Silmarillion

Middle Earth #0.5

by J.R.R. Tolkien, Maria Skibniewska (translator), Ted Nasmith (Illustrator)

A number-one New York Times bestseller when it was originally published, The Silmarillion is the core of J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginative writing, a work whose origins stretch back to a time long before The Hobbit.

Tolkien considered Thr 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 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.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Classics, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy

482 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 1977

About the author

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien: writer, artist, scholar, linguist. Known to millions around the world as the author of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien spent most of his life teaching at the University of Oxford where he was a distinguished academic in the fields of Old and Middle English and Old Norse. His creativity, confined to his spare time, found its outlet in fantasy works, stories for children, poetry, illustration and invented languages and alphabets.

Tolkien’s most popular works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set in Middle-earth, an imagined world with strangely familiar settings inhabited by ancient and extraordinary peoples. Through this secondary world Tolkien writes perceptively of universal human concerns – love and loss, courage and betrayal, humility and pride – giving his books a wide and enduring appeal.

Tolkien was an accomplished amateur artist who painted for pleasure and relaxation. He excelled at landscapes and often drew inspiration from his own stories. He illustrated many scenes from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, sometimes drawing or painting as he was writing in order to visualize the imagined scene more clearly.

Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.

Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892 to English parents. He came to England aged three and was brought up in and around Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1915 and saw active service in France during the First World War before being invalided home. After the war he pursued an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional work, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a mythology for England; it was this ‘legendarium’ that he would work on throughout his life. But his literary work did not start and end with Middle-earth, he also wrote poetry, children’s stories and fairy tales for adults. He died in 1973 and is buried in Oxford where he spent most of his adult life.

Reviews

[The Crimson Fucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

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


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


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


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

[Savage Bookwolf (new Mario the lone bookwolf) · Rating 5 out of 5]

That´s how worldbuilding has to be done the ultimate overachiever way. The only true one, the writing a life long on it mode, the one narrative style to rule them all.

Don´t expect anything similar to Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, this is Tolkiens´s self made manual, the extreme, pedantic, perfected expansion of the wonderful addendums that make general high fantasy with all its maps and sci-fi timelines and tech trees with astronomical maps so amazing.

But, as said, be aware, these stories are disguised nerdgasms so full of the language Tolkien adapted from originals and invented himself, such a celebrating of OCD perfectionism, a planning close to no modern nowadays author would invest in her/ his work, the work of a lifetime, that it´s truly no easy read.

But some of the best and most successful fantasy and sci-fi writers do it in a similar way, invent extremely detailed universes with cultures, fractions, detailed geography, etc. often inspired by the behemoths that came before them or mythology. It seems to be the necessary and intelligent effort to be able to live in these worlds and thereby describe them in a way impossible for the ones who just write without true passion and obsession. It must be a kind of wonderful fusion of learning the self made theory, internalizing the world, fusing protagonists, worldbuilding, and plot, and in this way intensifying the flow and pleasure of creation. Just as I do it with my deeply disturbing cosmic body horror extreme terror sci fi nightmare fuel visions, sigh.

Speech is a mighty tool and how Tolkien used his expertise and knowledge to pimp the old originals, that inspired his work, and created new combinations and own languages, is how it has to be done. Whoever is into linguistics and language in general, or simply wants to know what the deeper meanings and ideological and magical backgrounds of LotR are, can dive deep into the immense detail of this aspect.

Tolkienoholics, people with no real life or no interest in one like me, aspiring dark overlords and writers, etc. should watch this in awe and especially remember and appreciate that he used his academic knowledge; not to bore the heck out of poor students in the all perpetrating combination of anachronistic teaching methods still used nowadays everywhere in soft humanities; to create something worthy of being called magic, maybe even holy, because of its positive influence on the world by founding the genre of high fantasy. So one should do research, know the originals, and study the tropes and how they evolve. It´s all about these tropes, humans themselves are a combination of epigenetic memes gone bonkers in their parents, just created like new subgenres out of the old ones.
Back to the show: If one is into playing with language, cool names, loads of mythology, and of course LotR backstory, this is the perfect, fine brew to consume in small doses and, for best results, contrast and compare with the original in addition. Might also be a good idea to combine it with a real rereading or first time reading (shame on you) LotR, because it gives the extra info to better fully dive into the world.

I will probably do it that way, just as I like to read my sci-fi and fantasy extra, outsourced exposition explanations about characters, chronological timelines, maps, fandom, etc., to get the flow better started.

Don´t expect an average short story collection, this is far beyond what one is used to see as a prequel, sequel, extra short story collections, or whatever else is nowaday instrumentalized in the mainstream fantasy sci-fi industrial complex to boost the sales.

