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Tolkien considered The Silmarillion his most important work, and, though it was published last and posthumously, this great collection of tales and legends clearly sets the stage for all his other writing. The story of the creation of the world and of the First Age, this is the ancient drama to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back and in whose events some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part. The three Silmarils were jewels created by Feanor, most gifted of the Elves. Within them was imprisoned the Light of the Two Trees of Valinor before the Trees themselves were destroyed by Morgoth, the first Dark Lord. Thereafter, the unsullied Light of Valinor lived on only in the Silmarils, but they were seized by Morgoth and set in his crown, which was guarded in the impenetrable fortress of Angband in the north of Middle-earth. The Silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of Feanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from Valinor and return to Middle-earth, and their war, hopeless despite all their heroism, against the great Enemy.… (more)
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It is not a novel. It is not a book of short stories. It does not try to be "accessible." It is not a narrative like "The Hobbit," or even like "Lord of the Rings." It doesn't care if you get it, and makes no attempt to
What it is, however, more than compensates. It is mythology, the often contradictory and occasionally nonsensical description of the myths and legends of another culture. It is a culture that cares about different things than you do, with a different background and experience and education. It is a book that is designed to meet different expectations than any you would be able to give it.
The fact that this other culture is itself an invention doesn't change that.
Tolkien was a professor. What he did for a living was comb through the epic, legendary histories of Finland and Norway and England to find hints as to the people who read and enjoyed those histories. In the Silmarillion, Tolkien invites us, the modern reader, to consider another type of audience--the Man in his camp, the Elf in his hall, the Dwarf in his mine, the Hobbit in his hole. We learn so much more about these people by hearing the type of literature they would have enjoyed than simply by being told about them.
Yes, the language is dense. Yes, there is an entire chapter that does nothing but discuss geography. Yes, the characters are flat and often wooden. So? It's a pastiche of mythology, and if you don't read and love the source, you won't love the tribute.
For me, I love this unique glimpse at a culture that never was, never will be. When I read this book, that culture does exist, just for a moment.
Recommendation: For those with patience, learning, and a willingness to enjoy something a little non-traditional.
AINULINDALË narrates the creation of the world by Ilúvatar with the assistance of his servants the Valar, using the metaphor of
The VALAQUENTA details the characteristics, powers and dominions of the various Valar; it adds nothing in terms of plot to the volume but enriches one's understanding of these angelic/god-like beings.
QUENTA SILMARILLION is both the longest section and the heart of the book. It focuses on the race of the Elves and the terrible doom laid upon them by the agency of those three powerful jewels, the Silmarils. Most of interest to me were the longer, more focused chapters involving individual characters and their often-tragic fates, e.g. everything involving Fëanor and the forging of the Silmarils, the tale of Beren and Luthién, and of Húrin and his son Túrin Turambar.
With AKALLABÊTH, Tolkien turns his attention from the Elves to Men, specifically the noble Edain or Dúnedain and the destruction of their beloved island, Númenor.
OF THE RINGS OF POWER AND THE THIRD AGE deals mostly with the events surrounding Tolkien’s best-known works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but tells them from a very different perspective than either of the other books.
Though I number Tolkien among my favorite authors, I approached this book with a mixture of excitement and trepidation, not having read any of his work since the release of the Peter Jackson films, and knowing that it had provoked extremely mixed reactions among Rings fans. However, the good reports were so overwhelming in their positivity that they won me over, and my estimation of my own abilities was high enough that I thought myself sufficiently prepared for anything Tolkien could dish out. Well, I finished it, but I can’t say it was easy going, and I can see why it has aroused the disappointment and frustration of so many people over the years.
Is it a stunning achievement? Yes. Is it a work of art? Perhaps. Is it a compelling piece of fiction? Well, it depends on whom you ask. I cannot think of anything like it among modern novels; indeed, the closest parallels that came to mind while reading were Old Testament histories and ancient mythologies. It is simply teeming with long, dogged exposition along the lines of who-bore-who and who-slew-who, and it all gets very old after a while. As I see it, the book has three primary strengths. First, the writing itself is beautiful, which is unsurprising for a linguist deeply concerned with the sound and meaning of words. Even when I was struggling through the lists of names, I found that if I read them aloud they simply tripped off my tongue. Secondly, there are some profound insights to be found within these pages; take almost all of Ainulindalë as an example: the description of Melkor’s cacophony blending with the great melody of Ilúvatar to create a richer if more sorrowful tune makes for one of the best descriptions of the world’s state that I have ever read. Last, and most obviously, there is the awe-inspiring world building. No one has ever—and I mean ever—created a fantasyland as rich and complex as Middle-Earth/Beleriand.
