When I was struggling my way through Lord of the Rings, my friend helpfully told me, “The Simarillion is a bit dry and complicated. Read LotR first and see if you like it.”
Well, lo and behold, LotR turned out to be dry and complicated. I figured, if that was the easy read, there was no way I was going to be able to slog my way though the back story.
I got to be really curious about the prequel, though, and I decided to give the Simarillion a shot. I think I’m about halfway though right now, and it’s not as bad as I though. Mind you, I still can’t tell all those different types of elves apart. But it’s fairly interesting.
The way I approached the Sil was to pretend I was reading a text-book on the early history of Middle-Earth. So, yeah, it is dry and complicated, but it’s also interesting as hell.
Get Fonstad’s book, “Atlas of Middle-Earth” and keep it next to you as you read it. It’s what helped me come to grips with the material in Sil. Handy charts for differentiating the Vanyar, Noldor, and Teleri. Family trees, etc. Migration routes, realms, battles, it’s all in there. Even linguistic and geologic maps.
I’ve read LOTR a billion times (give or take a couple) but NEVER have I been able to even get half way through the Silmarillion. Good luck, I wish I had the will power to finish it but, to be honest, it’s dry and boring.
It took me multiple attempts across the course of close to twenty years to finally get through The Silmarillion.
It helps to go in with an understanding that it is not a novel; it’s a book of mythology. And it’s not much of a book since it’s an assembled pile of notes with different styles and structures all over the place. The creation myth at the beginning is also the weakest part of the book.
There’s no particular need to try to plough through all of the Silmarillion - it can be hard going that way. But the odd chapter now and then is mighty interesting. If you have the stamina, a quick-ish skim through to get an overview of the War of the Jewels may be helpful, but it will need quite a bit of going-over before you get all of it.
But stuff like, say, Fingolfin calling Morgoth out for a hand-to-hand fight and wounding him several times, to give you a feel for how bad-ass those early generation High Elves were, or the grandeur and sadness of the Battle of Unnumbered Tears… it’s worth a little slogging.
If you ever try again, skip forward to at least chapter 9. Maybe even start as late as 18 “Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin”. Do read it as myth and now story.
Yes! It is also worth mentioning the “The Children of Húrin” which is a fuller version of the Tolkien’s great tragedy. This reads better than most of the Silmarillion.
The Professor never would have finished it on his own sadly. He had effectively worked on it for nearly 60 years and would have worked on it another 20 if he had lived longer. The only way it would have been finished is if a publisher commission him to complete it back in the 50s and assigned a typist and assistant to keep him organized.
One of the best parts of The Lord of the Rings was the way Tolkien gives us small hints of the greater mythology of it all. There’s a sense of deep history that permeates throughout the work. It really gave LOTR a feeling of wonder. For me, reading the Silmarillion complemented this sense of wonder and mystery with a feeling of fulfillment and closure. At first I was hesitant to read it, I thought maybe it would ruin the feeling I get when I read LOTR, but I was wrong. Tolkien manages to give us just enough details in the Silmarillion to satisfy, but at the same time he keeps enough details from us to maintain, and even enhance that sense of wonder. It’s a book of history as much as a book of mysticism and mythology.
I really think any true Tolkien fan should make a serious effort to read The Silmarillion. I loved Hobbit and LOTR, but admit I found Sil very hard going the first time through - lots of strange names, unfamiliar places, impenetrable family trees and relationships, etc. The second time through, things fell into place better, and by the third time it all clicked and I could savor its poetry, mythos and grandeur. I’d say it’s well worth the time and synapses you’ll have to invest in it. Come to think of it, I’m probably about due to re-read it…
I’m currently up to the Fall of Whatsit. Thingy. Elvish-Kingdom-That’s-Impossible-To-Tell-Apart-From-All-The-Other-Elvish-Kingdoms. Er. It’s after Thingol (and what type of name is that?) dies. I think.
Also, for Og’s sake, why do all the people in a family have to have nearly identical names? It’s a good thing most of the Fin- elves are dead, because I honestly could not remember which is which, or how many of them there were, or which ones were more cursed and which ones were less cursed. And all those humans named Hath- and Hal-… gah!
Er. I am so not getting this. And when does Gandalf show up?
I love the trilogy, but have never been able to make it through The Simarillion. As your friend said, it’s just a bit too dry for me.
Even more shameful, I liked the trilogy. But after the movies I went back at liked the written trilogy like 10x more. Why? Just easier to keep everything straight with actors to attach names to.
Yes, this is shameful. hangs head
Glad you seem to be enjoying the Simarillion, if the trilogy still reads a bit dry I’d advocate heresy and see the films first.
That’s not shameful. Look, everyone has different tastes. Lord of the Rings is a genuinely genius book, but even so it’s not for everyone. It has a very distinctive style, and it doesn’t pull any punches to please the audience. It’s not a quick or easy book, and Silmarillion even less so.
Elvish Kingdom: That’s Doriath. Notable because its queen was an angel, not an Elf: Melian the Maia got the hots for Thingol (“Greycloak”, that’s what type of name it is, but originally known as Elwe) and was given leave to shack up with him as long as he lived. Of similar supernatural make-up to Morgoth, though a lower-ranking creature (Maia to his Vala) she had the power to keep his servants off her turf, though no more - but that was still enough to create the best-defended Grey-elf kingdom ever. Only when Thingol was murdered was Melian obliged to call it quits - she could co-rule Elves as a queen consort, but not in her sole name. Then her spell of protection crumbled and Morgoth sent the boys in.
Melian (and Thingol) are ancestors of Elrond, Arwen and Aragorn.
Gandalf has been around since before the world - he is another of the Maiar. But at present he is not called Gandalf and he will not come East of the Sea for a few thousand years; not until Numenor has been founded and fallen, and the Ring cut off Sauron’s hand. Then he and the other four Wizards will be sent in case Sauron rises again (as he will).