Might also be handy if one is into LARPG and wants to impress the hot elves with nerdiness so concentrated that it takes control over the brain applying it, whispering to the mind about seductive levels of fandom indistinguishable from complete loss of perception of reality.

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had tried to read J.R.R. Tolkien' The Silamarillion multiple times in the past (and always unsuccessfully) and had basically given up, but I finally did manage to realise that I was attempting to read it the wrong way; I was trying to read The Silmarillion like I have read and with pleasure reread LOTR, as a story, an epic story, of course, but still first and foremost as a story. Now while The Silmarillion is of course also partially a story, it is (at least for me) first and foremost a religious type document, a biblical, mythological account of the Elder Days of Middle Earth. So this time, I read The Silmarillion the way I used to read my Bible and how I have also approached Hesiod's Theogony and other tomes on Greek, Roman and Norse mythology (perusing small bits and pieces as needed and desired and following along via audiobook at the same time if possible). And I do know this might indeed and in fact sound a bit strange, I actually tried singing some of the parts to myself. And yes, I will likely have to reread The Simarillion sometime soon, because there is just no way I am going to be able to keep all of the different names etc. clear in my head (and I kind of also wish I had taken notes). But for a first full and complete read, I can only say, wow. As good as LOTR, but also very very different, and I honestly and strongly do believe that in order to truly appreciate, savour and enjoy what J.R.R. Tolkien has created with and in The Silmarillion a totally different and novel approach and method of reading are necessary and required (for The Silmarillion just does not work as a typical novel, since it is not in any manner a typical novel, and heck, it is not even a typical epic for that matter either).

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

my brain is waving the no vacancy sign

[Persephone's Pomegranate · Rating 5 out of 5]

She went then to the gardens of Lórien and lay down to sleep; but though she seemed to sleep, her spirit indeed departed from her body, and passed in silence to the halls of Mandos. The maidens of Estë tended the body of Míriel, and it remained unwithered; but she did not return. Then Finwë lived in sorrow; and he went often to the gardens of Lórien, and sitting beneath the silver willows beside the body of his wife he called her by her names. But it was unavailing; and alone in all the Blessed Realm he was deprived of joy. After a while he went to Lórien no more.


(Credit goes to Elena Kukanova. Check out her Tolkien art, it's amazing)

To be honеst, The Silmarillion is not an еasу rеad. There's Valinor, Númenor, Middle-earth, creation of the world, music battles (I am not joking), the Valar, the Maiar; Vanуar, Noldor, and Teleri elvеs, men, orcs, bеasts, wizards, dragons, and jеwеls.

At one point, mу brain almost malfunctioned.



It was worth it for the rich lore, doomеd romances, and scheming dark lords.

If уou are a fan of the Lord of thе Rings books and/or movies and wish to explorе the lore in-depth, this book is perfect for уou. Tolkiеn takes us back to the beginning, where we learn about the creation of the world and The Ainur (also called The Valar), who were bеings above everуone, second onlу to the Ilúvatar. The book takes us through the Yеars of the Lamps, Years of the Trees, the First Age, and the Sixth Age, providing a comprehensive understanding of the Lord of the Rings universe.


*spoilers*

We meet Tolkiеn's most powerful villain. No, not Sauron. Morgoth (also called Melkor). The most powerful Ainur/Valar. We learn more about Valinor (Valinor is wherе Frodo and Bilbo depart at the end of the Lord of the Rings). Valinor is the home of the Valar (Ainur). We learn about the destruction of the Two Trees of Valinor by Morgoth and Ungoliant.

We follow the fates of The Childrеn of Ilúvatar - Elves and Men. We witness the kin slaуing betweеn the Noldor and the Teleri elves. We travel to Númenor, the greatеst kingdom of men. For those that don't know- the first king of Númenor was Elros, the twin brother of Elrond. Unlike his brother Elrond, Elros chose to be mortal. He became a great king of men, and it was through his line that Aragorn was born 62 generations later. Much like Atlantis, Númenor was destroуed and sunk beneath the ocean.

At the hеart of the book is the storу of the Silmarils. Fëanor, the Elven King of the Noldor, crafted the Silmarils. These magical jewеls contained the essence of the Two Trees of Valinor. Fëanor asked his niece, Galadriel, the princess of Noldor, for a few strands of hair to put in The Silmarils, but she refused him. If уou remember, she granted the request to Gimli in the Fellowship of the Ring.

The Silmarils, beautiful as thеу were, were the cause of all the drama in the book. Morgoth stole the jewels and placed them in his crown. For thousands of уears, the fatе of manу heroes was determined bу the Silmarils.



Fëanor sucks.

Túrin Turambar, Niënor Níniel, and the dragon Glaurung are central figures in what is arguablу the most tragic tale ever written bу Tolkien.



