The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien

The Silmarillion is a collection of mythopoeic works by English writer J.R.R. Tolkien, edited and published posthumously by his son, Christopher Tolkien, in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay.

The Silmarillion, along with J.R.R. Tolkien's other works, forms an extensive, though incomplete, narrative that describes the universe of Eä in which are found the lands of Valinor, Beleriand, Númenor, and Middle-earth, within which The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place.

This book is the first and last book of Tolkien, the story of the first period, from the imaginary world of Tolkien, the "old drama" in which the characters of "Lord of the Rings" can also find their roots.

Other well-known names of "Lord of the Rings", such as "Elrond" and "Galadriel" are also heroes of part of a short story in this book.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و یکم ماه سپتامبر سال 2009 میلادی

عنوان: سیلماریلیون؛ نویسنده: جی.آر.آر (جان رونالد روئل) تالکین؛ ویرایش: کریستوفر تالکین؛

مترجم: مریم واثقی پناه؛ تهران، سبزان، 1385؛ در 455ص؛ شابک 9648249407؛

مترجم: رضا علیزاده؛ تهران، روزنه، 1386؛ در 624ص، نقشه؛ شابک 9643342662؛

مترجم: حسین ترکمن نژاد؛ تهران، غنچه، 1393؛ در دو جلد، شابک دوره 9786007721070؛

این کتاب، نخستین و آخرین کتاب «تالکین» بزرگوار است، داستان دوران نخست، از جهان خیال انگیز «تالکین»، «درام کهنی» که شخصیتهای «ارباب حلقه ها» نیز، رگ و ریشه ی خود را، در آن میتوانند بیابند؛ برخی دیگر از نام آشنایان «ارباب حلقه ها»، همچون: «الروند» و «گالادریل» نیز از قهرمانان بخشی از یک داستان کوچکش هستند؛ برای فهمیدنش شاید کتاب را، بارها خوانده باشم؛ انگار دیگر پیر شده ام، اما هربار که خوانده ام، نکته ای بر دانسته های پیشینم از جهان خیالی که ایشان برساخته، افزون گشته است؛ دایرة المعارف نامهای کتاب نیز، که در اوراق و بخشهای انتهایی از کتاب آرمیده، بی نظیر است، ریشه ی بیشتر کلماتش انگار آشناست، البته اگر نیک بنگرید

کتاب «سیلماریلیون»، داستان‌ دوران دو درخت، و دوره ی نخست جهان «تالکین» است؛ داستان «ایلوواتار» و «ملکور»، تا پدیدار شدن «اِلف»ها و انسان‌هاست.؛ کتاب «سیلماریلیون» از داستانهای روزگاران پیشین، دوره ی نخست، داستان «آردا»، و از دنیا و نیروهایی میگوید، که آن دنیا را ساختند.؛ داستان نبرد خیر و شر، در سرزمین میانه است، و جنگ با لرد سیاه «مورگوت»، کسی که «سارون»، تنها یکی از خدمتکارانش بود.؛ داستان آمدن «الف»ها، و ساخته شدن جواهرات مقدسشان، «سیلماریل»ها، که «مورگوت» آنها را دزدید، و به دنبال آن، مجموعه ای از تراژدیها رخ داد؛ که «مرگ و نیستی»، «خیانت»، «پیروزی»، «امید و یاس»، به همراه داشت.؛ از تراژدی عاشقانه ی «برن» و «لوتین»، داستان فرزندان نفرین شده ی «هورین»، خیانت «مائگلین»، و سقوط شهر صخره های پنهان «گوندولین» نیز سخن میگوید.؛ داستان آمدن آدمیان را نیز بازمیگوید، و رزمهاشان را، و اینکه چگونه سرنوشت آدمیان، و «الف»ها به هم گره خورد، و «نومه نوری»ها را پدیدار کرد؛ نتیجه ی این داستانها، هم در لحن و هم در سبک نگارش، بسیار متفاوت از «هابیت»، یا «ارباب حلقه ها»ست، تا جاییکه، برخی از طرفداران «تالکین» خوانش آنرا دشوار مییابند، اما کسانی که به درکی ژرف از آن دست یابند؛ میدانند که ارزش اش بسیار فراتر از «ارباب حلقه ها»ست؛ و بستری ست برای آفرینش آن داستانها.؛

کتاب در پنج بخش آراسته شده است: بخش نخست: «آینولینداله» همان «آهنگ آینور» - داستان آفرینش جهان توسط «اِرو»؛ بخش دوم: «والاکوئنتا» «حکایت والار»، حکایت «والار» و «مایار» بنا به روایت «اِلدار»؛ بخش سوم: کوئنتا سیلماریلیون «تاریخچهٔ سیلماریل‌ها» - داستان اصلی «سیلماریلیون» که شامل داستان‌های دوران دو درخت «والینور» و دوره اول می‌شود.؛ بخش چهارم: «آکالابت» «سقوط نومه نور» - داستان سقوط «نومه نور» و مردمانش، و دوره دوم؛ بخش پنجم: حدیث حلقه های قدرت است، و دوره سوم - که با پایان آن این حکایت‌ها نیز به پایان می‌رسد

داستان «سیلماریلیون»: «فیانور» بزرگترین «اِلف» زمانه در هنر و معرفت بود.؛ همو بود که «سیلماریلها» یا همان جواهرات مقدس را ساخت و آنها را با پرتو دو درخت «والینور» آکند.؛ دو درختی که میوه و شکوفه شان خورشید و ماه شد.؛ اما «ملکور»، نخستین فرمانروای تاریکی، آنها را دزدید و به دنبال آن مجموعه ای از تراژدیها رخ داد.؛ محور اصلی داستان بخش سوم کتاب «سیلماریلیون»، حول سه «سیلماریل» میگردد.؛ داستان «سیلماریلیون» گاه به گذشته ی دنیا نیز میرود، به همان دوران نخست! و آن تاریخچه را نیز در جاهایی باز میکند.؛

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 01/06/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 13/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

It's not really a review, more of an extra long recap (way spoiler heavy) links to each post are here.
Heavy Spoilers below.

