The Silmarillion

Product Information

Might also be handy if one is into LARPG and wants to impress the hot elves with nerdiness so concentrated that it takes control over the brain applying it, whispering to the mind about seductive levels of fandom indistinguishable from complete loss of perception of reality. 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. 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. There are also a lot of echoes of other myths and legends, and of deeds made familiar through The Lord of the Rings. There's definitely a sense that life is circular, and history often repeats.

Well I've thought about that. I'm not going to review the material itself, or I'd just end up rewriting the book. But what I can say about this is that reading the Silmarillion, although incredibly challenging to keep up with all the names, battles and the second names Tolkien gives to characters and battles ("It was known as X in the tongue of the Elves, but Y in the tongues of men, but the dwarves called it Z" - if you know you know), is a fantastic experience in terms of what I'd like to call a taste of Tolkien. There are so many stories squished into this epic that just as you get invested into one, a new one starts. But if you find a story that resonates with you, there is a small possibility that Christopher Tolkien has adapted this in a more narrative and expanded form. Case in point - The Fall of Gondolin, Beren and Lúthien, The Children of Húrin or The Fall of Númenor: and Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-earth. It is a likelihood, considering the Fall of Numenor was published after Christopher's death, that the Tolkien estate will continue to find writers to expand upon the genius material that Tolkien has given to us. So if you want a taste of Tolkien, read the Silmarillion and choose from there. Shall we mourn here deedless forever a shadow-folk mist-haunting dropping vain tears in the thankless sea?” The book also includes several shorter works: the Ainulindalë, a myth of the Creation, and the Valaquenta, in which the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. The Alkallb?th recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age, and Of the Rings of Power tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age, as narrated in The Lord of the Rings. En esto creo que también tiene mucho que ver el transfondo social, histórico y moral del propio Tolkien, del cual toda su obra es también deudora, bebiendo ampliamente de estas circunstancias. Nada del otro mundo, estos contextos influyen, para bien o para mal, en todos los escritores. La gracia está en ver en cómo lo hace. En el caso de Tolkien no solo vemos una historia que habla sobre la humanidad. También podemos comprobar la forma en que la Primera Guerra Mundial influyó en él, ya que de joven estuvo en el frente (Por cierto, hay un libro que habla de las experiencias en este conflicto junto a las de su amigo C. S. Lewis, creador de “Las Crónicas de Narnia”, y de como les influyo a ambos en sus celebres obras. Libro que tengo, desde hace mucho, ganas de leer también, como no). El sinsentido de la guerra y la capacidad inherente de las personas para realizarla a sangre fría, y para matar a sus semejantes es algo muy presente en todo este libro de una forma descorazonadora. Otro aspecto que también me ha parecido muy interesante es la preocupación del escritor por la ecología y el medio ambiente, la forma en que habla de cómo la industrialización y la falta de cuidado están destrozando los espacios naturales y la tierra. Ideas muy avanzadas para la época en que Tolkien vivió y que demuestran la gran sensibilidad y perspicacia de este autor. 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.This deluxe slipcased edition contains the complete text, which is printed in two colours and features, for the very first time, more than 50 colour paintings, illustrations and designs drawn by J.R.R. Tolkien himself as he composed this epic work. From here we have a pantheistic legendarium of the Valar (the Ainur who stayed) and of their conflict with Melkor and of the coming of the elves and of men. One of the Ainu formed the dwarves and had to petition Eru for this transgression. Notice how I did not say “best”. That was completely intentional. I do not believe it is the best book ever written, even though I know others think so, and I understand their opinions. I also know people who have given up on reading this book, or been baffled by the thought of even attempting it. And I understand them too. This is not the most exciting fantasy book you’ll find. But I stand by it being the most impressive one. This just ended up being so rewarding to read and I'm really glad for that. It's definitely reignited my love for this world, which never dies but does sleep from time to time as I immerse myself in other worlds.

