The Silmarillion (Quenya: [silmaˈrilliɔn]) is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay. It tells of Eä, a fictional universe that includes the Blessed Realm of Valinor, the once-great region of Beleriand, the sunken island of Númenor, and the continent of Middle-earth, where Tolkien's most popular works—The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings—are set. After the success of The Hobbit, Tolkien's publisher Stanley Unwin requested a sequel, and Tolkien offered a draft of the writings that would later become The Silmarillion. Unwin rejected this proposal, calling the draft obscure and "too Celtic", so Tolkien began working on a new story that eventually became The Lord of the Rings. The Silmarillion has five parts. The first, Ainulindalë, tells in mythic …
The Silmarillion (Quenya: [silmaˈrilliɔn]) is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay. It tells of Eä, a fictional universe that includes the Blessed Realm of Valinor, the once-great region of Beleriand, the sunken island of Númenor, and the continent of Middle-earth, where Tolkien's most popular works—The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings—are set. After the success of The Hobbit, Tolkien's publisher Stanley Unwin requested a sequel, and Tolkien offered a draft of the writings that would later become The Silmarillion. Unwin rejected this proposal, calling the draft obscure and "too Celtic", so Tolkien began working on a new story that eventually became The Lord of the Rings.
The Silmarillion has five parts. The first, Ainulindalë, tells in mythic style of the creation of Eä, the "world that is." The second part, Valaquenta, gives a description of the Valar and Maiar, supernatural powers of Eä. The next section, Quenta Silmarillion, which forms the bulk of the collection, chronicles the history of the events before and during the First Age, including the wars over three jewels, the Silmarils, that gave the book its title. The fourth part, Akallabêth, relates the history of the Downfall of Númenor and its people, which takes place in the Second Age. The final part, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, is a brief summary of the circumstances which led to and were presented in The Lord of the Rings.
The book shows the influence of many sources, including the Finnish epic Kalevala, Greek mythology in the lost island of Atlantis (as Númenor) and the Olympian gods (in the shape of the Valar, though these also resemble the Norse Æsir).
Because J. R. R. Tolkien died leaving his legendarium unedited, Christopher Tolkien selected and edited materials to tell the story from start to end. In a few cases, this meant that he had to devise completely new material, within the tenor of his father's thought, to resolve gaps and inconsistencies in the narrative, particularly Chapter 22, "Of the Ruin of Doriath".The Silmarillion received a generally poor reception on publication; it sold much less well than The Lord of the Rings. Scholars found the work problematic, not least because the book is a construction, not authorised by Tolkien himself, from the large corpus of documents and drafts also called "The Silmarillion". Scholars have noted that Tolkien intended the work to be a mythology, penned by many hands, and redacted by a fictional editor, whether Ælfwine or Bilbo Baggins. As such, the scholar Gergely Nagy considers that the fact that the work has indeed been edited actually realises Tolkien's intention.
While this book features the finest world building in all of fiction and perhaps even all of English literature, its obsession with detail makes it a difficult read. It is not something I should have attempted reading at age 13 (did not finish at about 35%), but restarting it was one of the finest decisions I've ever made.
While this book features the finest world building in all of fiction and perhaps even all of English literature, its obsession with detail makes it a difficult read. It is not something I should have attempted reading at age 13 (did not finish at about 35%), but restarting it was one of the finest decisions I've ever made.
When i first read this book in the 70s, I was delighted & amazed by the intricate & detailed worldbuilding Tolkien had indulged in; at the time, there was little but the book itself available to me to explain it’s provenance. It’s been a good while since, and much has been said and written and posted elsewhere; i reread this for the first time recently, after I’d watched Amazon’s 1st season of Rings of Power; initially i thought to only seek for the discrepancies between book and the show, but found myself drawn in to reread the whole work once more.
As a book, it has its issues- very stylistic language, no character development of substance- it’s dry and academic, on a subject that’s essentially one man’s extended academic fever dream. But it is a lovely and rich fever dream, extolling upon characters and settings the author had been …
When i first read this book in the 70s, I was delighted & amazed by the intricate & detailed worldbuilding Tolkien had indulged in; at the time, there was little but the book itself available to me to explain it’s provenance. It’s been a good while since, and much has been said and written and posted elsewhere; i reread this for the first time recently, after I’d watched Amazon’s 1st season of Rings of Power; initially i thought to only seek for the discrepancies between book and the show, but found myself drawn in to reread the whole work once more.