Look.  Here's the deal with The Silmarillion.

t If you're not a huge Tolkien nerd, you're probably going to throw your hands up in disgust, swearing and tearing your hair out after the first two pages.
t Even if you are a huge Tolkien nerd, if you generally skip past the songs in LotR and the Hobbit or can't handle creation myths - you will probably end up like the people in the first group.
t For the biggest Tolkien nerds it can still be rough going sometimes.  For realsies.  I have to REALLY BE IN THE MOOD to even attempt it or I end up like those in the first and second groups.

SOOOOOO, that being said I'm going to be the awesomest and give you a re-cap of the highlights, in preparation for our upcoming group read.  Some of this stuff is just kind of neat, and other parts are super important.  So pay attention, yeah?  It's a bit of a slog at times, so I'm going to break it up into a few different posts.  But still...pay attention.

n  n    Ainulindalën  n

n  (Music of the Ainur)n

The Ainulindalë is the first part of The Silmarillion.  It concerns the creation of Middle-Earth and is fairly standard creation-myth-fare.  Seriously, it's all (paraphrasing here) "In the beginning there was Eru/Ilúvatar/Father of All.  It was dark and he was lonely so he created the Ainur (Holy Ones) to keep him company and sing to him."  Yes, the first thing he taught them was to sing for his pleasure.  What a jerk, right?  Maybe.  We'll see.

The first Ainur we meet is Melkor.  Melkor doesn't like being told what to do, or that he's expected to collaborate with the other Ainur for songs.  He takes off to create his own damn songs, which are referred to as loud, vain and repetitive.  Fun!

All the Ainur get together to sing for Ilúvatar and Melkor keeps butting in with his loud songs, and other Ainur join him.  Dissonance.  Ilúvatar kind of shames him by managing to incorporate Melkor's crappy song with the rest and everything is better for it.  When the singing is over, he praises Melkor for his hard work, then chastises him for being a dick and takes off - leaving the Ainur with their thoughts and songs.

Time passes, but it's the Void so who really knows how long it was?

Ilúvatar returns and says "Hey guys!  Let me tell you about this great idea I had for your songs!" He shows them his plans to create a physical plane and that all of the songs they've been singing will bring to fruition a different aspect of this new reality that will exist within time.

Melkor gets a little grumpy to learn that his themes were all part of a master plan and are going to be incorporated.

Eä (The World that Is/the Universe) is created.  Time begins.  Arda (the world and the skies that surround it) is created IN Eä.  The Ainur (split into the greater Valar and lesser Maiar) are given corporeal form and sent down to ready Arda for the coming of the Children of Ilúvatar (elves and men).  Melkor is among them.

n  n

Arda before the First Age.

The Valar build stuff up, Melkor tears it down.  This continues for A LONG TIME (like, thousands of years, seriously).  Melkor takes off in a huff, but comes back and builds himself a fortress (maybe with blackjack and hookers, but I'm not really sure).  Technically, Arda is ready for her Children.

n  n    Valaquentan  n

n  (Tale of the Valar)n

Names.  Names and more names.  I'm not going to name everyone here because it would be far longer than you want to read.  Let me sum up.

t Valar - names and descriptions.
t Maiar - names and descriptions
t Bad Guys - Melkor (also now going by Morgoth) and his minions (former Maiar, some of whom come to be known as Balrogs [SEE IMPORTANT!]) and his first lieutenant, Sauron (also important, I told you to pay attention!).

Quenta Silmarillion

(the Tale of the Silmarils)

Okay, that map I showed you of Arda before the first age the last time?  That wasn't its original shape.  Originally it was one huge continent, lit not by sunlight, but these two lamps the Valar smithy, Aulë, had created.  Melkor destroyed them.  Cos he was a jerk, I already told you.  Didn't I mention you needed to pay attention?  When the lamps fell, the land was torn asunder, and the two continents you saw previously were created.  One of those continents became Middle-Earth, the other contained Valinor (which later became known as The Undying Lands [more on that later]).

Melkor kept tearing ish down.  He was a right bastard and problems with him continued, but he wasn't the only one causing trouble.  Nope.   Aulë got tired of waiting for the elves to show up, so he took matters into his own hands.  He was so desperate for someone to pass on his smithy knowledge to that he created his own damn race.  He made them super strong and stubborn because Melkor was still highly influential.  Unfortunately, he didn't really know what he was doing, so his people (the dwarves, yay!) were only able to, y'know, do stuff when he was thinking about them.

So, he's trying to teach them how to speak this language he invented for them and Ilúvatar shows up.  He's all "Whoa, now Aulë.  WTS is going on here?  This is supposed to be the world we created for MY CHILDREN, not yours.  Who the hell do you think you are?"  Aulë was sad.  He wept and made to smite them with his massive hammer, but Ilúvatar was all "DUDE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW?!  I didn't say KILL them!  Look, I thought we all agreed that the elves would be first, yeah?  They're kind of my pet project and my favourites, so let's just put your clearly inferior species to sleep until the awesome people I created show up, 'kay?"