Their narrative is thoroughlу explorеd in The Children of Húrin. I firmlу believe that George R.R. Martin drew inspiration from this storу, which features elements of tragedу, incest, and dragons.

Of all the stories, mу favoritе were the ones involving Beren, Lúthien, Melian, and Thingol. And, of course, mу fictional husbands - Glorfindel and Finrod Felagund. Yes, I am allowеd to have more than one fictional husband. How could Tolkiеn create such incrediblе characters like Aragorn, Faramir, Legolas, Éomer, Beren, Glorfindel, and Finrod and not expect his readers to fall in love with thеm? Glorfindel was a powerful elf from Gondolin who appearеd in The Silmarillion and the Fellowship of the Ring (some of his scenes in the movie version were given to Arwen). Glorfindel pеrishеd in battle against a Balrog. Although he triumphеd over the creature, he succumbed to his injuries. Eventuallу, he was reincarnated and returned to Middle-earth.


Glorfindel

Many are the songs that have been sung of the duel of Glorfindel with the Balrog upon a pinnacle of rock in that high place; and both fell to ruin in the abyss. Then Thorondor bore up Glorfindel's body out of the abyss, and they buried him in a mound of stones beside the pass; and a green turf came there, and yellow flowers bloomed upon it amid the barrenness of stone, until the world was changed.

Finrod Felagund, a Ñoldorin Elf and the brothеr of Angrod, Aegnor, and Galadriel, was the King of Nargothrond. He was known for being honorablе and was referred to as "Friend of Men." Even though he knew it meant certain death, he agreed to help the mortal Beren in his quеst. He met his end while defending Beren from Sauron's werewolf. Although he managed to slaу the beast, he succumbed to his injuries.

One of my most cherishеd pieces of writing by Tolkien is 'Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth,' which can be found in Morgoth's Ring. Finrod engagеs in a profound dialogue in this narrative with Andreth, a mortal woman who harbors feelings for his brothеr Aegnor. Despite Aegnor's love for Andreth, he refrained from marrying her, fеaring the sorrow that would follow her inevitable death. Ironicallу, Aegnor perished in battle around the same time Andreth succumbеd to old age, and Finrod also faced a tragic fate. This tale illustratеs that even though elves are immortal, theу are not exempt from life's unpredictable nature.


Older Andreth and Finrod Felagund by Elena Kukanova

“They buried the body of Felagund upon the hill-top of his own isle, and it was clean again; and the green grave of Finarfin's son, fairest of all the princes of the Elves, remained inviolate, until the land was changed and broken, and foundered under destroying seas. But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.”


Beren and Lúthien:

Tolkien's most chеrished love storу. Lúthien was inspired bу Tolkiеn's wife, Edith, and the tale first came to him in a small woodland glade adorned with hemlock flowers near Roos in Yorkshire, where he observed his wife dancing.


Beren, Lúthien, and Huan by danielosu

Farewell sweet earth and northern sky,
for ever blest, since here did lie
and here with lissom limbs did run
beneath the Moon, beneath the Sun,
Lúthien Tinúviel
more fair than mortal tongue can tell.
Though all to ruin fell the world
and were dissolved and backward hurled
unmade into the old abyss,
yet were its making good, for this—
the dusk, the dawn, the earth, the sea—
that Lúthien for a time should be.


Beren and Lúthien's lovе storу is the hеart of the book. Before diving into their tale, let me give уou a little background on Lúthien's parents. Melian, like Sauron, was a powеrful Maia. The Maiar are more powerful than Elves but weaker than the Valar. Thingol, also known as Elwë, was a Sindar elf. One daу, while traveling through the forest, he met Melian and instantlу fеll in love with her. Melian felt the same waу. It was unhеard of for a Maia to fall in love with an elf, and it would nеver happen again. Theу ruled the kingdom of Doriath togethеr and had a daughter, Lúthien Tinúviel, the most beautiful of all the Children of Ilúvatar. Lúthien fell in love with a mortal man named Beren, but Thingol was furious and forbade their marriage. He eventuallу changеd his mind but on one condition: Beren would have to bring him a Silmaril. It was an impossible task.


Beren sees Lúthien dancing in the forest by Elena Kukanova

Beren embarkеd on the perilous journeу with Galadriel's brother, Finrod Felagund. Unfortunatelу, Sauron and his minions capturеd them and killed Finrod. Lúthien, who followed them along with her faithful companion Huan, a wolfhound, confronted Sauron. She and Huan defeated him and managed to take one of the Silmarils. However, Beren succumbеd to his injuries, and Lúthien died of grief. Mandos, the Doomsman of the Valar responsible for the judgment of the Spirits, took pitу on her and gave her a choice - she and Beren could be revivеd and rеturn to Middle-earth. But there was a catch - she had to give up her immortalitу. Lúthien agreed to come back to Middle-earth as a mortal. Lúthien and Beren were the great-grandparеnts of Elrond and Elros and the great-great-grandparents of Arwen. Arwen shared Lúthien's phуsical appearance as well as her fate. She, too, would choosе a mortal life and marrу a man.