The world Tolkien created is absolutely extraordinary, without a doubt. Unfortunately The Silmarillion is written as a long history or mythology of biblical proportions. Name after name, battle after battle, son after son. It was hard to follow. 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.The Silmarillion gives a clear and comprehensive history of the mythological world Tolkien created to set his Lord of Rings trilogy. In five parts, he describes the world of which Middle Earth is a part, the spirits who rule the world (who the Men called gods), the making of Elves, Men, and Dwarfs, and the events that took place in the world, especially on Middle Earth from the First Age to the Third Age. In short, The Silmarillion can be safely described as a forerunner to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

That´s how worldbuilding has to be done the ultimate overachiever way. The only true one, the writing a life long on it mode, the one narrative style to rule them all. If you're expecting something like The Hobbit (or even LotR), this will be a surprise - but an enriching one, I hope.

Y es que la influencia de lo religioso y de la Biblia es innegable en este computo de leyendas al igual que la de otras mitologías como la nórdica. Pero creo que una de las cosas más interesantes en Tolkien es la forma en que, de alguna manera, humaniza a sus seres más poderosos. Sus errores o los pecados que cometen no se deben tanto a un error de cálculos o a que algo más poderoso que se interponga en sus planes (que también) como a la forma en que caen en algunos de los defectos más intrínsicamente humanos. Porque los dioses en Tolkien tienen sus propias personalidades, perfectamente diferenciadas de las del resto. Los elfos, a los que tan sabios y poderosos tenemos en nuestras cabezas, fácilmente podrían ser humanos, ya que se equivocan muchas veces y son presas del odio y las ambiciones humanas como cualquier otro de los terceros hijos. Y también son capaces de conocer el amor y la amistad, y de valorarlos en su justa medida. Los magos, enviados para proteger a la humanidad de la llegada de la oscuridad, pueden acabar siendo partícipes de la misma. Los héroes no son infalibles. Hay en todo esto algo más grande que todos estos personajes, un destino que les mueve a actuar y les supera, pero que aún así les de margen para ser ellos mismos, un libre albedrío que les hace profundamente cercanos para el lector.

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. I won’t be reviewing each story in this book, there are way too many of them and I genuinely think a lot of Tolkienist can do a much better job in explaining the greatness of this book. Instead, I’ll say this. The First Age of Middle-Earth makes the event of the Third Age (events in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) looks like a normal skirmish. There were so many incredible and epic battle waged; tons of tragedy and loss; unmeasurable evil of Morgoth that makes Sauron looks like a brat. Out of all the stories included in this book, there were two that stands out the most to me. One is obviously the story of Turin Turambar that has already been told in full details on The Children of Hurin. I have done a full review on this story but to summarize it, I absolutely loved it and I have no doubt it will be even better upon a reread one day. 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. Actually, I am surprised at the low grade this has here on Goodreads. The only explanation I have for it is the fact that a lot of readers search for instant gratification these days. Sad really. It is true though that if you want to read this Tolkien epic, you need patience and attention. But it is soooooo worth it! The events of The Silmarillionhave a power and a symbolism all of their own, while also affording readers a deeper understanding of the later adventures of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. At the time of Tolkien’s death, in 1973, The Silmarillionremained unpublished. Tolkien’s son Christopher took on the momentous task of preparing a text from the masses of material to hand, with the first edition appearing in 1977.The Silmarillion was not an easy read and the first half of the book was completely not fun at all to read. Due to the nature of writing style, there were also a lot of events that could’ve worked so much better rather than making me feel so distant. However, this book clearly shows Tolkien’s capability as a pioneer in fantasy world-building. I didn’t even know how rich the lore and history behind Middle-Earth was until I’ve read this one. I highly recommend this book for patient readers and obviously, fans of Tolkien. If you’re not a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, I really think that it’s not mandatory for you to push through this book if it’s not working for you. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of great scenes that really shows Tolkien's imagination at its highest level. But overall, I think I'm left wanting more out of the stories than feeling completely satisfied. 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.