(I have SO MANY QUESTIONS about this picture. Why does he have such a giant belt buckle? Is that a mullet? It looks like a mullet. Seriously, look at it again. Also, some of these dwarves look a little feminine. Aulë created the 7 FATHERS, so I'm not sure what's up with the girly dwarves.)

Also, my awesome friend Em made this for me, which shows WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED and it makes me laugh SO HARD I had to share it with you guys:

THENNNNNNNNN, Melkor runs off to hide in his fortress in Middle-Earth and all of the Valar hang out in Valinor, only occasionally heading over to M-E to spy on his nefarious doings.  Honestly, this part has always kind of confused me.  There weren't any PEOPLE there yet for Melkor and his Balrogs to mess around with, so I'm not sure what they were doing other than destroying stuff.  Really, how much was there to destroy?

Anyway.

The Valar are mostly living it up all happy-like in Valinor, under the light of the glorious Two Trees.  The Vala of the Hunt/Trees, Oromë, was hanging around in Middle-Earth one day (probably spying on Melkor's shenanigans) when he realized ZOMG, THE ELVES HAVE COME!

Since Ilúvatar has made it clear that these are his chosen people (although, he's been kind of MIA - WTS is up with that, Ilúvatar?  <.<) the Valar descend upon Utumno (Melkor's fortress [with blackjack and hookers]) and take him back to be held in Valinor for "three ages."  Oromë goes to visit the elves.  "Hey, guys!  Look, I'm not really God, but you can kind of think of me as one.  How's about you all come live with us in the Undying Lands?"  Some of the elves did a fistpump and said "EFF YEAH!" but others were distracted by shiny things and had to stay in Middle-Earth.  This is referred to as the sundering.

Oi.  Here's where things get complicated.  Even though they're a newish species, the elves are already broken up into tribes.  The following tribes took off to Valinor:

t Noldor
t Vanyar
t SOME of the Teleri

Also, the Sindar probably would have gone, but their king (Thingol) was lost in a forest at the time.  What?  It's not like they had compasses or GPS, I'm sure this kind of thing happened all the time.

I think my favourite part of all this section was that the elves were transported across the seas on a floating island.  A FLOATING ISLAND, YOU GUYS!  THAT IS AMAZINGBALLS!

'kay, so the elves that were going to Valinor went to live with the Valar under the light of the Two Trees (sidenote:  because of Kate, I'm now calling them the Poo Trees of Valinor.  How were they lit?  We don't know, but maybe it was something like this.) and the Prince of the Noldor (Fëanor) created the Silmarils (HA, SEE?), jewels which glowed with the light of the Poo Two Trees.  The Silmarils were blessed and would burn any mortal (or evil) creature that dared to touch them.

Melkor's sentence was up and he convinced everyone he was repentant.  He then proceeded to plant notions in the King's (Finwë) head - pitting him against his OTHER son (Fingolfin)-  and convinced the rest of the Noldor that the only reason the elves had been brought to Valinor was so that the Valar could keep an eye on them.  REVOLT!  No, seriously, Fëanor drew his sword against Fingolfin and was cast out.  He took Finwë with him and built a new, better stronghold and took his Silmarils with him.

Melkor was a big fat liar and soon returned to destroy the Two Trees with the help of Ungoliant.  Who/what is Ungoliant?  Let me tell you!  She was an evil spirit that took the form of a GIANT SPIDER.  So, she sucked all the magic juice out of the Two Trees AND THEN they travelled to the fortress to steal the jewels!  DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNN!


Quenta Silmarillion

(the Tale of the Silmarils)

(continued)

Soooooooo, Big Baddie Melkor and Ungoliant get to Formenos, kill Finwë (King of the Noldor, 'member?) and abscond with the jewels.  They then travel back to Middle-Earth, where Melkor refuses to hand the Silmarils over to Ungoliant.  She gets all pissy cos he reneged on their deal and binds him up in her Spidery Webs of Doom.  Melkor shouts out "Hile Gunslingers Balrogs!  To me!" and the Balrogs all come pouring out of Utumno to rescue his ass.  He then sets up a secondary fortress (further north) and re-establishes his Evil Empire from Angband and places the Silmarils in his crown, even though he's so evil that they've already burned his hands black.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Fëanor renames Melkor Morgoth and incites a riot cos his daddy was killed and the Silmarils were stolen.  He blames the Valar for failing to protect them, and convinces most of the Noldor to leave Valinor and launch an attack upon Morgoth (and anyone else stupid enough to try to withhold the Silmarils from them).

The Noldor try to convince the Teleri to leave with them, but they refuse.  Fëanor orders that the magic ships be taken by force, and many of the Teleri are slaughtered (this is later referred to as the Kinslaying).  On their journey back to Middle-Earth, they're confronted by Mandos (one of the Valar) and he puts a curse on them all for being such stabby asshats and killing their brethren.

Finarfin and Fingolfin (younger brothers of Fëanor) have second (maybe third) thoughts about this whole thing.  They weren't present for the Kinslaying and once they heard that they were being cursed, they were all "Whoa now.  We're only here for our kids."  Finarfin turns back with a small band of followers.  His daughter Galadriel stays with her uncle Fingolfin, only to have Fëanor decide that he needs ALL THE SHIPS, so Fingolfin, Galadriel and the rest of HIS followers are forced to make their way to Middle-Earth across the Ice Wastes of Helcaraxë.

Back in Middle-Earth - remember how I mentioned that the Sindarin didn't make the trek to Valinor cos their King (Thingol) was lost in the woods?  Well, eventually he was found, and the Sindar set up the kingdom of Doriath.

