Book - The Silmarillion (part 1) : the Silmarillion

Book – The Silmarillion

Author: J.R.R Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien 

Score: 10/10

Year : 1979 (original) ; 1999 (this paperback)

Publisher: HarperCollins

ISBN 978-0-261-10273-6

Pages 448

Language: English (and invented too) 

To the second part of this book review, click here 

Last year, I read the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) and a portion of the Tolkien' reader. Since then, I read many other books, and have come to a point I would need to start the Tolkien reader from scratch - because I had left it right in the middle of a story... before I'd forgotten about it and had concentrated reading mental health and psychology books, and more recently, the Harry Potter book series. 

I now take a small break from this later series, and decided to read another important piece of work by Tolkien : The Silmarillion, alluded to and discussed by many, I wanted to avoid accidentally reading spoilers.


As it was an unfinished novel by the time of JRR's death, his son Christopher Tolkien (=C.T.) had the task of organizing his father's various notes into a logical, readable novel, because he knew of his father's life-long wishes to publish this part of his imagined mythology. 

My particular edition starts with two forewords C. T. wrote ; the first, in 1977, followed by the second, from 1999. In them, he explains the purposes and a bit of the process he had to undertake for this publication and I think it is important to thank his endeavors to bring forth his father's unpublished works, making them available to the world. 

Indeed, they expand on the myths told in the Hobbit & LOTR in such a way that we can peer into Tolkien's creativity, imagination and myths with more details, background stories and plots - and I don't forget his particularly poetic and powerful writing style. 

Also, LOTR had been intended as a 1-volume story, and the Silmarillion was supposed to be its companion. However, editors in 1954-55 had thought this project unrealistic and LOTR was at first released as 3 volumes. 

The Silmarillion, as it turned out, remained a work in progress for quite some time, which is why it was released posthumously - since JRR Tolkien had kept putting it off for a later time, always tweaking it. 

Just after the 2 forewords, the book proposes a 20-page long letter that JRR had sent to his editor, in which he tells of his writing process and gives an overview of the story. To avoid spoilers, I decided not to read this until I am done with the rest of the book. 

• The Silmarillion as a book offers not one but five fictional, mythological tales : 

Ainulindalë ; Valaquenta ; and Quenta Silmarillion, or Silmarillion proper are 3 connected stories, to be read in that order.

As C.T. points out, however, the last 2 are totally separate and to be read as independent tales; they are : Akallabêth ; Of the rings of power. 

All 5 are included as to JRR's explicit intention, in spite of this slight division that must be made in reading. 

• Ainulindalë, the music of the Ainur has all the shape of a creation myth ; it starts, far before the Hobbit etc, in the First Era ; with Eru, the One, who made the first Ainur. From his created creatures comes music, first in harmony, then in discord. The 12 pages unfold, sometimes with a bit of old English words such as Thou, Thee (etc), which had slowed me a tad bit because I had to decipher some of them in my mind before proceeding forward. 

This tiny hurdle aside, this first tale made me thing of the Dark Crystal, not necessarily in shape or content, but in certain similarities - and this means a compliment to all involved (Tolkien/ Henson/Odell). 

At first, the writing style is somewhat less fluent than the Hobbit/LOTR, and ressembles in its flow to a stream of consciousness à-la-Virginia Woolf - not a flaw or quality in itself, but just a statement of what is (each person may draw their own conclusions based on their own likes). 

As I do enjoy Woolf, and mythology, and Tolkien, this is quite pleasant and retains the ambitious poetic narrative form I grew to like and expect from JRR. 

• Valaquenta serves as a bridge between Ailunindalë and the Quenta Silmarillion. It tells of the next step after the beings from the previous period have come to Arda (Earth) and starts shaping the various names, relationships and roles each held at the time - and this is where certain given names become quite familiar to the Lord of the Rings readers, as we get acquainted with each name. No real events are told in details here, but the background to the Silmarillion itself and therefore to the Hobbit/LOTR. This part is also 12 pages long. 

• Quenta Silmarillion is the core of the story ; it is divided into 24 chapters and continues from the distant un-dated past told in the previous two segments, and develops quickly into the history of the various races and peoples that would inhabit Middle Earth for long eons - all the way to the tales in the Hobbit & Lord of the Rings, and beyond. It tells of their origines, and events that took place. It is here that the writing style picks up speed and flow - and you'll start recognizing all the familiar names as they show up in droves. 

In this part, the poetic nature of JRR's writings is far more present than the 2 mini-prequels to the Quenta Silmarillion. 

As we know, JRR infused his mythos with much strife, wars and ecological messages, just as much as stories of obsessive greed toward one or several objects, friendships, enmities and betrayals - all these are also present here, and I have enjoyed reading all this first part of the book (which is its majority). 

As he was quite preoccupied with war and death, his juxtaposed in his legendarium the contrast between naturally immortal beings (that can be slain in war but not out of old age), and mortal races that grow old, wither and die. This duality, as well as his other main themes, are quite present in the Silmarillion and serve as a mythological legend with many chapters, in the form of an epic saga. 

I especially loved the ending, leaving an open door to more stories.

I shall post another entry for the rest, since, as I said, the last 2 fictional works aren't related. 

Notes : 

• Tolkien was a linguist, and as such had invented various languages for the different races in his myths. I suggest reading pages 373-374 for notes on pronunciation as often as needed. 
• Some of the characters received more detailed tales in other Tolkien novels. This wiki page will send you to the relevant information. 

The table of contents for this book is as follows :
V Forward (from 1977) 
VIII Preface to the second edition (1999)
X-XXIX From a letter by JRR Tolkien (to his editor. I stopped reading when it became clear I might get spoilers) 

Silmarillion : 

1 Ailunindalë 
13 Valaquenta 
27-306 Quenta Silmarillion (some chapters are quite long, though most are about a dozen pages)

To which are appended - and that I shall read another time : 

307-338 Akallabêth 
339-365  Of the rings of power
367-371 genealogy trees for the main Houses
373-429 Index. it's rather extensive, yet, it cannot be complete because of the scope of the mythological tales
430-443 Appendice 
a few maps conclude the book