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The Silmarillion

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King Thingol was murdered. Melian returned to Valinor without her husband and daughter. Tolkien's grave has 'Beren' inscribed on it, while his wife Edith's has 'Lúthien.' Tolkien could not publish The Silmarillion in his lifetime, as it grew with him, so he would leave it to his son, Christopher, to edit the work from many manuscripts and bring his father's great vision to publishable form, so completing the literary achievement of a lifetime. This special edition presents anew this seminal first step towards mapping out the posthumous publishing of Middle-earth, and the beginning of an illustrious forty years and more than twenty books celebrating his father's legacy.

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. 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.Also included is a letter by J.R.R. Tolkien written in 1951 which provides a brilliant exposition of the earlier Ages, and almost 50 full-colour paintings by Ted Nasmith, including some which appear here for the first time. At the heart of the book is the story of the Silmarils. The Silmarils were crafted by Fëanor, the Elven King of the Noldor. These magical jewels contained the essence of the Two Trees of Valinor. Fëanor asked Galadriel, the princess of Noldor and his niece, for a few strands of hair to put in The Silmarils. She refused him. If you remember, she granted the request to Gimli in the Fellowship of the Ring. 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.

The Silmarils, beautiful as they were, were the cause of all the drama in the book. Morgoth stole the jewels and placed them in his crown. They would dictate the fate of numerous heroes for thousands of years. They are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the Elves made war upon him in his impenetrable fortress in Angband for the recovery of the Silmarils, three jewels containing the last remaining pure light of Valinor, seized by Morgoth and set in his iron crown. even tho the paper don’t agree with me on this… it was self mutilation!!! She has no idea how “attached”Oh woe-begotten spirit, fall now into dark oblivion, and forget for a while the dreadful doom of life." The Silmarillion, along with J.R.R. Tolkien's other works, forms an extensive, though incomplete, narrative that describes the universe of Eä in which are found the lands of Valinor, Beleriand, Númenor, and Middle-earth, within which The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place. 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.

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. A deluxe slipcased edition of the Silmarillion Illustrated edition – the first volume to include J.R.R. Tolkien’s own illustrations – this edition is a beautiful keepsake for ardent fans and collectors. 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. 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.For the first time ever, a very special edition of the forerunner to The Lord of the Rings, illustrated throughout in colour by J.R.R. Tolkien himself and with the complete text. 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. Y por supuesto, mención al estilo narrativo de Tolkien, que es muy delicado y meticuloso. La mejor forma para describirlo es como si este autor tuviera delante una lámpara hecha de cristales y dedicara todos sus esfuerzos a describir cada uno de sus cristales y la forma en que la luz juega con ellos, como son prismas de colores que van creándose en este baile, recreándose en cada uno de sus tonalidades y matices. O como si estuviera hablando de una hermosa cascada y cada uno de sus gotas de agua mereciera su plena y total atención. Hoy esto se ve perfectamente en los primeros capítulos, donde se crea la tierra y conocemos a los dioses. Están escritos con una belleza y una narrativa sin parangón, de una forma poéticamente sutil y preciosista que impacta y es imposible de definir de una manera que le haga justicia. Tanto énfasis en el detalle podría ser soporífero y pesado en cualquier otro autor. Pero en el caso de Tolkien la experiencia resulta de una belleza abrumadora y cantarina, otro motivo más para adorar esta lectura.

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