King Thingol was murdered. Melian returned to Valinor without her husband and daughter. The kingdom of Doriath passed to Dior the Fair, the son of Lúthien and Beren, уet he too met a sorrowful end, leading to the kingdom's downfall. Dior's daughter, Elwing, survived the destruction of Doriath and had a complex fate that is too intricate to detail in this review. Tolkien's grave is inscribed with the name "Beren," while his wife Edith's grave bears the name "Lúthien."


Thingol and Melian by Elena Kukanova

Other favorites: Eöl, the Dark Elf, and his reluctant bride, Aredhel, the White Ladу of the Ñoldor. The drama of Gondolin featuring Eöl and Aredhel's son, Maeglin, elven princess Idril, and her mortal husband, Tuor. The bittersweet love storу of Eärendil, the son of Idril and Tuor, and Elwing, the granddaughter of Beren and Lúthien.


Sauron and Finrod Felagund

[Sean Barrs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing a review of the Silmarillion is like trying to review the Bible. Where do you even start? There’s just so much story in here. Any attempt to convey it in a review would be to do the book a massive disservice. There would only ever be enough space to talk about one or a few elements of the work.

So instead I thought I’d give my reasoning as to why every Tolkien enthusiast needs to read this in order to fully understand Tolkien: the sheer depth of the work.

“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.”



The history of middle-earth is very rich, and it stretches a very long way. Much further than the time of Sauron and the Ring. And this sense of history is only very briefly glimpsed within The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit if at all. The Silmarillion is the entire picture; it is the entire vison of Tolkien’s fantasy world. It’s a huge piece of world building, and there really is nothing else quite like it. In here he relays a huge amount of history, a truly staggering amount for a fictional world to possess.

I often talk about the need for world building in fantasy, and here it is in full force. It’s astonishing. It’s beyond imaginative. It goes further than anything before it and since. And this is why Tolkien is the master of the genre. He wasn’t the first, and he certainly won't be the last to write such fiction, but he was the best writer to ever attempt it. He more than set the benchmark when he wrote this. So if you’re thinking about reading this, but find the task at hand a little bit too daunting, then stop thinking. Pick this book and lose yourself in the history of the greatest fantasy universe ever created. You won't regret it.

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You can connect with me on social media via My Linktree.
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[Manny · Rating 4 out of 5]

How To Build A Truly Convincing Fantasy World

1. It's all about the language. Make sure your world's language is convincing, and you're pretty much there. Conversely, if your language sucks then everything else will.

2. Your book can't include more than a few sentences in your invented language without losing your audience. But it can include plenty of names. So what people will really judge you on is the quality of the names.

3. In fact, a world with only one language is implausible. You should have a bunch of them.

4. Languages are related to each other. Arrange things so that your invented languages have a family structure.

5. The relationships between languages aren't arbitrary, but come from the histories of the cultures that speak them. So work out a history too, and have the languages fit into that.

6. The origins of language go so far back that history sounds like myth. Make your history into a set of complex mythologies.

7. History and geography go together. Add geography too when you require it.

8. If you want all this to look imposing rather than stupid, you'd better get the details right. It'll take a while. Be prepared to spend at least half your life working on it. Oh, and of course it'll help if you've also spent a lot of time studying philology first.

9. You'll end up with far more material than you can possibly use. Leave most of it as background, and just give the readers a tantalising glimpse every now and again.

10. Burn all your notebooks and make sure everything stays mysterious. Your fans will curse you, but really you're doing them a huge favour. They don't want to see the man behind the curtain.
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Tolkien came amazingly close to a full realization of this scheme. The only thing he missed was item #10.

[Markus · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.


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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.


___________________________________________

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.


___________________________________________

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.

[Alexia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe that after finishing this book, I still find myself craving more lore about this intricate and richly layered world and its diverse, vividly drawn characters. The way the author crafted the narrative and described every detail drew me in deeper with each page, fueling my obsession even more.

Every piece of information I learned was tinged with sorrow, revealing new, sometimes heartbreaking, perspectives on the elves. It made me see them with new eyes, no longer just noble characters of light but as complex, multifaceted beings with depth, vulnerabilities, and internal conflicts.

I still see them as beings of light; however, I now understand that many of them enjoy a high level of privilege and are often perceived as incapable of doing wrong. The elves created by Tolkien are characters filled with profound wisdom, sorrow, and unmatched beauty (graceful, ethereal, and almost otherworldly). Still, they are also marked by unfulfilled desires; they long for something distant and elusive, something they may never fully attain.

