The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Silmarillion
Book Review: Calling all Tolkien Freaks
Summary: 2 Stars
Much has been said about the dryness of this book, and it is true; it reads like a cross between a text book and the King James Version of The Bible.With that said, if you loved the Hobbit, the Ring Trilogy and have a particular fondness for elves, you MUST at least skim this book. Even though this is not a page-turner, or a book you will read cover-to-cover, you will probably enjoy getting Tolkien's thoughts (which drive the stories in the above-mentioned books) about the beginnings of Middle-Earth.
It's also very handy as a reference book and the pronounciation guide and glossary in the back of it are invaluable. :o)
Book Review: Concise review for newcomers
Summary: 4 Stars
For those of you who just read The Lord of the Rings -- do read LotR first -- this is a totally different experience. While LotR puts the reader in the midst of the action through the use of sympathetic characters one can relate to and graphic exposition and description, The Silmarillion is more distant, reading like a cross between The Bible and a good book of classic mythology. There is one overriding story of a great war between the High Elves and the first Dark Lord, Melkor, but the story takes place over the course of many millenia, encompassing the rise and fall of many great kingdoms and heroes among elves and men. Like classical heroes, the great elves and men of The Silmarillion are the titans and gods of myth, mighty in deed, but subject to catastrophic tragic flaws and flights of hubris. Like the Norse gods, they have an inevitable doom hanging over them. LotR readers might be surprised especially at how petty, vicious, and treacherous some of the elves are portrayed. Like classical myth, the world of The Simarillion is pure hyperbole and fancy -- there are literal earth shaking battles, tales of endurance rivaling Orpheus' descent into Hades, descriptions of magic realms that could never be literally believed. Unlike LotR, where you might suspend your disbelief, you could not believe in the cosmos of The Silmarillion, unless you can believe that the world was once flat and lit by two giant lamps, or that Venus is actually a magic gem on a ship sailing through the sky. Still, the freer, more mythological framework of this book allows more fantastic stories and situations to unfold than ever imagined in LotR. The image that sticks in my mind most after recently re-reading this book is the aerial duel between Earendil in his flying ship and Ancalagon, the mighty black winged dragon.
In the Silmarillion you will find the genesis of most of the major races and magical creatures of Middle Earth. Hobbits get almost no mention, except in a closing chapter that deals with the Third Age, included to provide a complete history of the High Elves in Middle Earth. Some of the names occurring in this book will be familiar to LotR readers, but aside from Galadriel and Sauron, no major characters from LotR appear in The Silmarillion. Sauron is as frightening, or perhaps even more frightening as in LotR -- in The Silmarillion, he is a shape changing Lord of vampires and werewolves. By contrast, The Dark Lord Melkor comes off as rather buffoonish and cowardly, subject to remarkable lapses in judgment and easilly fooled by puerile ruses, as in the story of Beren of Luthien, wherein an elf princess tricks him into letting his guard down by dancing for him. My other complaint, besides the lack of a really frightening main villain, would be the lack of detail in the book at times. This last problem can be attributed to the richness of Tolkein's imagination. He had so many stories to tell that they could not have all fit in one book; indeed, including everything alluded to would have made The Silmarillion too long and cumbersome. But I did feel like I wanted more at times. In conclusion, I would say that this is an excellent book, dramatic, poetic, and epic, but not for everyone, not even all fans of the Lord of the Rings. But if you have a taste for tales of epic battles, tragedy, and supernatural wonder, I highly recommend it.
Book Review: Eclipses the wonder of The Lord of the Rings
Summary: 5 Stars
There are several chapters in the Bible consisting solely of genealogies, lists of who beget who, used mostly to establish bloodlines. The last being in Matthew in which the lineage of Jesus is established through the bloodline of King David. I have always found these fascinating because of what they don't say. You look at the names on the lists and wonder just who these people were and what they did. What big or small things did they do in their lives that may have wrought monumental changes on the world for future generations. There is an unwritten history there that fascinates.
The same can be said for J.R.R. Tolkien's saga The Lord of the Rings. Whether reading the books or watching the films you come across names of individuals and of peoples that give historical depth to the work but also make you wonder who they were and what part they had to play in the development of the Middle-earth of the Third Age. Thankfully Tolkien didn't just mention these people and pass on, he spent his lifetime developing the creation of his world. The culmination of these efforts can be found in The Silmarillion.
The Silmarillion was never published in Tolkien's lifetime. It was a work that in essence started in the trenches of WWI and was not completed at the time of his death. Thankfully much of it was completed and his son, Christopher Tolkien, was able to take the large body of work left by J.R.R. Tolkien and edit it together into a complete narrative. The Silmarillion is essentially the history of Middle-earth, from the creation of the world and the First Age through the Third Age up until the time seen in The Hobbit and then The Lord of the Rings.
Let me stop here to say that I was completely enraptured by this book. The Silmarillion is not something that one can pick up for light reading. It is a history book and reads as such. However if you are in a LOTR frame of mind I believe you would find the book amazing as well. Tolkien was a scholar of language, of the history and mythology of Europe, and of religion as well. These things heavily influenced his life's work and can be seen in the creation of the world in which his characters lived.
It has been said that Tolkien was disappointed in the lack of a true mythology for England and that part of what he set out to do was to create one. The Silmarillion then is Tolkien's description of the creation of the world and ages that existed in a time long before our time. The opening chapters in which Eru or Iluvatar, the One creates the Ainur (or Holy Ones) and teaches them to create the world through song is beautiful, especially in comparison to the creation accounts of the book of Genesis. One of the things it does quite well is establish the importance of music as a tool of communication and storytelling, something that not only was true in the `real' history of our world but in Middle-earth as well.