The Seven Father Dwarves are released from their slumber.  Durin, the oldest of the dwarves, creates the great fortress of Khazad-dûm under and through the Misty Mountains.  Other dwarven cities are founded far to the west in the Blue Mountains.  The dwarves of Belegost were the first to forge chain-mail and often traded weapons with the Sindarin.


Dude. It was a long nap.

Morgoth decides he needs more room for his evil-doings and sets siege to Doriath.  There are several battles.  First he sends out two armies of orcs and Thingol is forced to create the Girdle of Melian, which is kind of like a magical force field around the kingdom.  Second battle, Fëanor arrives and the Sindarin work with the Noldor to roust the orcs from Doriath.  Fëanor is still all full of righteous fury, though, so he chases after the retreating armies and is killed by Balrogs.

Now, I'm sure you're all saying "Wait just a second here, sj.  WTS are these orcs you're on about now?  We haven't heard of them before."  Well...the story of the orcs gets more confusing the more Tolkien you read.  There are SO MANY different origin stories because he couldn't make up his damn mind about where they came from.  Since we're discussing The Silmarillion, we'll go with the following story:

All those of the Quendi who came into the hands of Melkor, ere Utumno was broken, were put there in prison, and by slow arts of cruelty were corrupted and enslaved; and thus did Melkor breed the hideous race of the Orcs in envy and mockery of the Elves, of whom they were afterwards the bitterest foes.

So, for our purposes, we're going to go with orcs were once elves until Melkor and Sauron got their dirty little hands on them.

'kay.  Back in Valinor, the Valar are unable to bring back the Poo Two Trees.  They take the only remaining piece of fruit and the one remaining leaf and use those to create the Sun and the Moon.

Morgoth and his minions don't care for the light of the sun, so they're forced to hide in the dark and the clouds.

Around this time, Men appear.

The Noldor set up various kingdoms, which are ruled by the descendents of Fëanor, Finarfin and Fingolfin.  They choose not to tell the Sindarin about the Kinslaying and subsequent cursing, but of course Thingol finds out.  He decrees that no Noldor shall set foot in Doriath, and bans the use of their language in his kingdom.

After about 50 years, Morgoth decides that the time is ripe once more to attack the elves.  He picks the Noldor, believing them to be weak.  Fingolfin was totally ready for him, though, and his forces defeated Morgoth's in the third battle (called Dragor Aglareb or Glorious Battle).  They pursued the orcs to the gates of Angbard, completely destroyed the orcs forces and laid siege to Angbard itself...that lasted for FOUR HUNDRED YEARS.  [sigh]

Morgoth sent small sorties out around the Noldor to try to take care of the rest of those pesky elves a few times over the next few hundred years, including once a dragon called Glaurung (he's the first of the fire breathing dragons in Middle-Earth, they're sometimes called Urulóki).  Glaurung is young, though, and he's sent home crying thanks to Fingon and his archers.



I'm pretty sure this is almost exactly what it looked like.

The period that follows is referred to as The Long Peace, and it lasted for two hundred years.

You just knew that Morgoth was biding his time, though, right?  He starts the warring again in the FOURTH battle, Dragor Bragollach (The Battle of Sudden Flame) and Glaurung comes back out to play, but this time he's fully grown and a force to be reckoned with.

Fingolfin got pissed.  "HEY, MORGOTH, YOU CAN'T JUST SLAUGHTER MY PEOPLE BECAUSE YOU'RE A DICK!  WHY DON'T YOU COME OUT AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN?!"

Even though Morgoth didn't really want to, he couldn't turn down that challenge.  Fingolfin got a few hits in but Morgoth was stronger.  As he was crushing Fingolfin under his foot, Fingolfin got one last strike in and managed to maim the evil one's foot.

Morgoth was about to feed Fingolfin's body to his wolves, but the KING OF THE GIANT EAGLES (Thorondor) swooped in, gouged Morgoth's face a few times, then took Fingolfin's body away to be buried properly.

The wounds inflicted by Fingolfin and Thorondor never healed, so Morgoth was all scarry and limpy after that.

16 years later, Men and the Noldor band together for one last assault on Morgoth.  This final battle (Nírnaeth Arnoediad or The Battle of Unnumbered Tears) did not end well for the good guys.  Morgoth had so many orcs that the elves and men were completely outnumbered.  Glaurung led the charge and the forces of Noldor were crushed.  Morgoth killed or captured the elf-lords and declared himself to be King of the North.

...and now I'm out of room, so if you've actually read this far and are somehow hungry for more, scroll back up to the top, click that link and start with Part IV.

For the uninitiated, The Silmarillion is a history book of Tolkien's Middle-Earth, the land in which The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place (as well as many other works by Tolkien, most of them unfinished).

It's written in a very different style from his more famous works and I think a lot of people are put off by that. I have to say that, as big a Tolkien fan as I am, even I find The Silmarillion a bit dry and repetitive at times. For anybody who loves The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings so much that they must know more about the world that houses those tales, this is a must-read. There's mithril in them thar hills!

This is an epic masterpiece. This is the cosmology and history of Middle-earth. It starts with the creation of the world by the god-like being, Iluvatar. From there He creates angelic beings called Valar and Maiar. These beings interact with each other, create things, and the story perpetually unfolds. We learn of the creation of Elves, of Men, of Dwarves, and lots of other entities. There is Fëanor and the creation of the Silmarils, wars fought, and much more. Then there's Melkor: the angelic being who turns bad and falls from grace. He remains the antagonist throughout the narrative. All of it sets the stage for The Lord of the Rings timeframe.

This was very new and different to me because my only Middle-earth exposure is the Lord of the Rings films and The Hobbit book. There are a lot of charters, places, and concepts that I was unfamiliar with: so I resorted to Youtube videos and Wikipedia to help me along the way.

