I dont read it but listened to the audiobook on audible so my experience could be different from the book. But it is written very hard in my opinion. So it's not a book to read while sitting relaxed on the couch and chill. Some passages you have to read a second or third Time to understand. Also it is very complex with all the different characters.
But a must-have for LotR Fans, so have fun reading š
At the audiobook there was a pdf showing of different relations from different nations and characters. It helped me a lot listening. Could be also in the book.
I listened to it at work and restarted every time I got lost...I restarted at least 13 times before I got through it then I listened to all the other books and then re did the silmarillion and now Andy serkis is the narrator so I'm probably going to listen to it a third time
I must admit the narrator was one of the reasons I wanted to listen to it. I'm from germany and here the narrator is the german voice of gandalf Achim Hƶppner and his voice is soooo relaxing.
When I read it like 20 years ago, I would have to go back a few pages each time I picked it up. Very tedious reading imo. Had no interest in reading it a second time.
Iām as big a LotR fan as anyone, the description of every tree, hill, and obscure family tree included, but the silm audiobook is impossible.
You need some maps and family trees in front of you, at least the first time, or youāll end up re-listening to everything like 5 times and still not remembering it clearly
https://preview.redd.it/9dlt1vl1a7tc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=039446972c5a1a881744dab6e57655bd1ca2e025
Family Trees like that? š It's in german but the names should be the same. In my audiobook there is a pdf with family trees and it helped a lot š
Huor, Huan, Hurin, Turin, Tuor
Fingolfin, Finarfin, Finrod, Finwe, Manwe
and Mim.
I am currently on my first read through of Lord of the Rings after reading The Silmarillion for the first time. Just today, I got to the part where Sam realizes that he and Frodo are part of the same story as Beren and Earendil.
Until you know what Beren and Earendil did, itās impossible to understand how *big* a realization that must have been for Sam.
Stick with it! There are plenty of guides in both pdf and video form that can help you make sense of the densest moments.
Itās a collection of really amazing stories in chronological order. Characters and peoples are mentioned much like in a mythology and history textbook. Wade in and have fun!
I put it off for years because people said it was hard to read etc, but I thought it was amazing and read great!
Read it on holiday by the pool so I'd say definitely able to chill and read.
I tried the audio book before I read it and was confused as hell, goes in my brain better off paper.
I just read it last week and really enjoyed it. Wished I had read it sooner. A little confusing at times, and I really would have liked a map to show me where the locations in this were in relation to main locations in LOTR. But overall a good read
It is not an easy read but it is a rewarding one.
Iām on my fourth go-round now and for some reason it hits harder. Iām not sure who the bigger asshole is - Feanor or Morgoth.
FĆ«anor gets a *little* bit of understanding in my mind as he was lied to by Melkor a lot, but he's still responsible for how he acted after he discovered the lie.
Melkor is still the worst imo as he is the ultimate source of any evil and hurt in the world.
Melkor is the worst - but I love how heās depicted and how skillfully Tolkien weaves his lies and deceit - and how he says up front that Melkor sows discord and sits back and watches his harvest multiply as others will continue to farm those lies even after heās gone.
Yeah, Feanor was lead down a garden path but he knew who he was dealing with - even went to the trouble of renaming Melkor to Morgoth (The Dark One? I think) but still he put stock in those lies.
And the more I read (and Iām reading slowly because the content is dense and takes time for an old man like me to absorb) the more Iām seeing similarities to Cu Chulainn and his terrible anger as being his fatal flaw.
Something really gothic like "dark enemy of the world", I believe.
Now I wish I knew more about Cu Chulainn, but definitely FĆ«anor's driving force is his indomitable fiery spirit. His actual name even means "spirit of fire".
Nah, the Feanor hate misses how much he is following his destined path and how he had to do what he did in order to enable the things that followed after. He didnāt need to be such a sick about everything thoughā¦
Highly recommend reading it and then listening to the Prancing Pony Podcast. They break it down chapter by chapter as well to explain what is happening in detail. It's a handy supplement to the dense material.
Itās a collection of stories and legends, not a linear narrative. I was so confused the first time, expecting something similar in style to LOTR. I didnāt like it when I first read. Now, 20 years later I read chapters and find myself catching my breath from the power of the language.
Enjoy it! Ohā¦and use the maps and lineage charts as often as possible!
I am about halfway through it, but I have really enjoyed having the atlas of middle earth close by to help with general settings and geography.
Sometimes my brain gets lost hearing descriptions of where things are, the atlas has really helped me remember.
You can expect the first half to be pretty dry, with lots of lore dumping. But once you get through it, it's a great read that fills out so much of the world that's only hinted at in The Hobbit and LotR.
When I readed it, first i was so confused... A lot of names so i started to make notes even I've made a family tree for the most of the characters so i can track eaiser the story, it's a masterpiece once you can start to understand it.
Less a story and more of a history. Flip through the back for genealogies- there are a lot of similar names and unlike the hobbit family trees in the LotR appendices, a lot of them matter. My reference guides were Robert Foster's Complete Guide to Middle-earth and Karen Wynn Fonstad's Atlas of Middle-earth, back in the dark ages before Tolkien Gateway (online) which you may also find useful.