They are not perfect, nor do I believe they were ever meant to be. On the contrary, they sometimes fall into shadow, experiencing profound moments of doubt and temptation. Yet, among all the races in this world, they are the most inclined toward the light, striving for ideals that often seem just out of reach.

The entire history of the elves, as depicted in this book, is deeply fascinating. It is also tinged with tragedy (marked by death, betrayal, and kin-slaying), which ultimately led to multiple brutal bloodbaths.

In conclusion, I doubt I will ever find enough words to fully describe the wonder and breathtaking beauty of this book or do it justice. Its depth, layered storytelling, and intricate world-building are beyond my ability to capture completely. All I can say is that it was brilliant, a true masterpiece.

[Forrest · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Charlotte May · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Oh woe-begotten spirit, fall now into dark oblivion, and forget for a while the dreadful doom of life."

I must admit. I struggled.

Though I love the Lord of the Rings and the Middle Earth Universe with all of my heart, tackling a large part of its history in this manner was tough going.
The world Tolkien created is absolutely extraordinary, without a doubt. Unfortunately The Silmarillion is written as a long history or mythology of biblical proportions. Name after name, battle after battle, son after son. It was hard to follow.
I can respect how wonderfully intricate and detailed the world is - but with that many characters and no straight story to follow through.... I'm pleased to be able to say I've done it, but I don't think it's one I'll be able to come back to time and again. I'll stick to LOTR I think. Though I will read Beren and Lúthien and The Children of Húrin when I can. Tolkien truly is a master. 3.5 stars.

"Help oft shall come from the hands of the weak when the wise falter."

[Petrik · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars

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

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

Picture: Fingolfin versus Morgoth by Art-Calavera



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

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

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

Picture: The Sack of Nargothrond by Donato Giancola



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

Picture: The Dragon and the Star by Manuel Castañón



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

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

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

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Szplug · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

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 The Lord of the Rings 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?

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** 2022 Reread

I reread this wonderful book in anticipation of the upcoming Prime Video series. Still as good as ever.

Tolkien tells the story of the beginning of Middle Earth and has provided us with a very cool mythology for his creation. We learn about the Valar, the Maiar (of whom Gandolf and Suaron are both members) the tribes of the elves and the fall of the great cities of the Elves in Middle Earth.

The closing chapters also talks about Numenor and the rise and fall of the that great island nation and how this society led to the line of kings of whom Aragorn was one.

For Tolkien fans this is a MUST read and a great book of fantasy for SF/F aficionados.

*** 2020 reread

I first read this back in HS, more than 30 years ago. I recall being amazed at the magnificent world building and likened this to “Old Testament” Tolkien.

I must admit that one reason why it’s taken me so long to revisit was my memory of the etymology and I was hesitant to jump back into stilted language and a litany of begats and whose father was who in the time of this or that.

Tolkien is too good for that and modern readers should not at all be intimidated by a stuffy origin story. This reads like a cool mythology and each vignette is a page turning story on its own. Apparently this was actually first begun soon after The Hobbit in the late 1930s but publishers were none too keen. Christopher Tolkien collected his father’s notes and stories and put all this together for a 1977 publication, posthumous to JRR’s 1973 death.

BTW – 1973
1 ring to rule them all
9 rings for men
7 rings for the dwarves
3 for elves

The first part, of Eru Iluvatar (God) is clearly inspired by the Christian Old Testament. The music of the Ainur (angels) has one Ainur who thought his voice was better than the rest – Melkor (Satan) and so Eru made the music into the world and fifteen Ainur came to reside in the world, including the troublemaker.

From here we have a pantheistic legendarium of the Valar (the Ainur who stayed) and of their conflict with Melkor and of the coming of the elves and of men. One of the Ainu formed the dwarves and had to petition Eru for this transgression.

The legends of the tribes of the elves and of their great migrations and of fantastic cities and of the wars against Melkor and his lieutenant Sauron fills this mythology with a richness that is for more than just for LOTR fans, this is good reading for any fantasy genre aficionado.

[John Mauro · Rating 5 out of 5]

J.R.R. Tolkien turns the world-building knob all the way up to 11 in The Silmarillion, which is a masterclass in high fantasy.

This book is Biblical is scope and also Biblical in its writing style. It's not for the casual reader, but it is a goldmine for the Tolkien enthusiast.

This particular edition of The Silmarillion is gorgeous. It is published on high-quality paper and features 45 pages of beautiful artwork. The artwork truly enhances the reading experience.

This edition also includes a foldout National Geographic-style map and a comprehensive glossary of characters, locations, and languages. Relevant family trees are also included.

This is a beautiful volume and deserves a prominent place on the bookshelves (or coffee tables) of Tolkien enthusiasts everywhere.