Its a little minblowing to think J.R.R. Tolkien came up with all of this. I would recommend this to fans of LOTR, The Hobbit, and the whole Middle-earth scene. Thanks!

Though I had many near-misses with The Silmarillion throughout the years (having been introduced to Tolkien's universe by discovering The Hobbit in my school's library in 5th grade), I finally slogged my way through it during the summer after my sophomore year of college. The first two years of my undergraduate degree were rather gruelling, and I wanted, more than anything else at that time, to just read a bunch of books I wasn't required to read. After making my way through The Complete Sherlock Holmes, I decided to revisit Tolkien.

I had read The Hobbit twice before and the Lord of the Rings once (and a half). As I've stated, I dipped my toes in The Silmarillion, but never let myself dive in. This time, in the interest of reading something other than required reading, I jumped in with both feet.

It was cold. And deep. And dark. It took a while to feel my limbs. It took even longer to get my arms and legs moving, but I soon found I was OK: Still breathing and able to dog paddle.

As I worked my way into it (and it was work!), I discovered that certain tidbits in the myths and legends of middle earth rang familiar. I knew that much of The Silmarillion had been "back-written" after the fact, which might strike people as some sort of disingenuous act on the part of the Tolkiens. I was thrilled. Here I learned who Elrond was, the significance of the fall of Saruman, and the true nature of and relationship between Gandalf and the Balrog. This was a revelation.

I plugged my way through and finished. No, I didn't remember everything and I probably never will. That summer was a unique opportunity for me, to read almost interrupted for such a long stretch. I followed up by reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in succession, immediately after finishing The Silmarillion. Then, and only then, did I appreciate the full magnitude of Tolkien's brilliance. It was a whole new world. I had already visited it, but now the scales fell from my eyes and I saw it in a whole new light. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were transformed, for me, from great books to epic.

Rather than being caught up in complaining about how difficult The Silmarillion was, I felt richly rewarded. I had worked for the glittering prize and it was even more beautiful than the time when I first laid eyes on it in that musty school library in Nebraska. Can nostalgia be forward-looking? It was for me that summer. I was caught in some sort of blissful time-loop that only released me when the urgency of school set upon me again that fall. But something joyful was sparked in me that hasn't ever fully left, thanks to The Silmarillion.

A reread (not done in 2024, just trying to change the edition made me repost it now). I read this the first time in April 1992, during my second trip to London (I've been there many times since, and do want to go again).

NOTE: This book is the prequel to the Hobbit-LOTR books, and if you haven't yet read those two, the ending of this book has spoilers for both.

The book (first parts being written down in 1917) is divided in five parts; the first two books deal with creation and prehistory, then comes the main part which deals with the quest to get the Silmarils, plus various stories about people and persons, often tragic. The fourth part tells the story of Numenorean people, and the fifth is post-Silmarils and into post Numenorean time, with things familiar to those who have watched/read the Hobbit/LOTR stuff, including the story of the rings and the coming of the wizards. Finally there are appendixes (incl. family trees, list of persons, and on language), and the map, which I had to mend a little since I tore it a little trying to open it the first time XD

Now I just make some smaller comments:
- Melkor (Morgoth): pride and impatience -> shame and hatred -> envy, power-seeking, hate, violence, fear etc. Corruptor of some maias which lead to the creation of balrog, and Sauron (which means that the fight in LOTR between Gandalf and the balrog was a fight between two maias! And the balrog was there because he had been hiding there since the First Age)
- loved that the world was created with chains of songs.
- Iluvatar is a God-like figure, the Valar are like creative angels (and Melkor then is the Devil figure)
- loved the Beren-Luthien story (I imagined myself as Beren, that says something about me *lol*); Huan the dog was amazing *hearts*
- the three Silmarils are actually a bit like the Ring: their power can be bad too
- I'd like to compare the stories of Turin (like a figure from the Kalevala) and Tuor: one full of rage, the other full of hardship
- Sauron being called Annatar, Lord of presents (the 'anna-' part is like the Finnish verb of 'give' + the end part is used up here as feminine ending)
- how the elf-wizard council thinks about Sauron's coming at first seems a lot familiar when one thinks of the 1930s... at least I saw it like that. Saruman thinks he's smart because he studies but the studying slowly snares him - perhaps it was inevitable!
- I've always had a little fascination at the story of Numenoreans: they are like Atlantis. First pride, then wanting more than their limits allow (to avoid death which they FEAR, to visit where they shouldn't), then letting Sauron in, then daring to sail, which destroys not just the ships... *shudders*

This is a story of worship and belief; also lack of, or in wrong directions. Predictions, curses, oaths, visions. Rise and fall of kingdoms, lives and deaths of various kind. Promises and alliances, kept and broken. Prejudice, possessiveness, pride, lies, secrets, lack of trust. Bravery, skills, buiding (places and ships), sharing things, loyalty, help in battle, elf-human love and friendship. This book has so much though normal thickness.
I love it just as much as I did the first time, perhaps now finding things that I couldn't see then... a very enjoyable experience. There might not be a film for this, but I got nice mental visual out of it anyway. Worth reading, again and again.

I think of all the worlds I've visited in books, that created by Tolkien will always be my favourite.

The detail is so rich and its history so compelling that it so easily comes alive for me. If you want to know more about Middle Earth, the info is there. You just have to find the book that tells it. If you're looking for more beyond The Lord of the Rings, this is that book.