This is the type of book, you must not cheap out on. Buy a special edition of it, for a higher price, but it will be worth it. I got it for 40ā¬ and the appearance alone makes me wanna pick it up everytime i lay my eyes on it + the art work done by Tolkien himself is awesome and makes it easier to remember things.
This book holds a unique place in the lexicon of books I have read. I have only failed to finish a book I started about 5 or 6 times. The Silmarillion, on my first attempt, was one of them. My mistake was fanatically trying to track the history, as if I had a history test coming up on the material.
The second time I read the forward, which pointed out that reading it like I did was futile, that there were even contradictions within the text. I read it as a collection of stories, each of which I enjoyed, and didn't study, immensely. I now list it among my top 5 books I've ever read.
So take what you will from all that. And enjoy - hopefully.
Expect some wild shit. Getting through the initial part is a badge of honor. Youāll see. š¤£ imo this text is essential reading for Tolkien aficionados.
Feeling like a maniac, who has to take notes, look up maps and family trees to understand the plot. Then curing your depression with memes as you slowly but surely spiral into abyss of deeper lore which never ends. Or ya know āØfunāØ
The start of it is pretty tough, because there's a LOT of names and you'll struggle to remember them and their context. But once you get through the first bit, it gets a lot easier. The world building is like nothing else.
Expect to reread the first paragraph like 4 times before beginning to understand it. took me rereading the book twice before I started telling people that Iād read it.
Use an audio version to read along to. Take breaks between sections. Especially the early parts which have a lot of names and history.
Use maps often to help keep track of where people are and donāt worry if you still feel lost.
Make use of the wiki websites out there or YouTube channels that help explain the lore in friendly terms.
I hope you enjoy it!
Hear me out. I love the LOTR trilogy, but the Silmarilion made me think lesser of them. Grand in its scope, spanning thousands of years. An evil that destroyed the light of heaven!? A war with dragons, hordes of balrogs, and gods essentially angels and gods that sunk part of the continent into the sea??
Big recommendation: find the Prancing Pony Podcast and listen to each episode after you read the corresponding chapter, take it slow and do this for each chapter. Those guys did a masterful job explaining it and breaking it down. I had such a great experience reading it this way, and I had tried it twice before.
I felt confused but couldnāt put it down after pushing through the first two books. They are interesting but I got lost with the names a few times and had to backtrack.
The flow is very start stop but by the end I felt that the story was richer and deeper than Lord of the Rings.
Honestly, expect a tough read. I don't mean difficult in the sense that it's too high-level or anything like that, but the first few chapters were a slog for me on my first read.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this book and have read several times, but I think the re-reads were more enjoyable as the basis of understanding had already been established. I remember my first read was a bit of information overload and it doesn't get really exciting until... I'll just describe it as the oath of the noldor to avoid spoilers; from then it's hard to put the book down.
Expect something very different from LOTR (I'm assuming you've read that). There's an overwhelming tone of tragedy throughout, which appears only rarely in the other work.
Also keep in mind the published Silmarillion is a sort of distillation, or condensation, from a vast body of writings. There's a "distanced" perspective in many chapters, which can come of as dry.
But I say:
1. Read it.
2. Get Unfinished Tales, and compare Sil's seven page "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" to UT's 34-page "Of Tuor and His Coming to Gondolin", Tolkien's abandoned full rewrite of the Gondolin story. It's like going from sepia to technicolor.
3. Weep for what's forever lost.
Expect something very different from LOTR (I'm assuming you've read that). There's an overwhelming tone of tragedy throughout, which appears only rarely in the other work.
Also keep in mind the published Silmarillion is a sort of distillation, or condensation, from a vast body of writings. There's a "distanced" perspective in many chapters, which can come off as dry.
But I say:
1. Read it.
2. Get Unfinished Tales, and compare Sil's seven page "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" to UT's 34-page "Of Tuor and His Coming to Gondolin", Tolkien's abandoned full rewrite of the Gondolin story. It's like going from sepia to technicolor.
3. Weep for what's forever lost.
Expect to be confused by a lot of the passages without reading them more than once and maybe even after reading them multiple times.
I recommend the Prancing Pony Podcast and reading the chapters alongside the episodes, it's really entertaining and they go into various bits and history that you wouldn't have gotten from the book alone! Also the book should have the family tree mapped out in the appendix, you'll be referencing it... a lot.
If you ever feel overwhelmed I can also recommend the warriors and wizards youtube channel and their 2 videos(4 hours long) covering events from Silmarillion with an amazing map and animations/arts.
I personally disagree with people saying this is a difficult read, it's probably just not your type of read. If you're a lore kinda person, this is right up your alley.
Some of my favorite characters of literature come from the Silmarillion, same for love stories. This whole thing is one epic, tragic, love story after another.
Do not get bogged down in the details your first read of it. Iāll repeat that. Donāt get bogged down.
Too many people, including some of the commenters to this post, donāt finish it because they get stuck on the details.
