Lamron Literature: Middle Earth March II: The unattainable scope of The Silmarillion
“In this Music [the singing of the angels in harmony] the World was begun; for Iluvatar made visible the song of the Ainur, and they beheld it as a light in the darkness.”
~J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
J.R.R. Tolkien’s world is most recognized within the story of The Lord of the Rings, and while that has an easy explanation relating to the popularity and recognition of said trilogy, there would be no Lord of the Rings without the foundational stories found in Tolkien’s earlier mythology.
The Silmarillion begins at the creation of the universe and spans thousands, if not millions of years, all leading up to the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It covers everything from the explanation of why the sun and moon rise and set to how Sauron claimed his role as the Deceiver, and lays the basis for recurring themes like relationships between mortals and immortals. The book has also garnered somewhat of a reputation for covering such a massive amount of time and plots. Some revere it for the way it handles so many situations all at once; others say it’s too scattered to allow for any real development. Though I myself love the book, I understand the opposing side just as much.
First and foremost, if you haven’t read or enjoyed The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, this book isn’t for you just yet—getting used to Tolkien’s writing style must come first, and there is little space for that in The Silmarillion. Unlike his other books, there is no beginning section in this book in which all is well and the reader gets to explore and learn about the characters in a safe setting like The Shire. The Silmarillion launches right into it, and never really stops until the end. It’s a constant slew of names, locations, gods, elves, humans and animals, and falling behind can make or break the reader’s immersion.
That said, if you commit to learning and understanding the sheer enormity of what Tolkien has created, The Silmarillion is arguably more important than the stories we all know and love him for.
I read The Silmarillion over summer break last year. My strategy at the beginning was to read it like any other book, but by the time I hit chapter three or four I knew that wouldn’t cut it. So, I came up with a new strategy. If you are a lover of Tolkien’s Middle Earth but find yourself intimidated by reading what basically amounts to the Bible of his world, here are my reading tips:
Read each chapter first, before doing any external research or contextualization. Though you may find yourself lost, reading it first makes sure that you won’t have anything spoiled by summaries or by glossaries.
Watch a video on YouTube that covers what happened in just that chapter. Make sure you don’t get a video that describes the book in its entirety, as that ruins the fun of discovery.
Read the chapter again, now understanding what is happening. I know, the time it takes to do that can be tiresome, but trust me when I say you will not regret hearing and understanding the stories from Tolkien’s narrator rather than the summary.
There are sure to be other strategies online for reading this work. With The Silmarillion’s reputation comes an army of supporters ready to guide you through the plots and themes, and they’re committed to making something so important accessible.
Tolkien unfortunately did not live to see The Silmarillion published. His son, Christopher, took up the mantle in an effort to preserve his father’s works, something that he continued to do until the end of his life. With all this effort put into these stories, I find it impossible to not be interested in discovering more about this world.
With Amazon’s Rings of Power show coming later this year, it is important now more than ever to understand Tolkien’s vision. There is more to Middle Earth than meets the eye.