Now, I'm not going to lie - the first 150-or-so pages are a bit of a slog. This could be retitled "A Condensed History of Middle Earth" and it begins with the world's very creation. It's basically the Bible of Tolkien's world. Don't look for any mention of familiar names too soon. (This is also very likely the reason I gave up about a third of the way in when I first read it, back when I was 17 or so.)

First, there's The Big Guy, Illuvatar, who brings into being the Ainur, who essentially end up being the gods of this world (The Valar). Then there's the creation of the physical world, and the people destined to inhabit it. It's all described in rather complex detail, so this is not light reading, my friends.

From the very beginning, one of the Ainur has evil intentions, and Melkor (aka Morgoth) swiftly becomes the Big Bad who lurks throughout this entire history, darkening all that the others create. His presence sows the seed of good vs evil, and suddenly this fancy new world is marred into something tragically more recognisable and honestly far more interesting.

So the first half of the book is all about who creates what, who descends from who, what the land looks like, and who ends up in which lands. We know the elves are quick to inhabit, so then we must learn all of the elves of importance, and how they come to scatter throughout the lands of Middle Earth.

It gets incredibly confusing, not least because of the multitude of characters but additionally because each character tends to come with several names, and reference to them is not consistent.

Thankfully, there's an index and a few family trees at the back to assist, though it's not really until great deeds are done that the characters become somewhat familiar.

But, man, when those deeds begin, things start to get really interesting.

The underlying story is about the creation of three jewels, the silmaril, and the quest to reclaim them, yet this actually composes very little of the stories within these pages. It's more about the various fates of all those affected by the existence of the jewels, and the endless feud with Morgoth. The fates are many and varied, and I ended up sticking post-it notes throughout my book to remind myself of some of the most epic occurences within these pages:

We have people chained to mountains, limbs hacked off, people crushed by boulders and thrown from cliffs, destroyed by monstrous creatures, betrayal, murder, incest, lies, greed, arrogance, jealousy, veangeance ... there were actually so many moments in this book where I felt the need to cover my gaping mouth in horror.

I FREAKING LOVED IT.

Eventually I found my favourites among the stories, and characters I got to know and love - Turgon, Maedhros, Thingol and Melian, Hurin, Beren and Luthien and Huan the hound ... and so many others whose parts I loved but then forgot in favour of the next great hero to arise. That's another thing - you hear about the deeds of one, then they disappear from the story for a time, only to reappear later when you've all but forgotten them. It was confusing but it was also kind of fun to have friends coming back into the story.

There are also a lot of echoes of other myths and legends, and of deeds made familiar through The Lord of the Rings. There's definitely a sense that life is circular, and history often repeats.

I loved the complexity of it, but it doesn't make for easy reading. You really have to concentrate on every word of every sentence, so this is only for those fully committed to learning the lore of Tolkien's world. It's told more than shown so it can feel a little tedious at times, but if you stick with it you'll be rewarded by fantastic stories rich in detail. Consider the fact that within 366 pages we have centuries of history and lore - Tolkien actually does pretty well to keep it entertaining.

Truth is, I still managed to feel so much for some of these characters. I loved Thingol so his fate really affected me, and I was bemused to learn that the true hero of the story of Beren and Luthien was actually a dog. I loved that damn dog so much. The story of Turin Turambar horrified me so many times, and Maehdros was one I felt loyalty to without really remembering why. I loved the friendships and loathed the actions of those lacking honour and generally ended up being fully invested in everything. There are also little gems of information that will spark the memory of things read about elsewhere, or embellish a little. For example, one fun fact I learnt is that dwarves apparently went into battle wearing these terrifying masks. Oh if only those masks had appeared in Peter Jackson's imaginings.

Then of course as time draws closer to the Third Age, learning about Aragorn's ancestors was a real treat. Although working out that he was kiiiiinda related to Elrond made things a bit weird, if you follow me.

GUH.

This just ended up being so rewarding to read and I'm really glad for that. It's definitely reignited my love for this world, which never dies but does sleep from time to time as I immerse myself in other worlds.

This is probably only for the hardcore Tolkien junkies, but if you make the effort it will be well rewarded. I know I was.

Poignant, beautiful and masterful; this is a book that needs to be read by all Middle-Earth fans.

I finally did it, I've read The Silmarillion. To be honest, I only really wanted to finish this becuase I wanted to call myself a "Tolkien fan" and you can't really without reading his life work. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. (This won't be a very definitive review, because who could write one about this book?).

Set 6,500 years before the events in The Hobbit, this book reads like The Bible as you go through the beginning of Middle-Earth all the way to The War of the Ring. Not just that, you get some stories that are really just gems and wouldn't know about if you haven't read this (I really enjoyed Of Maeglin, for some reason). So many times there were twists and I was just left bamboozled...

Of Turin Turambar was probably my favourite. Although I read The Children of Húrin first (and am glad I did) I knew what was going to happen, but I still loved it. It's so depressing but so good at the same time, and it's really one of Tolkien's best stories, at least in my opinion.

There were other many great ones such as Of Beren and Luthien, which is actually a much better story than I thought it was (I'm still not sure if I fully understand the ending), and also the last one, Of The Rings of Power, was so good. I was just freaking out as I read about Isildur and Elrond and how the Wizards were made-- it was just really awesome and contends with Of Turin Turambar for top spot.

A lot of people say that this book is too hard to read (I totally get that), so I wouldn't recommend it if your not a massive Middle-Earth and Tolkien fan, unless your up for the challenge. There were many times were I was sturggling to push through. But, by all means, read it even if your not. You may still like it, just be prepared for a much dryer experience than Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.