Obviously this book is not for everyone. To whom, then, would I recommend it? In keeping with this review's theme of threes (inspired subconsciously, perhaps, by the Silmarils), I perceive The Silmarillion’s intended audience as falling somewhere between the following groups: fans of The Lord of the Rings who would like some background, mythology buffs, and fantasy writers. I fall into at least two of the three categories, and in the end I am glad that I read it, but I will probably wait another ten or fifteen years before I try it again. In the meantime, it would make a fabulous oratorio. Are you listening, Howard Shore?
If Hobbit is an easy read, with LOTR being slightly more difficult, but nonetheless easy, The Silmarillion is certainly not for the faint-of-heart-casual-reader. It does feel, at times, as though you are reading a history book. It is perhaps not the best choice for a weekend read, at least not for most readers. It actually took me a half of a year to read (the first time I read it). Granted, I am a slow reader. Still, when I enjoy a book as much as I did this one, I would normally expect myself to get through a book of its length in much, much less time. The time it took me to read it is due almost entirely to the above mentioned readability and history-book-like style. Simply put, the book provides for a very dense read.
If the Hobbit and LOTR is more about hobbits, humans, dwarves, elves and the occasional wizard or Dark Lord, The Silmarillion is more about the elves and gods, as well as the original Dark Lord, of Middle-Earth. It gives a lot of (fictional) historical background to Middle-Earth, being filled with stories that recount origins of its creatures and characters, as well as their alliances and animosities.
It is rather challenging, at least on your very first read, to keep all of the names and places and different stories together (the usually-included geneology charts and maps are helpful). As with most challenges, it is extremely rewarding to tackle. Reading this gives you a great appreciation for Tolkien's world, languages, mythology and lore. Though it is comprised of many stories that could be developed elsewhere as standlones (and in many cases, have been, e.g. The Lay of Leithian), the Silmarillion represents a masterful job by Tolkien (and his son Christopher Tolkien, who edited and published it posthumously) of weaving all of these stories into one cohesive whole that tells of the creation of and first and second ages of Middle-Earth.
Though having a knowledge of other mythologies, especially Western European, may add a greater depth of apprectiation for what Tolkien has done here, it certainly is not a prerequisite for reading and enjoying the work. I would certainly recommend The Silmarillion to any tenacious Tolkien fans who want to see how it all began in Middle-Earth. I have read it three times (each time gets easier), and I still consider this my favorite book of all time, spanning all genres.
Tolkien
Admittedly, it took me a long time to get through the first half -- and you would do well to make it that far -- because it takes time to realize the themes emerging from apparently disparate recollections of times and places and so-and-so begetting so-and-so and marrying such-and-such and being involved in this or that event. But when the themes do emerge, they are powerful, building to moments of singular beauty and poignancy. The Silmarillion makes you understand why the elves of The Lord of the Rings are so melancholy. You would be too, if you spent thousands of years fighting an unwinnable battle for something that turns out to be not worth the effort. In the Silmarillion, both evil determination and momentary mistakes can cause lasting pain. As with absolute power, absolute beauty can corrupt. Wars are fought, continents are torn asunder, and a man dares to fall in love with an elf.
While it takes a good deal of determination to make it to the end, the Silmarillion tells frankly a real history, with its mistakes, bloodshed, sorrow, endurance, and brief moments of hope and love. The thrilling romance of Beran and Luthian, and the crushing lesson of the Sons of Feanor's doomed pursuit of the Silmarills give a lasting emotional punch.