[Brett C · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[Henry Avila · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Middle-earth from the First and Second into The Third AGE a collection of short stores by J.R.R. TOLKIEN, the major problem it's edited and published probably unauthorized by son Michael. Not sure how much Michael did to reorganized the narrative and if dad would have enjoyed. A bit confusing the beginning is not for the faint of heart. If the reader never leafed through the Lord of the Rings, start with the previous book mentioned. This will provide some unexplained things which gives the many fans a better understanding of the epic fantasy. The so numerous war plots emphasized between Morgroth (Melkor) his greatest evil servant was Sauron who tries to destroy the Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves and yes our own, the Humans in the Rings novels and everyone else. Morgroth hates all creatures using the slave Orcs as a loyal army, kill why not , any their boss indicates and they enjoy the job. Battles galore some won by the good others evil , dominates the land draped in red but the real winners are us since we ARE the consumer. With the Istari wizards both preaching hate Saruman, or love Gandalf, mostly in the background. Brave sailors, ships and the mysterious seas Earendil, a half-elven ( part Human, part Elf ) bold voyages in the dark , grim unknown so interesting, a new view of the Middle-earth lacking in chapters of the fabulous never to be topped the incredible ...
four, the original Middle-earth volumes, here are important portions of stories telling reasons men risk themselves seeking knowledge, but frequently discovering a sad end. Still the ultimate quest is for the Rings formed by Morgroth for conquest, however carelessly loses and found by others nevertheless . He who controls them has the power for destroying their enemy. And any bipeds would be tempted for raw, limitless, yes unchecked supremacy . The history of our Earth have proven the concept genuine, the facts show many example for those that yearned it and succeeded . Blood is never ending from cavemen learning to strike an opponent with a stick or rock , to the ominous weapons of today . A nice trip back to a place where dullness is quite uncommon for long , and excitement is constant whether you want it or not, yet only the victims would complain. The story of Beren and Luthien is one of the best in The rather disjointed Silmarillion, Shakespeare was right "The course of true love never did run smooth." That's from A Midsummer Night's Dream, not for everyone still this is more than enough, the rest will savor an extension of Middle-earth.

[Annemarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The whole day, I have been trying to find the best words to use in this review, but how can you find the right words to describe perfection? This book was just a delight to read, from start to finish. The fact that a single man was able to create a fictional world with so much detail absolutely blows my mind. You can feel the love Tolkien had for Middle-earth in every word he writes. The way everything comes together makes it hard to believe that all of this is truly just fictional. There is so much information loaded in these few hundred pages; I already know that I will reread this book many, many times throughout the rest of my life, just so that I might be able to some day understand and remember everything.

As wonderful and dear as this book is to me, I also want to say that:

1. You probably shouldn't read this before reading The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. I think it would be too confusing and just a bit too much as a starter to this world.
2. You also probably shouldn't read this if you didn't like either of the aforementioned books. You need to care for Middle-earth and its history to properly enjoy and appreciate this one.
3. If you did enjoy the aforementioned books, do NOT go into this one thinking that you're going to get a similar adventurous story. This isn't exactly what I would describe as a "novel". The description it probably fits the best is "bible of a fictitious world".

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I shouldn't have read this before The Lord of the Rings or maybe I just don't like this type of narration ('ancient myths and legends' type), but I didn't enjoy it all. Way too boring for my taste. Although Tolkien showed himself as a brilliant linguist and myth-maker it was completely impossible to follow dozens various plot lines. The amount of names (people, places, nations and events) is overwhelming and tiresome.

[Hannah Greendale (Hello, Bookworm) · Rating 5 out of 5]

In terms of reading interest, this oscillated between three and five stars, but with respect to what Tolkien accomplished here, The Silmarillion deserves nothing less than five stars.

[Carolyn Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many thoughts and they’re all in Elvish… Tolkien, you’re a gem and a genius!

[William Gwynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A video discussing why you should read The Silmarillion. Many have said it better than myself, but I hope my passion for this collection of wonderful stories can be seen. Why You Should Read The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion just strikes a chord within me. Whilst I understand how much of the beginning can be seen as dry, I love how this world is constructed, and then so many of the latter stories apart such emotion within me. Beren & Luthien, The Children of Hurin and more! I must admit that I love stats and family trees, so the amount of detail seems like ti was made for me!

Full Review to Come

[V.D. Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re a fan of adventures in Middle-earth, this book is not for you. :D
And I really mean the word "adventures".

What you get here is closer to an encyclopedic mythology. This is not a novel in the traditional sense—there’s no single main character, no linear storyline, and none of that sense of a journey you get in "The Hobbit" or "The Lord of the Rings". Instead, you’re given the history of an entire world, from its creation to the downfall of great powers.

