The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion is a compilation of interrelated epic fantasy stories created by British writer JRR Tolkien. It was written over several decades and published posthumously in 1977 by the author's son, Christopher Tolkien. The title refers to the Silmarils, three beautiful jewels whose history is told in the book, which are related to other events that are narrated throughout it.

The work consists of five parts that describe and relate the emergence of the territories and the different creatures that make up the vast universe that the writer created for The Hobbit y The Lord of the Ringsas well as struggles for power between the forces of good and evil. The last of these five parts, entitled The History of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, is directly related to the events narrated in the two novels mentioned. These works are among the best book sagas in the world.

A late post from a start

Your post came once The Lord of the Rings it had already achieved great popularity worldwide. Many readers and critics consider it Tolkien's most complex work as it contains the mythologies and stories that underpin the entire fictional world created by the writer.

About the Author

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, better known as JRR Tolkien, was a Bloemfontein-born British philologist, professor and writer (nowadays South African territory) in 1892. During his childhood he settled in Birmingham, England, with his mother and sister. He was an outstanding specialist in philology and English language, and a student of various languages.

His experience as a British officer in World War I, his fervor towards the Catholic religion, his interest in European philosophy and mythologies, as well as his vast knowledge of linguistics influenced and enriched his fantasy work. He achieved world fame in the years following the publication of The Lord of the Rings, in the 1950s.

In addition to this novel, he is the author of Rover random, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, The history of Kullervo, Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, History of Middle Earth and other stories and poems. He was also a professor at the University of Oxford and Merton College.

He married Edith Mary Bratt and they had four children together. He died in Bournemouth, England, in 1973., leaving part of his work unfinished. This was assembled, edited, and published in later years by his third son Christopher John Reuel Tolkien.

The creation of Arda, its mythologies and the fight of good against evil

The Silmarillion stages the creation of the universe named Eä, by the supreme god Ilúvatar, also called Eru. This god also created the Ainur, other deities that shaped Arda, the world inhabited by elves, men and the rest of the creatures.

During the creation of Arda, one of the Ainur, named Melkor, began to corrupt the works and other deities created by Eru, thus unleashing the opposition between good and evil. This dichotomy is one of the main themes of all of Tolkien's literature.

In the central and densest part of The Silmarillion it is narrated how, during the First Age, a powerful elf king of the Noldor clan named Fëanor, creates the Silmarils, three precious gems that contained the light of the world. The Silmarils were stolen by Melkor unleashing a series of events and fights involving elves, men, dwarves, gods, etc.

Towards the end of the book the circumstances of the creation and loss of the unique ring by Sauron are related, a deity full of evil and former ally of Melkor. Sauron deceived the elves and managed to forge the object that represents the central argument of The Lord of the rings, thus splicing the facts of The Silmarillion with those in this novel. For lovers of literature, this book is a must read, it is one of the best fantasy works in human history.

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The Silmarillion is divided into five parts

• Ainulindale.
• Valaquenta.
• Fifth Silmarillion.
• Akallabêth.
• The History of the Rings of Power and the Third Age.

These parts are in turn made up of various stories among which stand out "The story of Beren and Lúthien", "Of the journey of Eärendil and the War of Wrath", "The music of the Ainur", "The fall of Gondolin "," The sons of Húrin ", among others.

Development of the plot and narrative style

Omniscient and distant storyteller

As in most of the narratives written by Tolkien, in The Silmarillion we meet an omniscient narrator that little by little, and using profuse descriptions, he reveals to the reader situations, facts, characters, places and motivations.

However, compared to his most popular novels, The Hobbit y The Lord of the Rings, the tone of the narration is more serious and distant, which contrasts with the grandiloquence of the events that are related.

A lifetime's work

The Silmarillion It is made up of interconnected stories, which were written at different times in the life of its author. He began sketching the work in the late 1910s, after being discharged from the British Army due to illness in World War I. He traced, rewritten, and edited both stories and characters at intervals until the 1960s.

This fact resulted in some parts of the book being more fully narrated and described than others., also in that there are stories elaborated in a more philosophical and complex tone. In addition there are some small discrepancies in relation to secondary characters that appear at different moments of The Silmarillion y The Lord of the rings.

Christopher Tolkien compiled, edited, and completed his father's stories and sketches for The Silmarillion (and also from other books on the cosmogony of Eä and Middle-earth), of course, with the help of Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay. Thus ended the long and intricate creative process of the work.

However, all These circumstances do not detract from the quality and depth of The Silmarillion as a founding book of the fantastic world created by Tolkien. It is, in any case, a kind of timeless bible for readers and fans of the British writer's work, as well as fantasy literature in general.

References to various mythologies and classical literature

The inspiration of Eä together with all its deities and characters we can find it in Norse, Celtic and Greek mythologyas well as in ancient Finnish and Anglo-Germanic epics and tales. These references can be found both in the main characters and in the different dialects and vocabularies devised by Tolkien for the different clans and races.

It is also reminiscent of the Judeo-Christian bible in its structure and, it could be argued, in the opposition between Eru and Melkor.. The latter is a kind of Lucifer originating from the choir of the supreme god and corrupted by his desire to reign.

It also refers to classics of literature, for example Shakespeare. The story of Beren and Lúthien It is inspired by the Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen, and also contains elements that resemble Romeo AND Juliet. In turn inspired the love story of Aragorn and Arwen, characters from The Lord of the Rings.

Characters

Eru or Ilúvatar

He is the supreme god and creator of the Ainur, whom he forged from his thought. It has no physical form or features that can be described. He also created Eä, the universe. The rest of things were not shaped directly by him, but by the deities he created. It is a clear allusion to the father god of the Judeo-Christian religion.

Melkor or Morgoth

It is the most powerful deity created by Eru. It was the dissonant voice in the choir of the Ainur established by the supreme god and is the main antagonist for most of The Silmarillion.

During the creation of Arda, he ambitioned to reign above all else as the Dark Lord. He generated various confrontations and was chained. Later he stole the Silmarils, forged by the elf Fëanor, and unleashed countless misfortunes. He is the father of all evil, which persists in the world even after his death.

Feanor

He is a prince and later elf king of the Noldor clan.. He was initially influenced by Melkor and sentenced to 12 years in exile for defying his brother.

He is extremely intelligent and an outstanding goldsmith. He forged the Silmarils from the light of the Valinor trees, when the spider Ungoliant destroyed the latter. When the Silmarils were stolen, he vowed to take them back and give his life if necessary.

Ungoliant

It is a giant and monstrous spider, always hungry for light, who teams up with Melkor. Along with it, he poisoned and destroyed the two trees of Valinor, Telperion and Laurelin, which were the source of light for the world before the sun and moon existed. Later he separated from Melkor, as a result of his greed for the Silmarils, and spawned a clan of fearsome spiders that poisoned various territories.

Sauron

He is the most powerful of Melkor's servants and inherits his lust for power and to be called the Dark Lord. when this is exiled and dead. He is also one of the Ainur. He can shapeshift at will, an ability he uses to fool elves and many other creatures. He is also a powerful necromancer and blacksmith. He incited the creation of the rings of power by the elves and forged the unique ring on Mount Doom.