A hard read. | The Silmarillion

The Bible of Middle-Earth | The Silmarillion | J.R.R. Tolkien

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	• The Silmarillion J.R.R. Tolkien Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 687 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

the silmarlllion an excellent read

The silmarillion is a great read that excels in any other of Tolkiens writings. It is a great read because it describes the fight between good and evil. For example in this book one of the Valar named Melkor turns his back on the rest of them and tries to take over Valinor which was the home of the elves. after he fails he is exciled from Valinor. When this happened he swore to take revenge abd did so by takeing the silmarils which are the only source of light in the forest of lorien. After he obtains these he travels to middle earth and wipes out the men of the north. Another reason why I think this is am excellent read is because it connects all of Tolkiens writings reletive to middle eart which is important to tose both farmiliar and unfarmiliar to the lord rings.

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A hard read.

I've read the Hobbit and the Trilogy twice; but this book is a slow go. I will finish it eventually. It is a nice addition to my collection.

The Bible of Middle-Earth

It's more than slightly staggering to consider: the epic fantasy "Lord of the Rings" to be the tail end of Tolkien's invented history. The "Bible" of Middle-Earth, the "Silmarillion" stretches from the beginning of time to the departure of the Elves from Middle-Earth.

A complete summary is impossible, because the book spans millennia and has one earth-shattering event after another. But it includes the creation of Tolkien's invented pantheons of angelic beings under Eru Iluvatar, also known as God; how they sang the world into being; the creation of Elves, Men, and Dwarves (hobbits are, I think, not really covered); the legendary love story of Beren and Luthien, a mortal Man and an Elf maiden who gives up her immortality for the man she loves; the demonic Morgoth and Sauron; Elves of just about any kind -- bad, mad, dangerous, good, sweet, brave, and so forth; the creation of the many Rings of Power -- and the One Ring of Sauron; the Two Trees that made the sun and moon; and finally the quest of the Ringbearer, Frodo Baggins.

Many old favorites will pop up over the course of the book, such as Elrond, Galadriel, Gandalf, and so on. Fans of Elves will find plenty to feed their hunger; fans of Hobbits or Dwarves will not find as much here. It will also answer some questions that "Hobbit" and LOTR may raise, when references to long-ago incidents and people are made -- what is Numenor? Who are the Valar? This includes those things, and much more.

The writing style of Silmarillion is more akin to the Eddas, the Bible, or the Mabinogian than to "Lord of the Rings." It's more formal and archaic in tone; Tolkien did not get as "into" the heads of his characters in Silmarillion as he did in LOTR, and there is no central character. Needless to say, this is necessary as a more in-depth approach would have taken centuries to write, let alone perfect. If readers can bypass the automatic dislike of more formal prose, they will find enchanting stories and a less evocative but very intriguing writing style. This style strongly leans on the Eddas, collections of story and song that were unearthed and translated long ago. Though obviously not as well-known as LOTR, it is clear that these collections helped influence the Silmarillion.

It's clear to see, while reading this, the extent of Tolkien's passion for his invented history. Someone who had a lack of enthusiasm could not have spent much of his adult life writing, revising, and polishing a history that never was. It's also almost frighteningly imaginative and real: It isn't too hard to imagine that these things could actually have happened. In a genre clogged with shallow sword'n'sorcery, Tolkien's coherent, carefully-written backstory is truly unique.

If you can take the formal prose and mythical style, this is a treasure, and a must-read for anyone who loved LOTR or "Hobbit." Only after reading "The Silmarillion" can readers truly appreciate Tolkien's literary accomplishments, and the full scope of the Middle-Earth that is glimpsed in his more famous books.

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The Silmarillion

'The Silmarillion' is like the Bible to 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings'. It tells the story of the creation of the world and of the First Age of Middle-earth and the Undying Lands. Many historic events that were mentioned in 'The Lord of the Rings' take place in this extraordinary book. In this story Sauron is but a lieutenant to another, even greater, dark lord. Morgoth the Enemy is the chief source of evil in 'The Silmarillion' and is the first dark lord to ever appear. This story is primarily about the three Silmarils, created by Feanor, which were highly gifted of the Elves. Within them was imprisoned the light of the Two Trees of Valinor before Morgoth, or Melkor as he is also called, destroyed them. But, alas, the precious jewels were seized by him and set in his crown. This book also tells the story of the rebellion of Feanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from Valinor and return to Middle-earth, and their valiant, but hopeless, war against Morgoth and his minions in Angband (a dark fortress located in the north of Middle-earth). 'The Silmarillion' is a pretty tough first time read due to the fact some points of the story are a little hard to understand right at first and some of the character names are hard to pronounce. But, after I read this book a second time I got the hang of it. This is a very interesting story for anyone, especially if you are a 'Lord of the Rings' fan, who wants to read about the history of Middle-earth. It is a very moving story describing dramatic events. All in all, 'The Silmarillion' is a great story by author J.R.R. Tolkien! It was carismatically edited by his son Christopher Tolkien who still carries on his farthers legacy to this day.

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