But, with all that praise being said, there were definitely parts in this book that I wasn't a big fan of.
The start of this book was a real slog fot me. We kept going over names, places and events that were very important and I just couldn't help but zone out. Which is not a flaw in the book, it is just a me problem. At one point I was going to put the book down (originally, I did), but I pushed through and persevered and am so glad that I did because after around chapter 14 it picks up extremely and becomes so much better.

So, overall, this one was tough to get into at first, but ended up becoming an awesome book that superseded my expectations ten-fold.
A masterpiece in it's scope. A must-read and one that I will return ro in the future (because I really didn't understand a lot of it).

If your reading this review and haven't read Tolkien...why?

4.5/5
Ultimamente, dopo aver rivisto la trilogia del signore degli anelli di Jackson, mi era venuta voglia di ritornare al mondo di Tolkien anche con le mie letture e, avendo già letto anni fa sia la la trilogia sia lo Hobbit, mi è venuta l'idea di partire dall'inizio con il Silmarillion e poi semmai rileggere tutto andando in ordine cronologico.

Avevo un po' di timore perché avevo sempre sentito parlare del Silmarillion come una lettura difficile e impegnativa che parecchi avevano iniziato e mai finito, un libro più simile alla Bibbia che ad un fantasy. Il che non è falso.

Infatti non consiglierei mai di partire con il Silmarillion ma di leggerlo solo dopo aver letto e apprezzato il Signore degli anelli e lo Hobbit e solo se si ha la voglia e la pazienza di approfondire.
Lo stile di scrittura non è affatto difficile ma è un libro comunque impegnativo che necessita di un lettore motivato perché i personaggi sono davvero tantissimi e i nomi talvolta sono molto simili. Per non confondersi forse bisognerebbe prendere degli appunti ma io un po' per pigrizia un po' perché il piacere della lettura non ne risentisse non l'ho fatto. E me la sono cavata comunque abbastanza bene anche se talvolta quando un personaggio ricompariva dopo cento pagine il mio "e questo mo chi era?" era inevitabile. Io l'ho letto da ebook ma probabilmente da cartaceo sarebbe stato più comodo perché alla fine ci sono le genealogie e le note.

Non ho mai avuto la tentazione di abbandonarlo. Se siete lettori abituati a leggere classici o literary fiction contemporanea non credo che avrete particolari difficoltà nella lettura. Sicuramente somiglia più a un poema epico in prosa che ad un semplice fantasy. Infatti mi ha fatto venir voglia di leggere quei poemi epici che ho tra i to read e di cui magari ho letto delle parti a scuola ma che alla fin fine non inizio mai.

Mi rendo conto di non aver fatto una recensione, di non aver detto cosa e perché mi è piaciuto ma io l'ho iniziato quasi a scatola chiusa, cosa di cui sono contenta.

Buddy re-read with Shii!

I’ve been contemplating whether or not to tackle the challenge of actually reviewing this masterpiece for quite some time now. In the end, after having finished reading it for the second time, I realised that I should at least throw out my thoughts on it. So here we go…

This is in my eyes the most impressive book ever written.

Notice how I did not say “best”. That was completely intentional. I do not believe it is the best book ever written, even though I know others think so, and I understand their opinions. I also know people who have given up on reading this book, or been baffled by the thought of even attempting it. And I understand them too. This is not the most exciting fantasy book you’ll find. But I stand by it being the most impressive one.

After almost reluctantly publishing The Hobbit and very reluctantly writing and publishing its sequel The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien could finally concentrate on what he actually wanted to do: to complete his collection of tales on the mythology and origins of Arda, often just referred to as Middle-Earth. The result, though published after the great man himself had passed away, became The Silmarillion

On the back of my little blue timeworn paperback, which is almost twice as old as I am, I read a little quote from the Guardian review of the original release. It says “How, given little over half a century of work, did one man become the creative equivalent of a people?” And the question more or less summarises my own feelings on this book and Tolkien’s other works. These three hundred pages have given life to the most impressive achievement of human creativity ever. No fantasy author has ever done anything matching this, and it is my firm belief that no one ever will. The only book The Silmarillion can be compared to is the Bible and (I hope I do not offend anyone by saying this) even it does not come close to this.

The creation of the World by the songs of the Ainur… the schemes of Morgoth Bauglir for dominion over the world… the making of the wondrous Silmarils… the breeding of great Dragons in the firepits of Angband… the story of Beren and Lúthien… tales of war and betrayal and love and loss and joy and grief and everything you could possibly imagine in a tale of fantasy. All of it can be found within the pages of this little book.

This book is not for everyone. In fact, I would only recommend it to those who have read and loved both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. But I wouldn’t hesitate to call it the greatest masterpiece of worldbuilding the fantasy genre has ever had.

All that remains is to refer you to my little collection of quotes and artwork from the most important scenes of the book. Most of you have already seen it, but for those who haven’t, please have a look:

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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. For the Great Music had been but the growth and flowering of thought in the Timeless Halls, and the Vision only a foreshowing; but now they had entered in at the beginning of Time, and the Valar perceived that the World had been but foreshadowed and foresung, and they must achieve it. So began their great labours in wastes unmeasured and unexplored, and in ages uncounted and forgotten, until in the Deeps of Time and in the midst of the vast halls of Eä there came to be that hour and that place where was made the habitation of the Children of Ilúvatar.


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Dark now fell the shadow on Beleriand, as is told hereafter, but in Angband Morgoth forged for himself a great crown of iron, and he called himself King of the World. In token of this he set the Silmarils in his crown. His hands were burned black by the touch of those hallowed jewels, and black they remained ever after; nor was he ever free from the pain of the burning, and the anger of the pain.


