His books have been translated into more than fifty languages. The silmarillion is a novel created by compiling and editing the unfinished tales of jrr tolkien by his son. But its a special book and the stories in it are worth learning to read the style. The tales of the silmarillion are set in an age when morgoth, the first. Designed to take fans of the hobbit and the lord of the rings deeper into the myths and legends of middleearth the silmarillion is an account of the elder days, of the first age of tolkiens world. Tolkiens masterpiece is truly unlike any other book you will ever read. Tolkien, is a work in five parts that serves as a mythological creation story and history of the middle earth, the fictional universe created by tolkien that served as. The silmarillion is perhaps the most unique and difficulttoexplain book i have read. Since i am quite the evangelist for the silmarillion, over the years i have formulated quite a bit of advice for firsttime readers. It 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.
Its written in a very different style from his more famous works and i think a lot of people are put off by that. Tolkiens tragic, operatic history of the first age of middleearth, essential background material for serious readers of the classic lord of the rings saga. The silmarillion, like tolkiens other middleearth writings, was meant to have taken place at some time in earths past. It gives a good bibliography and background knowledge of the lord of the rings. The only bad thing about this book is the hardness to read. Oliver phelps was born about minutes before his twin brother, james phelps. Tolkien 18921973 is the creator of middleearth and the author of such classic and extraordinary works of fiction as the hobbit,the lord of the rings, and unfinished tales. I want to read silmarillion to expand my vocabulary and because i like fantasy books. Id be hesitant to suggest the silmarillion as a book to read. It 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. Dec 20, 2017 the silmarillion, a posthumous publication from christopher tolkien in 1977, combines several myths, or five separate parts, written by j. Tolkien the silmarillion is a collection of mythopoeic works by english writer j.
Well, youll put the book down when you get to the end of this chapter, you reason. He mirrors the tone of the book while also adding his considerable voiceacting skills. Time and again, anytime the lord of the rings or the hobbit are discussed with peter jackson or one of his production partners, the question would be asked. People interested in mythology would enjoy because its a very well done mythology system that mirrors many ancient mythologies.
It contains beautiful pictures about the scenes in the story. Essential reading for tolkien lovers and an important book. The best way to experience tolkiens work is to read them as they came out. The book is a collection of narratives which talks about the universe of ea in which different lands exist. Get the best deals on silmarillion when you shop the largest online selection at.
I had begun to peruse it once again 10 years prior however needed to put it down as confounding and exhausting. The silmarillion is the legend or history, or even,bible of the middle earth, which tolkien created in his own imagination. Quenta silmarillion the history of the silmarils, which makes up the bulk of the book, is a series of interconnected tales set in the first age that make up the tragic saga of the three jewels, the silmarils. Nov 21, 2017 time and again, anytime the lord of the rings or the hobbit are discussed with peter jackson or one of his production partners, the question would be asked. Tolkien which was recently published in the last decade, i wanted to prepare myself by reading the silmarillion where tolkien first introduces the tale of hurin.
Jan 03, 2020 it was the book that made me very aware of how language can influence the perception of stories, and if before i had judged the use of language on an intuitive level, in case of the silmarillion it was very conscious. The washington post set primarily in the first age of middleearth, the silmarillion contains the legend of the creation of the world and an account of the elder days. The movie does not explain why their sam is more or less the same size when he. Apr 28, 2020 the silmarillion is a complex work that explores a wide array of themes inspired by many ancient, medieval, and modern sources, including the finnish kalevala, the hebrew bible, norse sagas, greek mythology, celtic mythology, and world war i. After reading first few paragraphs i thought that it is boring. It is in these lands that the stories of the hobbit and lord of the. Is the silmarillion actually a good book or is it one of those things that only big tolkien fantasy fans like. Our hearts were shattered into billions of pieces that day. In the lord of the rings were narrated the great events at the end of the third age. Which order should i read tolkiens middleearth books in. We carry all the books by and about tolkien both new and antiquarian, in all languages, as well as the calendars, posters, games, the merchanise from the peter jackson movies and much, much more.