the story would be somewhat more difficult to adapt for movies because it is told as a chronicle rather than an epic. but on the other hand, the stories in it are so gripping they would really come alive on the screen. and there is some continuity with the Third Age, of course, because of the elves: this is the origin story for both Galadriel and Elrond, after all, and the source material for many of the stories referred to as legend in the Third Age. including specifically the love stories between elves and men (notably Luthien and Beren in Elrond's line) and the tragic sagas of the children of Feonor, the line of Heor and Rian, and the children of Hurin, and each of those stories would themselves a movie make. so it would be possible to construct a throughline that would draw these stories together into a third trilogy, taking the narrative backwards into the events of the First Age. possibly told from Galadriel and/or Elrond's PoV - or from Sauron or Saruman's, but that's unlikely{g}.
also, the story of the Silmarillion stones is both powerful in itself and connected to most of these stories. and it's parallel both to the later history of the Rings and of the Arkenstone, so as a theme it runs right through the history of Middle Earth. though the Silmaril stones are good, not meant for evil, they are corrupted from outside by their bloody history, in which they serve as a corrupting influence for elves, dwarves, and men. and basically this leads to the destruction of the First Age, which was meant to be idyllic.
the very beginning is a slog: because the Ainur are static characters. too bad they're at the start, but then, where else would they be, so persevere. here's why: the Ainur seem to want to offer free will at the beginning, but the results are problematic and they eventually find they prefer blind obedience (not that they ever get it, from anyone, but that seems to surprise them too). yet they do come several times with armies to beat back Melkor, the original Big Evil, even though they don't seem to take responsibility for having let him run rampart as far back as the original creation of the world, when he was clearly already a disruptive and destructive force aimed squarely at tearing down their original creation. also interesting that the Ainur are not gods: they must marshal armies of their own, eliciting alliances with their own created races in order to effect change. they have many human flaws and failures to see both the big picture in advance and the potential consequences of what they make. so the matter of mortality, for instance, meant to be a gift, becomes a matter of envy that divides the races and creates enclaves in which only isolation allows any culture to survive.
beyond that, i kinda love the whole idea of creating a world by joint contribution to a piece of music, which then acts to translate itself, through themes and counterpoint, into a living and complex world: transforming nothing into everything as it sings. also i found the division of the Elves over time into various types, marred, enriched, and otherwise changed by the choices various factions make, quite fascinating. and the book is full of glorious cinematic images of ships and habitats long gone, strong and indelible characters, and haunting stories.
appended: maps of the First Age world (very different from the Third Age), some very useful genealogical charts of elves and men, a chart of the complicated sundering of the elves, and an annotated index. altogether the whole book is a lovely thing we only have because Christopher Tolkien took on the daunting task of putting it together for publication in a way his father never could. perhaps mostly because he could not stand to let it go: his own original act of making a world out of a stave of music.
I started this book twice and was unable to finish until the internet provided me with timelines and search functions. It's a terrific
But my problems with the book go beyond the prose style. I gather from the introduction by his son Christopher that these tales were the background for Tolkien's Middle Earth and they weren't in a publishable form when Tolkien died and had to be put in order by Christopher--and I think it shows. Because this isn't a novel or a collection of stories really. Flip through the pages you won't spot much dialogue. Although obviously inspired by works such Milton's Paradise Lost, these don't, like that epic, feel fleshed out with real scenes. Probably "Of Beren and Luthien" felt most developed--it was my favorite story such as it was. This book violates the most basic of storytelling rules--"show, don't tell." And that's deadly.
Tolkien did make some interesting choices. He combined a very Miltonian strand strongly reminiscent of the Lucifer story with a one true God, Iluvatar, and gets his Pagan pantheon in the "Valar"--subordinate beings, such as angels, but with very specific attributes and functions more reminiscent of polytheism. The "similarilli" of the title (meaning "radiance of pure light") are "primeval jewels" of great power in contention between the elves and a "Dark Lord" called Melkor (also Morgoth, because since when is Tolkien happy with just one name?) To me the outline of the plot was far too reminiscent in that way of The Lord of the Rings and the whole thing far too derivative of biblical tropes and mythologies. And some would say that's the point, but especially told in this way, I wasn't feeling the fascination of this faux mythology.