As a book, it has its issues- very stylistic language, no character development of substance- it’s dry and academic, on a subject that’s essentially one man’s extended academic fever dream. But it is a lovely and rich fever dream, extolling upon characters and settings the author had been pondering for decades. His sone Christopher did an admirable job editing what must have a turgid & contradictory pimple into a coherent narrative. As work of historical fantasy, its a good reference for aspirating game masters of what you can do when world building, and a stark warning about what happens if you take such too far…
Readings for the lore fans / Lecture pour les fans de l'univers
5 stars
Étant fan de l'univers depuis ma vision de la trilogie puis la lecture des romans, j'ai apprécié les précisions à propos des origines et les filiations. Cette lecture se différencie notamment de LOTR par le peu de description. C'est plus une suite d'événements historiques qui nous ait raconté (un peu comme un-e prof d'histoire qui essaye de résumé son cours). Pour finir, une petite mention aux personnages féminins restreints à des rôles stéréotypés (mère, épouse, sœur de) et plutôt décrites par leur beauté que par leurs compétences. Critique qui était déjà présente dans LOTR. Je conseil cette lecture aux fans de l’univers ou aux personnes voulant approfondir le lore sinon s'abstenir.
Étant fan de l'univers depuis ma vision de la trilogie puis la lecture des romans, j'ai apprécié les précisions à propos des origines et les filiations. Cette lecture se différencie notamment de LOTR par le peu de description. C'est plus une suite d'événements historiques qui nous ait raconté (un peu comme un-e prof d'histoire qui essaye de résumé son cours).
Pour finir, une petite mention aux personnages féminins restreints à des rôles stéréotypés (mère, épouse, sœur de) et plutôt décrites par leur beauté que par leurs compétences. Critique qui était déjà présente dans LOTR.
Je conseil cette lecture aux fans de l’univers ou aux personnes voulant approfondir le lore sinon s'abstenir.
Bienvenue dans la bible de Tolkien. Cet épais livre regroupe en 400 pages 6000 ans d'histoire imaginaire, depuis la création du monde par le chant divin jusqu'au départ des terres du milieu des derniers elfes. Et si la puissance évocatrice de Tolkien me transporte toujours, certains défauts me sautent maintenant aux yeux, comme le matérialisme de ces elfes millénaires, prompts à posséder comme à désirer le bien d'autrui (ce qui contraste très péjorative ment avec leur supposée sagesse) ou cet tendance de chaque âge de la terre à être moins beau, moins riche, plus porté vers le mal que le précédent. Franchement, plus que toute autre chose, ça traduit à mon avis le côté férocement réactionnaire de Tolkien, mais je peux me tromper. En tout cas ce texte aussi fastidieux qu'une bible ne mérite à mon avis une lecture que des analystes en tolkiennerie, qui verront certains motifs apparaître avec …
Bienvenue dans la bible de Tolkien. Cet épais livre regroupe en 400 pages 6000 ans d'histoire imaginaire, depuis la création du monde par le chant divin jusqu'au départ des terres du milieu des derniers elfes. Et si la puissance évocatrice de Tolkien me transporte toujours, certains défauts me sautent maintenant aux yeux, comme le matérialisme de ces elfes millénaires, prompts à posséder comme à désirer le bien d'autrui (ce qui contraste très péjorative ment avec leur supposée sagesse) ou cet tendance de chaque âge de la terre à être moins beau, moins riche, plus porté vers le mal que le précédent. Franchement, plus que toute autre chose, ça traduit à mon avis le côté férocement réactionnaire de Tolkien, mais je peux me tromper. En tout cas ce texte aussi fastidieux qu'une bible ne mérite à mon avis une lecture que des analystes en tolkiennerie, qui verront certains motifs apparaître avec une belle constance.
I would have given it 5 stars if it wasn't for the very heavy Ainulindale and Valaquenta in the beginning. I reckon that by the time people are done with Ainulindale, they give up on this book. It definitely requires some patience. If you do make it to the Quenta Silmarillion, you will get to tales so epic in scale that everything else pales in comparison. I think this was my 5th time reading it, and the Of Beren and Luthien chapter still makes me cry. If you are REALLY into Lord of the Rings and its world, you have to read this book. Just skip the Ainulindale, bear with the Valaquenta, and then enjoy.
I would have given it 5 stars if it wasn't for the very heavy Ainulindale and Valaquenta in the beginning. I reckon that by the time people are done with Ainulindale, they give up on this book. It definitely requires some patience. If you do make it to the Quenta Silmarillion, you will get to tales so epic in scale that everything else pales in comparison. I think this was my 5th time reading it, and the Of Beren and Luthien chapter still makes me cry. If you are REALLY into Lord of the Rings and its world, you have to read this book. Just skip the Ainulindale, bear with the Valaquenta, and then enjoy.