People interested in tolkien like it because it is a more indepth view of tolkiens mythos. Feb 15, 2012 the silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of feanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from valinor and return to middleearth, and their war, hopeless despite all their heroism, against the great enemy. Tolkiens the silmarillion tells the story of the first and second ages of middleearth, beginning with iluvatars creation of ea, the world that is. Tolkien 18921973 is the creator of middleearth and author of such classic and extraordinary works of fiction as the hobbit, the lord of the rings, and the silmarillion. I have completely delighted in this jewel of an elective creation folklore and old history of our reality. Pages in category characters in the silmarillion the following 22 pages are in this category, out of 22 total. Is there a definitive edition or printing of the silmarillion. These books also make it clear just how unfinished the later parts of the silmarillion really were. Tolkien describing his intentions for the book, which serves as a. Known as the silmarillion, a book tolkien would add to throughout his life, this rich tapestry of tales told of the creation of the world in the first age, the coming of elves and men, the theft of the silmarils the jewels containing the pure light that illuminated middleearth and the wars between the first dark lord and the high elves. The book is titled after three extraordinary jewels called the silmarils.
Chapter intro music playing randomly mid chapterthe chapter title repeatedly being said over the top of the narrator. The silmarillion download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. Oct 18, 2017 find the perfect editor for your book. Over 300,000 authors trust the professionals on reedsy, come meet them. Free shipping on many items browse your favorite brands. Id go round explaining, like, ooh, gandalfs a nickname, real names olorin and hes a maia, which is a type of god, did you know. Jan 09, 2012 this novel took much longer to write, with tolkien composing on and off between 1939 and 1952, and its final length was an astonishing 1,192 pages. Among tolkiens works, the silmarillion is the least popular. The stories take place in a time preceding the hobbit and the lord of the rings of middleearth.
The reader who submitted this question has spent time and money collecting the best possible editions he can find of the lord of the rings but is not certain if any effort should be made to collect a specific edition or printing of the silmarillion. In this concluding volume, frodo and sam make a terrible. As a 15 year old silmarillion was actually the book i learnt english with, i loved how grandiose yet authentic some of the stories felt, and it certainly amplified my appreciation of lotr for a while. The silmarillion, the best book ever by the best author who ever lived. The silmarillion mass market paperback january 1, 2002. Rayner unwin, the little boy who had enthusiastically endorsed the hobbit, was now a young man working with the family firm, and he wrote to his father that the book was. I have attempted to read the silmarillion before but it was far to dry for my tastes and i would often get lost among all the similar sounding names and the difference between lotr and this in writing style was far to jarring. It felt like reading poetry, but in prose style, sensing the beauty of the language, how even a short phrase built out of.
Oct 15, 2011 tolkien deliberately used an old fashioned style, so the book would read like an ancient arthurian romance. The tolkien shop is a shop in holland and an international mailorder business entirely dedicated to the works of j. Is the lord of the rings tv series the silmarillion. There are parts of the languages worked out quite thoroughly, but not a complete grammar. Buy the silmarillion book online at low prices in india the. Tolkien, edited and published posthumously by his son, christopher tolkien, in 1977, with assistance from guy gavriel kay. Tolkien, edited and published posthumously by his son, christopher tolkien, in 1977 with assistance from guy gavriel kay. The silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of feanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from valinor and return to middleearth, and their war, hopeless despite all their heroism, against the great enemy.
When drafts of the silmarillion were published in morgoths ring it was discovered. Because of that very uniqueness, however, many are baffled by it. R tolkiens the silmarillion the silmarillion is an account of the elder days, of the first age of tolkiens world. Great way to read the silmarillion as the book itself can be a bit impregnable to read. With rocco ambrosio, sarah ambrosio, brian archer, tom assammiller. The index to the silmarillion has not been included and neither has the appendicies to the lord of the rings since they are not part of the story.
I remember two decades ago or more, hard to remember now i read the lord of the rings and the hobbit and loved them all. The silmarillion is a book written by j r tolkien who is an. Since just comparing the number of unique words in a book does not take its length into account i. The silmarillion audiobook j r r tolkien part 1 2 youtube. This is somewhat tricky, because there are a lot of characters in the silmarillion, which essentially tells the entire. This second edition features a letter written by j. Welcome,you are looking at books for reading, the the silmarillion, you will able to read or download in pdf or epub books and notice some of author may have lock the live reading for some of country. The silmarillion is divided into sections that tell various stor. Even though the book itself is roughly a third of the length of lotr, it has a much wider scope.
