question

[Roca Wear]

what exactly is the silmarillion? is it like the history of lord of the rings or something?

[Tar-Ancalimë]

It's the story of the first age of Middle Earth --the LotR is set in the third age.

I highly recommend you read it, it's a fantastic piece of literature... but not before you read TLotR :grin:

[Roca Wear]

it talks about that fight in the beginning of the fellowship?

[Tar-Ancalimë]

yes... a tiny bit at the very end... maybe a couple of paragraphs... but that fight was in the second age

[Roca Wear]

:( dont they have any books on what happens in the second age?

[Tar-Ancalimë]

yes, there's a bit about it in the sil. There's a section on it in Unfinished Tales as well. There's info in the Appendices at the end of Return of the King. And lots of stuff in The History of Middle Earth.

Ultimately, the best place to start is TLotR itself. That has background for the second age and such that's really very interesting.

[Gwaihir]

Yup. But if you really like the books, Silmarillion is a book you just can't miss! I consider it as one of the best books ever written. Not many books picture beauty and sorrow so well.

[Rumil]

The title silmarillion refers to the three jewels - the silmarils and their turbulent and tragic history - excellent stuff - really epic.

[Roca Wear]

do they sell it at like barnes and nobles or something? lol

[Rumil]

I wouldn't have a clue - i guess to get the joke you gotta know the store...and i've never heard of 'em:)

[Roca Wear]

u never heard of barnes & nobles?

[Nessa]

They must not have Barnes and Nobles in London. ;)

I'd pretty much guarantee you could find The Silmarillion at Barnes and Nobles, Roca Wear. I bought my copy from B. Dalton, a smaller branch of B&N. :)

[roguefrog]

If not you can request them to order it for you, and they will. Thats how I got my copy. But deware, The Silmarillion, althougth a masterpiece in every sense of the word, is not a light read. You must be fairly dedicated and have a growing interest in Tolkiens world to successfully trudge through it.

[Ithielnor]

Like those above I would highly recommend it for any Tolkien fan. To my knoledge it is avalible at B&N, also Borders if you got one of those around.

A little more on the Sil:
It is divided into five parts Ainulindalë, Valaquenta, Quenta Silmarillion, Akallabeth, and Of The Rings of Power and the Third Age.
Ainulindalë tells of the creation of ME and the begining of Melkor's evil.
Valaquenta explanes the roles of the Valar and Maiar.
These first two sections are short and pretty straight forward.
The Quenta Silmarillion is the core of the book. Here is told the story of Valinor, the awakening of the first born (elves), how the Silmarills were made, the evils wrought by Melkor, the errors of the Eldar, The first apearence of men, and hints of things darker and deeper such as Ungoliont and Carcharoth. But woven throughout are the tales which are books in themselves; Beren and Luthian, Turin Turambar, Gondolin, Earedil the Mariner, and many others.
In the Akallabeth is told the tale of Numenor the Kings of which are decendents of Elros, brother of Elrond. Also the flight of Elendil and his two sons; Isildur and Anarion, and the bigining of Gondor.
The last part is just what it says. A story of the rings, all 20, and the last alliance.

Well that is my short summary of the Sil. Sorry I took so long. :blush:

[SindarinGirl]

Also included (and really very helpful) are a glossary (to cross reference the 5 names every person and place seem to accumulate), notes on pronunciation, family trees, maps and other little goodies.
I got a nice paperback copy at B&N for $14.00, Books A Million might also have it.

Nice summary Ithielnor! :thumbs:

[Roca Wear]

Originally posted by Ithielnor
Like those above I would highly recommend it for any Tolkien fan. To my knoledge it is avalible at B&N, also Borders if you got one of those around.

A little more on the Sil:
It is divided into five parts Ainulindalë, Valaquenta, Quenta Silmarillion, Akallabeth, and Of The Rings of Power and the Third Age.
Ainulindalë tells of the creation of ME and the begining of Melkor's evil.
Valaquenta explanes the roles of the Valar and Maiar.
These first two sections are short and pretty straight forward.
The Quenta Silmarillion is the core of the book. Here is told the story of Valinor, the awakening of the first born (elves), how the Silmarills were made, the evils wrought by Melkor, the errors of the Eldar, The first apearence of men, and hints of things darker and deeper such as Ungoliont and Carcharoth. But woven throughout are the tales which are books in themselves; Beren and Luthian, Turin Turambar, Gondolin, Earedil the Mariner, and many others.
In the Akallabeth is told the tale of Numenor the Kings of which are decendents of Elros, brother of Elrond. Also the flight of Elendil and his two sons; Isildur and Anarion, and the bigining of Gondor.
The last part is just what it says. A story of the rings, all 20, and the last alliance.