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The one had leaves of dark green that beneath were as shining as silver, and from each of his countless flowers a dew of silver light was ever falling, and the earth beneath was dappled with the shadows of his fluttering leaves. The other bore leaves of a young green like the new-opened beech; their edges were of glittering gold. Flowers swung upon her branches in clusters of yellow flame, formed each to a glowing horn that spilled a golden rain upon the ground; and from the blossom of that tree there came forth warmth and a great light.


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So in that place which was called Losgar at the outlet of the Firth of Drengist ended the fairest vessels that ever sailed the sea, in a great burning, bright and terrible. And Fingolfin and his people saw the light afar off, red beneath the clouds; and they knew that they were betrayed.


___________________________________________

In the front of that fire came Glaurung the golden, father of dragons, in his full might; and in his train were Balrogs, and behind them came the black armies of the Orcs in multitudes such as the Noldor had never seen or imagined.


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He passed over Dor-nu-Fauglith like a wind amid the dust, and all that beheld his onset fled in amaze, thinking that Oromë himself was come: 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.


___________________________________________

Blue was her raiment as the unclouded heaven, but her eyes were grey as the starlit evening; her mantle was sewn with golden flowers, but her hair was dark as the shadows of twilight. As the light upon the leaves of trees, as the voice of clear waters, as the stars above the mists of the world, such was her glory and her loveliness; and in her face was a shining light.


___________________________________________

Before the rising of the sun Earendil slew Ancalagon the Black, the mightiest of the dragon-host, and cast him from the sky; and he fell upon the towers of Thangorodrim, and they were broken in his ruin.


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And thus it came to pass that the Silmarils found their long homes: one in the airs of heaven, and one in the fires of the heart of the world, and one in the deep waters.


___________________________________________

Ever they dwindled with the years, until their glory passed, leaving only green mounds in the grass. At length naught was left of them but a strange people wandering secretly in the wild, and other men knew not their homes nor the purpose of their journeys, and save in Imladris, in the house of Elrond, their ancestry was forgotten.


___________________________________________

Then the name of the forest was changed and Mirkwood it was called, for the nightshade lay deep there, and few dared to pass through, save only in the north where Thranduil's people still held the evil at bay.


___________________________________________

In the twilight of autumn it sailed out of Mithlond, until the seas of of the Bent World fell away beneath it, and the winds of the round sky troubled it no more, and borne upon the high airs above the mists of the world it passed into the Ancient West, and an end was come for the Eldar of story and of song.

This book was probably not the way to be introduced to the LotR world. I'd never seen any of the animated movies. The new movies hadn't come out yet. I'd never even picked up any of the books. Then this book was assigned as part of the course I was taking.

The prolgue about the creation of the world was beautiful and amazing. And it fooled me into think the rest of the book would be just as good.

Parts of it read like the Bible. "And so-and-so begot so-and-so. And so-and-so..."

The rest of it was dry, dull and hard to slag through.

Maybe if I had read the other novels first I might have enjoyed this one. When I read it I hated every moment, every word of it. I could care less about Feanor and his struggles.

I have no clue why it's still on my bookshelf. Maybe I'll pick it back up one day and change my mind about it.

Time for James’s unpopular opinion: I liked this better than The Lord of the Rings!

Before saying I am crazy, hear me out (actually, if you have nothing better to do, then read this review; if you have, then I gave this 5 stars, so you know my opinion anyway! See, you can’t say I don’t care for your time!).

Silmarillion tells the tale of the making of the world by Eru, the God of Middle-Earth and all that followed through the first two ages of creation, up until the events described in The Hobbit and LOTR. Christopher Tolkien did a great job of connecting his father’s writings on the subject, so we have a nice and chronological story. But it is not a novel exactly, for it covers countless years.

Eru and his Valar, spirits of great power, create Arda, which is the Earth that is seen and there they make the world ready for the coming of the First Born, the Elves. The Second Born, Men, come too at some point. Silmarillion is broken into 4 parts:

1.tAinulindale (the creation part)
2.tValaquenta (the bulk of the story, chronicling the rise of the Elves and then their fall from grace, the deeds of Melkor (or Morgoth), the greatest of the Valar that fell to darkness, also the master of Sauron (how awesome is that?!); and there’s also the coming of men and their part in the war that followed)
3.tAkallabeth (of the great kings of Numenor, the ancestors of Aragorn from LOTR)
4.tOf the Rings of Power and The Third Age (basically a summary of what happened in The Hobbit, LOTR and a bit before that)

Now, I said it is not exactly a novel. Silmarillion is written as a combination between The Bible and a history/mythology book. It has a huge number of characters, with some of them being very prevalent. You learn here of a lot of the things only mentioned in LOTR: like Galadriel and Elrond’s origins, Earendil, Gil-Galad, Hurin, Turin, the fall of Gondolin, the great city of the Elves, the Silmarils, the most beautiful jewels ever created, the great love story of Beren and Luthien, the archetype for the fate of Aragorn and Arwen.

I said I prefer this to LOTR and that is because the scope of Silmarillion is unimaginably huge. Next to it, the events in LOTR seem like child’s play. It is much more epic than LOTR and some of the characters really stick with you. The archaic style is also something I loved, unlike many people reviewing this book.

Actually, I am surprised at the low grade this has here on Goodreads. The only explanation I have for it is the fact that a lot of readers search for instant gratification these days. Sad really. It is true though that if you want to read this Tolkien epic, you need patience and attention. But it is soooooo worth it!

Now, I hope that some movie studio will adapt this one day (in a series of 10 movies or so that would be needed to fit all the story).

All in all, it is by far the best book I (re)read this year!