The Silmarillion goes on to tell the story of the Silmarils, three jewels created by Feanor, the most gifted of the Elves. Within each jewel was captured the Light of the Two Trees of Valinor before the trees were destroyed by Morgoth, the first Dark Lord. These jewels were eventually stolen by Morgoth and set in his crown. The Silmarillion then becomes 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". It goes on to tell the tale of the rise of Sauron and his battles with the peoples of Middle-earth, the creation of the rings of power and the One Ring, and the battle in which Isildur cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand, eventually losing it in the river to one day become the possession of Smeagol.
Although The Silmarillion was begun long before Tolkien ever intended to write The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings it turned out to be the ultimate Tolkien fan bible. It answers so many questions about the people who came before those we loved in The Lord of the Rings. It was so fascinating to learn about the Elves and the Dwarves, about the Numenoreans who are referenced often in LOTR, about the first Dark Lord and the creation of evil in Middle-earth.
Well-written history is wonderful to read. Two of the most interesting historical books I have read are the the books I, Claudius and Claudius, the God by Robert Graves. They are the stories of the Roman Emperors told through fiction and they are amazing. Despite being the history of a fictional world, The Silmarillion is equally amazing. The depth of the many historical and literary influences in Tolkien's life as well as scholarly command of language makes this history feel real. Reading The Silmarillion does not feel like reading a work of fantasy. It feels like reading a history of our world describing a time that has passed out of all recollection of men. The fact that it gives so much back story and dimension to the world that so many have fallen in love with via the LOTR novels and films is just a bonus. Like any `true' history, the peoples who populate The Silmarillion are far from perfect. They are very real, full of virtues and faults and the actions of individuals and groups have far reaching consequences in the world they leave for future generations. Reading The Silmarillion was an amazing experience and one I am likely to repeat. The last chapter alone, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, is something everyone should read at least once before watching the movies again.
I was talking with my brother-in-law the other day mentioning the fact that Tolkien's work is so interesting because his grasp of language allowed him to create a universe in which the many and varied names of peoples and of places and of cultures do not feel made up or silly. The Silmarillion is full of names one hasn't heard before but never does it feel like Tolkien was just making things up. It reads like a history that has been passed down from generation to generation and for that Tolkien has to be acknowledged as a literary master.
I guess it goes without saying (then why have you wrote so much???) that I highly recommend The Silmarillion. It is the work of Tolkien's lifetime and is a remarkable legacy. Tolkien would no doubt consider The Silmarillion to be his important work. The stories in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were just moments out of the vast timeline he created. Read it, it is the ultimate LOTR geek's dream. It is also a book that I believe would appeal to anyone who is interested in mythology and history. Reading it one finds it hard to believe that this isn't actually a true history of an age long before our own which I think is the ultimate compliment for what Tolkien set out to do. By far the best book I have read this year.
Book Review: Either you get it or you don't
Summary: 5 Stars
For years I was afraid to read The Silmarillion (a brief glance through some of these reviews will explain the idea that this book is hard-going). Having just re-read The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings, I felt inspired to give it a go.... and I am so glad that I did. If, like me, you devoured the myths & legends of the world as a child, you will feel like you've "come home" at last. Tolkien's language is so beautiful it makes you want to cry - some place inside you simply resonates at the sheer poetry of the writing. This is such an overwhelmingly sad & haunting book. As in all true myths, there is a strong sense of doom - characters are magnificent but flawed, heroic yet doomed. If you expect fully-fleshed-out 3D characters, forget it. This is not written like a modern novel. If you love stories that are timeless & that will stay with you forever, read The Silmarillion. I cannot yet decide whether I prefer it to LOTR, but it doesn't matter - we have both!Book Review: Exciting, Beautiful History of Middle Earth
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been reading this tome aloud to my wife, and I'm surprised I love it so much. Having enjoyed The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit since I was a boy, I thought the history of the Silmarils, which is the meaning of the word Silmarillion, would be interesting, if not overly tedious. I confess after the first four chapters, the text bogs down; I skipped ch. 14 all together. But the stories I now understand, the history of certain characters, the doom of the elves, and the full tale of their songs, I wouldn't want to have missed.I love the Ainulindale, the story of creation, where Eru, whom the elves call Iluvatar, sings through the voices of angelic beings to create the world and foretell its history. It's a beautiful spin on the Genesis story. Once the official history of the Simarils begins, the details begin to pile up; but worthy is the reader who perseveres for the tales that follow build in excitement. For Lord of the Rings fans, are you curious about the doom that plagues Elrond and his family? Did you know that Galadriel was hundreds of years older than Elrond and was born in Valinor, the western haven to which the elves go in their white ships? Do you want to know how Sauron become the Dark Lord, and what Gandalf meant by covering the land in a _second_ darkness? All of those answers are in this book.
Tolkien gives us a powerfully beautiful world in Middle Earth, and this book magnifies the wonder seen in the Lord of the Rings. Why do Dwarves and Elves distrust each other? It stems from the bloodshed over the Silmarils, jewels crafted by Feanor, the most gifted and most headstrong of any elf who made by God. The jewels captured and radiated the light of the two trees Yavanna planted to give light to the world. They captivated the heart of anyone who saw them, and when one of them was set amid the Dwarf-cut gems of a spectacular necklace and worn by Luthien, the most beautiful elf to ever live, the light of heaven shone radiantly on earth for a short while. That and many more stories await you in this exciting history of elves and men in Middle Earth.