The Silmarillion really grew on me. I found it very heavy going at first, but some of the moments are so beautiful. Luthien is just such an amazing character. But I have a lot of problems keeping who's who straight - all those weird names kind of blend together in my noun-challenged brain.
And I shudder at the thought of the moon as a fortress of Morgoth. Sometimes Tolkien did overthink things.
Luthien is so very amazing! I love so much that Tolkien saw himself as Beren and his wife as Luthien, it's such a romantic thing. But yes, I DO wish he'd provided some more distinct names for family members!
It's strange for me in hindsitght that I had less problem reading the Silmarillion when I was younger than I had with reading Lord of the Rings. But I grew up hearing legends and fairtales in pretty formal stlye. The details in Lord of the Rings were much more complicated for me sometimes. I never got the names and the family relations straight though...
But oh, the stories! They're beautiful on their own, but part of what's so amazing about them is the depth and richness they give to the rest of Tolkien's work.
That is so true and also what's so amazing about all the work Tolkien did.
But I grew up hearing legends and fairytales in pretty formal style.
I wonder if the fact that I adored reading the King James Bible helped me get through some of it! The rhythm of it is very similar...
The way themes echo through Tolkien's work, like fainter and fainter ripples (Luthien and Beren become Aragorn and Arwen; the silmarils become the Arkenstone, etc.) is always so interesting. Some of it is that he didn't expect the Silmarillion to get published, but it ends up having this beautiful layered feeling, how each age echos the past...
You know, it's funny you should say that about the Council of Elrond - when I first read the books it was my favorite chapter XD
And in my copy of the book, the spine is cracked at the family trees, because I never did fully grasp the difference between
Mine was cracked at the linguistic insert, the little dictionary they gave - when I found a new name, I immediately wanted to know what it meant, and sometimes I'd sit and just read and re-read that bit.
And wow, I'm definitely relieved that we didn't get Moon-Base Morgoth!
You know, it's funny you should say that about the Council of Elrond - when I first read the books it was my favorite chapter XD
*grin* I don't remember how old I was when I read it, but the idea of a world that had that level of depth and history utterly staggered me, I couldn't take it in! Now I adore it, then I was like "But I want more hobbits!"
Oh man, the language stuff at the end, the roots and the suffixes, mmmm. I had page after page of elvish names written down...
Yes, yes, the lovely, lovely, beautiful, wonderful language! It's so beautiful and pretty and... *swoons*
I never did fully grasp the difference between Maglor and Maedhros and Maeglin or Finrod and Fingon and Fingolfin.
OMG, it took me years before I could tell the difference between Finrod and Fingon without looking it up, and even then it was only because I started to read Silmarillion fanfic... Why so many names beginning with 'F' and 'M'!!!
Or, to tie into my essay on Thorin, if you know what Gondolin was and what it means to the elves, then the moment when Thorin lifts Orcrist and Gandalf says it was "forged in Gondolin before the Fall" will give you an extra shiver. And if you know what dwarves did to Thingol, king of the Sindarin elves, then the fact that Thranduil allows Orcrist--a sword probably wielded by Ecthelion, one of the greatest of elf-lords; a sword that probably slew a balrog--to be buried along with Thorin is an absolutely staggering show of respect.YEEEEEES. It just makes everything in LOTR and The
( ... )
I STILL am having problems with Finrod and Fingon, lol!
And yes, all the History of Middle-Earth books! They are... not the easiest books to read, but to see how the world of Middle-Earth developed, and all the lovely things that didn't make it into the Silmarillion... as well as all of those strange things like Morgoth moon base!
The image of Tolkien sitting and fretting because it's unrealistic that plants would grow with only starlight and that the elves should know correct cosmology is so sweet in some ways! I understand what he means--these aren't actually myths, they're a history, and so science should still apply--but that's certainly not what most of us are thinking when we read the Silmarillion...
I finally could only get through the series by skipping that chapter entirely. So it's odd that the Silmarillion--which is basically pure distilled essence of Council of Elrond in book form--is a book I love so passionately. And yet I do!
:lol You know, I'm really glad you managed to get through that chapter (even though by skipping it :D). Othervise we wouldn't probably have all the awesome fics with Bilbo, Thorin, Fíli and Kíli (<33) in them. And it would be a shame! :)
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And I shudder at the thought of the moon as a fortress of Morgoth. Sometimes Tolkien did overthink things.
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But oh, the stories! They're beautiful on their own, but part of what's so amazing about them is the depth and richness they give to the rest of Tolkien's work.
That is so true and also what's so amazing about all the work Tolkien did.
Reply
I wonder if the fact that I adored reading the King James Bible helped me get through some of it! The rhythm of it is very similar...
The way themes echo through Tolkien's work, like fainter and fainter ripples (Luthien and Beren become Aragorn and Arwen; the silmarils become the Arkenstone, etc.) is always so interesting. Some of it is that he didn't expect the Silmarillion to get published, but it ends up having this beautiful layered feeling, how each age echos the past...
Reply
And in my copy of the book, the spine is cracked at the family trees, because I never did fully grasp the difference between
Mine was cracked at the linguistic insert, the little dictionary they gave - when I found a new name, I immediately wanted to know what it meant, and sometimes I'd sit and just read and re-read that bit.
And wow, I'm definitely relieved that we didn't get Moon-Base Morgoth!
Reply
*grin* I don't remember how old I was when I read it, but the idea of a world that had that level of depth and history utterly staggered me, I couldn't take it in! Now I adore it, then I was like "But I want more hobbits!"
Oh man, the language stuff at the end, the roots and the suffixes, mmmm. I had page after page of elvish names written down...
Reply
Yes, yes, the lovely, lovely, beautiful, wonderful language! It's so beautiful and pretty and... *swoons*
I never did fully grasp the difference between Maglor and Maedhros and Maeglin or Finrod and Fingon and Fingolfin.
OMG, it took me years before I could tell the difference between Finrod and Fingon without looking it up, and even then it was only because I started to read Silmarillion fanfic... Why so many names beginning with 'F' and 'M'!!!
Or, to tie into my essay on Thorin, if you know what Gondolin was and what it means to the elves, then the moment when Thorin lifts Orcrist and Gandalf says it was "forged in Gondolin before the Fall" will give you an extra shiver. And if you know what dwarves did to Thingol, king of the Sindarin elves, then the fact that Thranduil allows Orcrist--a sword probably wielded by Ecthelion, one of the greatest of elf-lords; a sword that probably slew a balrog--to be buried along with Thorin is an absolutely staggering show of respect.YEEEEEES. It just makes everything in LOTR and The ( ... )
Reply
And yes, all the History of Middle-Earth books! They are... not the easiest books to read, but to see how the world of Middle-Earth developed, and all the lovely things that didn't make it into the Silmarillion... as well as all of those strange things like Morgoth moon base!
The image of Tolkien sitting and fretting because it's unrealistic that plants would grow with only starlight and that the elves should know correct cosmology is so sweet in some ways! I understand what he means--these aren't actually myths, they're a history, and so science should still apply--but that's certainly not what most of us are thinking when we read the Silmarillion...
Reply
:lol You know, I'm really glad you managed to get through that chapter (even though by skipping it :D). Othervise we wouldn't probably have all the awesome fics with Bilbo, Thorin, Fíli and Kíli (<33) in them. And it would be a shame! :)
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