I wouldn't have lasted past page 50, but I had a deal with a friend. I read the entire book, and she watches an entire season of Buffy. And since (not including genealogies, index and appendixes) this was only 304 pages, I felt I might as well suffer through the rest for that pay off. That friend tells me I have to think of this more as a history text than a narrative--which I think is an insult to the many fine writers of history from Thucydides to Stephen Ambrose. I think to love this, to genuinely love this, you can't just love The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, you have to be fascinated by them--so fascinated that learning things such as the origins of Sauron and the orcs and the dwarves keeps you riveted. I find I'm not enough of a fan to not feel pain reading this.
I know technically Silmarillion precedes chronologically the events of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. But please, please--if you're new to Tolkien, don't start with Silmarillion. You might be put off Tolkien for life--and that would be a shame.
That said, it is well worth reading. Tolkien here blends so many disparate themes and ideas into a seamless epic. The beginning tells how Middle-Earth was created, in the style of a traditional creation myth. One of the Ainur, Melkor, rebels against the creation song and thus brings discord and chaos into the world. Every culture has their creation myths, of course, and the tale of Melkor striving against Iluvatar has distinct shades of Christian theology and the rebellion of Lucifer against God.
Next are tales of the Valar - including stories, such as the creation of the Sun and the Moon, which are reminiscent of Greek and Roman myths.
The tale of the creation of the Silmarils by Feanor is finally given, and we learn of the downfall of the Elves, sworn by oath to recover the Silmarils, and sealing their own doom.
Chapter XIV "Beleriand and its Realms" is where the pacing slows and, honestly, drags a bit. The land and its masters are listed in sometimes excruciating detail, as well as an almost depressingly thorough detailing of the natural geography.
However, past that comes the true heart of the book, and where Tolkien most displays his brilliance. "Of Beren and Luthien" tells the story of a Man and Elf, star-crossed lovers who brave the darkest parts of Morgoth's realms to win the Silmaril - less important to them than being together. Their tale is an adventure in the style of Arthurian legend, and a love story greater than Romeo and Juliet.
Both "Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin" and "Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad" take on the style of a Viking saga. The great battles are told, including Fingolfin ablaze with fury, challenging Morgoth at his very gate in combat, and the heroic last stand of the brothers Hurin and Huor. Here are told great deeds of valor and treachery, the heroic lays of a true epic.
"Of Turin Turambar" is more than reminiscent of a Greek tragedy: it is one. Son of Hurin, Turin bears his father's curse, and Fate dogs his every action. Hurin and his house are damned, and for all Turin's great deeds, he is the son of Ill-Fate.
Finally, we reach the fall of Morgoth, which is no less satisfying and intense than the fall of Sauron in The Lord of the Rings.
What makes The Silmarillion work is that though elements of Christianity, Viking sagas, Greek tragedies, and Roman myths are intertwined, there is a cohesive story being told that stretches through the ages. Yes, it can be confusing keeping track of names and who is the son of whom, but the individual stories are all part of a much larger whole. While some fantasy novels feel like their worlds exist only for that story, or for this character, Tolkien envisaged the entire history of his world. The characters are each part of their own story, though they might intersect. Legolas and Gimli's argument over the divide between elves and dwarves traces back to the stories told of the First and Second Ages. Treebeard's search for the Entwives is a part of his story, though it might intersect with Merry and Pippin's. Aragorn can sing of Beren and Luthien because it's part of that world's history and culture. The astounding detail that Tolkien dedicated to Middle-Earth and its history is what makes it real and lasting. Tolkien's genius was not just that he knew how to write a good story, or even a grand epic, but that he envisioned a world so complete, so lovingly detailed, that fans of his are still reading about it and dwelling in Middle-Earth in the pages of his books years after they were written.
The magnificence of Tolkien is really
The Silmarillion explains the creation of the world and the beginning of the First Age, peopled by the ancestors of Frodo's compatriots. Because Tolkien believed in his world, so does the reader. It's truly magnificent, the type of book you just want to take your time in reading, feeling a true accomplishment upon the completion of each chapter.
Book Season = Winter (to be read on clear nights only)
This edition is a very lovely illustrated edition, with something like 45 color paintings by Ted Naismith. I don't like his work QUITE as well as I liked the Alan Lee illustrations in the illustrated LotR, but his more heroic style fits the subject matter. Actually, this is rather petty, but one of the things that bothered me is that many of the paintings were wider than they were tall, which meant that they were oriented sideways in the book, so to look at them properly one has to rotate the book. A small matter, but irksome.