If you’re a fan of "Dune" like I am, you’ll probably enjoy this, or if you used to read a lot of encyclopedias as a kid. Just don’t expect many illustrations.

The book begins with Tolkien’s idea of creating a complete mythology for his universe, something like his own version of ancient Greek or Norse myths, but for Middle-earth. Unfortunately, he didn’t fully complete it himself, and the work was later compiled and edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien. You can feel that—it reads more like something assembled and refined rather than written as a single, unified novel.

In the other books, we see the world at a later stage, where characters only refer to “great ages” and “vast wars.” Here, we actually witness those events. It starts with the creation, moves through something like a fall from grace, and then unfolds into divisions, betrayals, and an ongoing struggle between forces that are almost divine.

At first glance, everything feels quite dark. There are wars, destruction, the of entire peoples, and heroes who pay a heavy price for their choices. But what’s interesting is that hope never completely disappears. There’s always someone who manages to hold onto it, even briefly, and shift the course of events, even if only for a moment.

The main drawback, or advantage depending on the reader, is the style. The book reads more like a chronicle or a mythological text. Names, lineages, events—everything moves quickly and with little explanation. If you’re not fully focused, it’s easy to get lost. At times, it feels more like reading a textbook than a piece of fiction.





Pre_read

I'm just postponing the trilogy with this prequel—I’m waiting for more time to pass since the last time I watched the movies.

[Edward Gwynne]

I have now finished the fantasy bible and now I can rest.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edit: Captioned some of the pictures! :) Will caption more asap.

Convincing you to read The Silmarillion based on its aesthetic:

((with tips for reading The Silm in progress!))


The Creation of the Ainur at the beginning of time! :) Plus Melkor's downfall. He is to be the main antagonist, and a very powerful one too, of The Silmarillion.


Valinor aesthetic with Oromë and/or Celegorm. Valinor is considered to be the Blessed Realm by the Elves, a place where no mortal can survive for long because of its energy.



Fëanor marrying Nerdanel in the bliss of Valinor. Together, they will have seven sons, and later, Fëanor takes all of them away from her to their doom.


The Captivity of Morgoth after he wrecks havoc all over Middle-earth. He is imprisoned for three ages before he is given a second chance by Manwë, the leader of the Valar. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a mistake as Morgoth is and will forevermore be super evil lol.


A ship of the gray-elves on the shores of Valinor. This is where Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf, Galadriel, etc. sailed toward at the end of LotR. Later, Fëanor will spill blood in the Blessed Realm to gain access to these ships.


Fëanor succeeds in creating the Silmarils, capturing the light of Valinor in them. This was a long and difficult process, and he considers them his crowning glory.


Aesthetic of Varda (one of the Ainur) and the blessed light of Valinor. Soon the light will be destroyed and only exist in Fëanor's Silmarils.


Fëanor and his half brothers, Fingolfin and Finarfin. Fëanor is the one with the jewels (his Silmarils). FYI, if you've read LotR, Fingolfin (the one with the staff) is Elrond Halfelven's great-great grandfather. And Finarfin (the blonde one) is Galadriel's father. :)


Gondolin. Sorry this isn't in the right timeline. :')


Fëanor draws his sword (that he created in secret) on Fingolfin, his half-brother, in front of everyone. This is a result of Morgoth's lies as he manipulated the two houses against each other.





In another world (Middle-Earth instead of Valinor), King Thingol meets Melian. Together, they stand for an age in the forest as the stars wheel by above them (this was actually before the sun and moon were made!) because Thingol was obsessed with how beautiful Melian is. Elrond from LotR is also descended from these two.


Maedhros, first son of Fëanor, aims to kill one of the gray-elves in order to fulfill his father's plan to steal their ships. This is the first kinslaying in which the Elves killed each other. :'(





The Elves are leaving Valinor to look for "freedom" in Middle-Earth. Here, Finarfin is parting with his children as he refuses to part with the Valar. He gives a ring with two snakes on it to his eldest son, Finrod Felagund. The other siblings (left to right: Orodreth, Galadriel, Aegnor, Angrod) watch. All but Galadriel will perish in Middle-Earth. The ring will pass on through the centuries to Aragorn in LotR.


After securing the ships, Fëanor betrays Fingolfin and Finarfin's people, stealing away the ships in the middle of the night and sailing to Middle-Earth without them. Then he burns them so that no one may return. Shame on you, Fëanor.


Three of the ladies of The Silmarillion! :) From top to bottom: Aredhel, Galadriel, and Lúthien. Aredhel is Fingolfin's daughter, Lúthien is the daughter of Thingol and Melian, and I think everyone knows Galadriel.


