the ruins, there was no way for them to know that this isn't actually our history/mythology but fantasy (well, except for this one having orks, monstruous spiders and giant eagles *lol*). It's THAT good.

If we look at it objectively, it doesn't matter if we read the Edda or the Iliad/Odyssey or Tolkien's work. They are all made-up stories and they are all insanely entertaining. What was most funny was having read LOTR last month and now reading the same story in such a condensed way as it is only one part of a very vast history.



Telperion and Laurelin, the two Trees of Valinor

I'm seriously enarmoured with this and am very likely going to read it again.