Tolkiens trilogy that tells the saga of the hobbits of middleearth and the great war of the rings. A childrens book that offered the first glimpse into tolkiens sub creation. Silmarillion edited by christopher tolkien annotation the silmarillion is j. Tolkien, christopher tolkien editor, ted nasmith illustrator designed to take fans of the hobbit and the lord of the rings deeper into the myths and legends of middleearth, the silmarillion is an account of the elder days, of the first age of tolkiens world. The five parts were initially separate works, but it was the elder tolkiens express wish that they be published together. Fandom apps take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat.
The valar attempt to fashion the world for elves and men, but melkor continually destroys their handiwork. The books greatest hero is probably hurin, a legendary champion of men whose story christopher tolkien would later expand upon in the standalone novel, the children of hurin and the curse placed on his family by morgoth after hurins many exploits. It is among the books i love the most, but this might not be the case if i had not read it in a bizarre way that i can hardly recommend to anyone else, and yet may be the best way to read it. Jul 01, 20 the tales of the silmarillion are set in an age when morgoth, the first dark lord, dwelt in middleearth, and the high elves made war upon him for the recovery of the silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of valinor.
Tolkien, it is the story of the creation of the world and of the first age, this is the ancient drama to which the characters in the lord of the rings look back and in whose events some of them, such as elrond and galadriel, took part. This sumptuous, oversized hardback beautifully presents a revised and reset edition of the silmarillion, illustrated by way of almost 50 fullcolour paintings by celebrated tolkien artist ted nasmith designed to match and complement the illustrated hobbit and lord of the rings. Tolkien includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis covering 28 chapters, as well as several more indepth sections of expertwritten literary analysis. Click download or read online button to get the silmarillion book now. The longest novel is artamene ou le grand cyrus, originally published 164954 in ten parts, each part in three volumes. The book is dense, and its nature is to make one want to pay as close attention as is possible. The return of the king is the towering climax to j. This is a list of the novels over 500,000 words published through a mainstream publisher. His pronounciation is certainly not without flaw but he gets it right 9 out of 10 times. How to read the silmarillion and why observation deck. Speculative faith 7 reasons why a silmarillion movie is.
For the uninitiated, the silmarillion is a history book of tolkiens middleearth, the land in which the hobbit and the lord of the rings take place as well as many other works by tolkien, most of them unfinished. The silmarillion is a collection of mythopoeic works by english writer j. Covering all that material would be a logistical and financial nightmare. You need to read the entire silmarillion to understand how the full mythic cycle is locked together in a vast woven fabric, but you dont need to read each story in chronological order to understand them. With christopher tolkiens close collaboration, the silmarillion has now been completely reset, using the text of the second edition. Ea, the world that is, is created, and the valar prepare the way for the children of iluvatar. Along the way, the valar and the children of iluvatar battle evil in the form of melkor in order to survive and maintain good in ea. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. In 2000 he and his brother were picked to play fred james and george oliver weasley in. Great performance as well, but one thing that did start to get a bit annoying was the frequency of audio glitches throughout. Compiled from tolkiens works left over after the publication of the silmarillion. Tolkiens other works, forms an extensive, though incomplete, narrative. The legendary precursor to the lord of the rings a creation of singular beauty.
His books have been translated into more than fifty languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide. May 25, 2010 pages in category characters in the silmarillion the following 200 pages are in this category, out of 215 total. Tolkien 1998, hardcover at the best online prices at ebay. The silmarillion, now published four years after the death of its author, is an account of the elder days, or the first age of the world. Personally i think the silmarillion isnt that hard to read its just hard to remember all of the events, as the silm starts with the beginning of tolkiens middle earth and then moves on to the first age dealing with elves, then the second age the numenors that would be aragorns ancestors and it then ends with the third age. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides for challenging works of literature. This is why both the silmarillion and the return of the king may appear shorter than expected. Is the silmarillion actually a good book or is it one of. From there, tolkien describes the valar, the maiar, and the fall of morgoth before he moves onto the history of numenor, the two trees, the silmarils, and melkor morgoths war for the silmarils. Tolkiens other works, forms an extensive, though incomplete, narrative that describes the universe of ea in which are found. Therefore it need a free signup process to obtain the book. Tolkien worked on the silmarillion for most of his life, beginning it long before the hobbit or the lord of the rings, and it was published posthumously in 1977 to international acclaim. He has always loved acting and appeared in many high school drama productions.