Fingolfin, left behind in Middle-Earth refuses to give up even after Fëanor's betrayal. He takes his people on a years-long journey through the Grinding Ice in an attempt to get to Middle-Earth. Many Elves die on this journey, and it was considered to be a huge feat of endurance.


























































𝒮𝑜 𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝒾𝓁𝓂𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝑜𝓃. 𝐼𝒻 𝒾𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓅𝒶𝓈𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝑔𝒽 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒾𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓀𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓇𝓊𝒾𝓃, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒜𝓇𝒹𝒶 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝓇𝑒𝒹...

[Cecily · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

• “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.”

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

• “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

• The Hobbit HERE.
• Letters 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.

[Piyangie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Silmarillion gives a clear and comprehensive history of the mythological world Tolkien created to set his Lord of Rings trilogy. In five parts, he describes the world of which Middle Earth is a part, the spirits who rule the world (who the Men called gods), the making of Elves, Men, and Dwarfs, and the events that took place in the world, especially on Middle Earth from the First Age to the Third Age. In short, The Silmarillion can be safely described as a forerunner to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Amidst the history, The Silmarillion also tells the dark story in the First Age, where Elves and Men in league battle with the First Dark Lord, Morgoth, to recover the "Silmarili" (three perfect jewels) which he has stolen from the High Elves. The bulk of the story (Quenta Silmarillion) is devoted to the heroism and valour of the Elves and Men in their terrible war against Morgoth, in the absence of the support of the ruling spirits (gods). Although I say there is a story (for there is), it is not a continuous and smoothly flowing story; in fact, the story is continued in detached episodes. Yet there is a sort of connectivity between the chapters to keep the readers on track with the story.

There are a huge number of characters, both Elves, and Men, without proper notes or charts that you cannot keep track of. The same can be said to places and battles. There were some helpful charts and maps in the edition I read which made the read a little easy. But I should have taken notes as I read along. That is something to remember when I return to it again (for I do plan to reread).

This was an interesting read, though I admit that it was one of the most difficult books that I read. What is amazing is the thoroughness that is displayed by Tolkien in creating this mythological world, the characters - Elves, Men, Dwarfs, Gods, Dark lord, and his creatures. The main characters being Elves and Men are described to the minutest detail including their different races and their descendants. It is really impressive. I have read that Tolkien always felt the absence of British lore and had felt the need to remedy the defect. I think his works quite compensate for that absence.

More of my reviews can be found at http://piyangiejay.com/

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is actually my third time reading and I feel kinda bad because I keep picking up big new details I missed the first couple of times I read it.

Well, maybe I don't feel *THAT* bad. I mean, it is DAMN full of names and genealogies and it's probably a bit worse than having to slog through the Iliad for all that.

BUT. And here comes the huge, fire-belching butt of Melkor...

The Silmarillion is likely the best book of mythology I've ever read.
Better than any rendition of the Greeks or the Nordic... or anything.

I get the MOST out of this, get the most thrilled by this, and become an utter, raving fanboy. The more I learn, the more I imagine, and the more I imagine, the better the HUGE FREAKING EPIC BATTLES of the First Age of Arda (Also known as our Earth, with us living during the Fourth Age).

I mean, come on. Gods, all the creation myths, Melkor the corruptor, the jealous, among them. Epic battles that change whole lands, erupting volcanoes, armies full of balrogs and dragons and orcs. The full might of the Valar (gods tied to Arda) arrayed with the first Elves in the height of their craftsmanship, battling, and sometimes being defeated by, the dark god.

Let's not forget the glittering lamps that reach up like space elevators bathing the whole flat earth in light or their destruction. Or the gigantic trees that took their place, or the fruit and leaf of the destroyed trees that later became the sun and the moon, finally out of reach of the great corruptor.

Come on! This is GREAT stuff. :) And we even get to the ending of the First age, the ending of the Second age, getting the full story of Sauron's corrupting the Kings of Men, inflaming their desire to be immortal just like the Elves and ending with the utter destruction of their kingdom, their island, their Atlantis. :)

So much glory. So much tragedy. So much power, magic, and TIME. It's the full history of Earth, after all. And even the LoTR is encapsulated in a very cool cliff-notes version, no more than 30 or so pages out of all the other, even more glorious past. :)


Am I wrong to want such a full history to arrive on the big screen, or even on the little screen? Am I wrong to hope and NOT be disappointed in the new TV series coming up, Middle-Earth? AM I WRONG NOT TO WANT BEREN AND LUTHIEN trick and ensorcell a GOD in his own fortress of Angmar, cutting the jewel that houses the very spirit of Arda's FIRE from his crown? Doing what no other immortal or mortal had been able to do for hundreds upon hundreds of years of strife? Out of love??? :)

*BIG SIGH*

I can only hope and pray and pray and hope to Illuvatar that they do it right.

[Krystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.