The Silmarillion. Tolkien, J. R. R. ; edited by Christopher Tolkien. Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1977.
As a huge Lord of the Rings fan (I even have a Gandalf tattoo to prove it!), one of my resolutions for this year was to take on The Silmarillion, which J.R.R. Tolkien considered the most important of his works. The Lord of the Rings is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, high fantasy series of all time and The Silmarillion sets the stage for this and all his other writings.
The Silmarillion is a fictional historical account that spans many years, covering Middle Earth’s beginning and history. For a historical narrative that covers so much, it was not as boring as I thought it might be! While I didn’t anticipate so many of the stories being so dark and sad, much more so than Lord of the Rings, there were plenty of beautiful, heroic moments too.
It starts out telling the story of the creation of Middle Earth and the creation of the elves by the “Valar” which are like angels or gods. Later on, it focuses more on the storyline of elves and men and how the precious gems called the Silmaril so easily corrupts their hearts. It’s interesting to note that it follows elves and men because they’re the ones who are powerful and would be deemed the most “significant” in Middle Earth. That just made the story of The Lord of the Rings more powerful to me because, in that instance, the world was saved by hobbits who historically would’ve been overlooked and deemed insignificant.
Tolkien’s writing is beautiful, hard to follow at times, yes, but worth the effort. I found the last half easier than the first. I think it took me that long to start understanding the different terms and who everyone was. That’s the hardest part. It was exciting towards the end to start reading about things that happen in the Rings of Power show and the lead up to Lord of the Rings series.
If you’re a big Lord of the Rings or Rings of Power fan, you should consider trying out The Silmarillion! I used the “Tea with Tolkien” free study guide and found it immensely helpful. I can’t wait to reread it someday because I know my second reading will be even more rich than the first.
Abby Van Wingerden is a Circulation Assistant at Mebane Public Library. She can be reached at avanwingerden@alamancelibraries.org.