Well that is my short summary of the Sil. Sorry I took so long. :blush:

yea we have a borders over here :thumbs:

[Periantari Andruil]

wow..so many names... yes that book is next on my Tolkien reading list ;)
also are Unfinished Tales and Tolkien's biography ;)

[Lalaith]

What exactly is the Silmarillion?

Ah, I could be here all day propounding on the brilliance that is that book! It is, without a shadow of a doubt, my favourite Tolkien book... as to how it relates to LOTR? Well, I have always viewed it as being like the Old Testament - archaic language, alot of who begat whom, strife and war. It is truly brilliant !

If you are like me, and can't get enought of Elves, then this is the book for you. Any self-respecting bookshop should have it, and remember: take your time over it! It is well worth it! Multiple names, as has been mentioned, are confusing, but you get into it eventually... I adore the tale of Nirnaeth Arnoediad - the battle of Unnumbered Tears, and Feanor (I seem to be one of the few Feanor fans around the place!! :grin: ) You may notice that almost all of my MELI clones are First Age Elfies - simply because they rock, and their stories are sublime! ;)

A final word of warning - it is not a barrel of laughs. It is full of tragedy and heartache, but this simply goes to explain the sorrow of Elves that is evident in LOTR.

Now go! Read! Enjoy! :thumbs:

[Kenzie]

abot how long did it take you all to read it ???

[ImDaMom]

I've read the books years ago, and many times, but I found this is a good order- LOTR, UT, Sil. The Sil is the hardest to get thru, but the most rewarding. I have a minor in history, so this is typical reading, but it is not light, fun reading. But it IS the best source for the LOTR. What I found was cool was to read the 3 in the above order, and then go back and read UT AFTER Sil again. Sort of a cycle.....LOTR, UT, Sil, UT, LOTR, etc. (and watch the movie when the eye strain gets too much) :lol:

[Periantari Andruil]

wait, so you should read UT before Sil?

[Kenzie]

whats UT ???

[Mirkgirl]

UT is Unfinished Taled... you can find some informationa about it in this thread (http://warofthering.net/forums/vbulletin225/upload/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3298)

As I said there reading UT before the Silm isn't logical, even if that's rereading were talking about... but as you like it, every tolkien fan has their order of rereading... mine is The Silm, UT, TH, LotR... sort of chronological order... I like it even tho it has resulted me not having read the LotR properly in a long time... and it is the masterpiece after all...

[ImDaMom]

I think I enjoy Sil after UT or LOTR is that it is not an easy read, but finding jewels throughout the book of things that I sort of knew makes it a little more fun. IE- I think finding out about the origin of the ents was interesting, but KNOWING what an ent was made that part of Sil even better. And, having read UT and getting the full story of Turin made the Sil part a little easier to follow. But, Mirkgirl, as you said....we all have our own ways of entering Middle Earth. (by the way, if you really get into all the different animals and peoples of ME, read The Tolkien Beastiery. Sort of a dictionary of elves, dwarves, wargs, bats and all sorts of critters, with pictures.)

[Nerdanel]

I love the silmarillion too... (although i read it first in german) it was so sad. at some points i even cried (turin turambar is really tragic) i think the sil is my favorit book. and you're able to understand the sorrow of the elves in LOTR

[Elvenwanderer]

if this thread describes the Sil, why can't it be a sticky?
Many people seem to have the same question. "What is the Silmarrillion?".
I must have asked my dad 20 times before I actually "took the plunge" and read the book.
It was a little above me, but I wouldn't give up. All in all, it took me about a month (about 30 minutes of reading a day). Great book, easier to comprehend after you read it and think about it for a while.

[ImDaMom]

Finished the Sil today....now to re-read it to get some details down. What a history novel it is, and so much detail. Anyone who is a part of the JRR legacy MUST read it.