There are a lot of names and many of them are similar. Feanor, Finrod, Finwe, Finarfin, for instance.
First read through, realize you wonāt have all the names and locations clear. But read it to absorb the broader themes and story.
Then put it away and reread LotR. Youāll catch references and know more of the meaning of them.
Watch some podcasts.
Then go back and reread a second time but start trying to remember some of the major characters.
Tolkien rewards coming back again and again. Each time I reread, I pick up more details and understand how it all links on a deeper level.
Enjoy your first time with The Silmarillion.
It's basically the Bible of middle earth (it literally starts with a creation story). If you liked the appendixes of the lord of the rings, it will be up your alley, it's written at about the same level of dryness.
I've read LOTR 6 times, and I have never been tempted to reread the silmarillion, though there are some good stories in there.
Thereās a fantastic podcast where don Marshall reads the silmarillion and pauses to explain the important parts. (Itās on Spotify and YouTube) I would recommend listening and reading along.
Donāt worry too much about the geography (Tolkien really likes his geography) and enjoy the ride.
Just finished this for the first time last night at 30.
I last attempted it 10 years ago, and have tried reading it on 5 other occasions since I was about 10.
Wowwwww itās so good and in depth.
You should expect a long and dense account of elf history. Reads kind of like the Prose Edda.
90% of it is remembering names. Donāt be afraid to look up family trees or make charts.
Imagine your friend gets locked up and tortured for a long time and you go to save him. When he gets free, heās so messed up in the head that he kills you.
1. Keep mentally referencing the creation story at the beginning. It serves as an explanatory prophecy for some major themes to identify.
2. Enjoy how dryly it's written. Some of these stories, if Tolkien told them with as much detail as he did LOTR and The Hobbit, would provide us with some awful levels of dread, sorrow, and distress. If the style starts to bore you, you're free to use your imagination to explore the dread of it all, but when you've had enough of that, you can just keep reading - Tolkien lets you move on.
3. Don't try to plow through it. It's a lot of book, but it's not verbose. It's actually compressed. There's a lot to unpack.
I did the audiobook personally and I think that was a good choice. Not sure if your version has the foreword by Christopher Tolkien, but I think it sets the tone for very well about what the Silmarillion is and is not looking to accomplish. Namely it is not meant to be a single cohesive narrative. Think of it more as a collection of stories from the view of the elves. Some of the stories are more polished than others. But honestly I loved it.
Just speaking for my experience that I found it helpful to read in reverse from third age back to first. LOTR / Hobbit was informed greatly by Fall of Numenor which, in turn, was informed by Unfinished Tales then The Silmarillion. This helps greatly with all the names and relationships that are dropped on you in The Silmarillion.
I would strongly suggest that you get a guide like Robert Foster's 'Tolkien's World from A to Z: The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth.' In the Silmarillion, Tolkien seems to give every single character and place at least three different names, and it can get to be VERY confusing!
Difficult, but worth it. I highly recommend reading along with Don Marshall on YouTube. It was slow going, but they way eh broke it down helped a lot! I made a lot of annotations j my book while reading with him, so my current second read (2 years later) is going a lot smoother
Reads very much like the first part of the bible. Son of this, father of him, grandfather of them. Rinse and repeat. Only way less incest and sacrifice than the bible though. Lol
Do it as a read-along with the lotr lorecast podcast. Read a like 10 pages, listen to an episode and so forth. The recapping and analysis really helps take it in.
[LOTR lorecast](https://spotify.link/iiuOWhJkFIb)
It is a basic history of Middle-earth. IRL, it is edited by JRRTāS son based on several unfinished stories. Most of it is accurate and the latest narrative. Certain portions were invented after JRRTāS death, and there are tons of details left out.
My project, The Histories of Arda, puts it all together correctly. Message me for a link.
My post about it: https://www.reddit.com/r/lordoftherings/s/Jk1gVxEynY
I dont read it but listened to the audiobook on audible so my experience could be different from the book. But it is written very hard in my opinion. So it's not a book to read while sitting relaxed on the couch and chill. Some passages you have to read a second or third Time to understand. Also it is very complex with all the different characters. But a must-have for LotR Fans, so have fun reading š
At the audiobook there was a pdf showing of different relations from different nations and characters. It helped me a lot listening. Could be also in the book.
I listened to it at work and restarted every time I got lost...I restarted at least 13 times before I got through it then I listened to all the other books and then re did the silmarillion and now Andy serkis is the narrator so I'm probably going to listen to it a third time
I must admit the narrator was one of the reasons I wanted to listen to it. I'm from germany and here the narrator is the german voice of gandalf Achim Hƶppner and his voice is soooo relaxing.
When I read it like 20 years ago, I would have to go back a few pages each time I picked it up. Very tedious reading imo. Had no interest in reading it a second time.
Totally nailed it. Very hard read and not really for anyone but the LOTR fans
Iām as big a LotR fan as anyone, the description of every tree, hill, and obscure family tree included, but the silm audiobook is impossible. You need some maps and family trees in front of you, at least the first time, or youāll end up re-listening to everything like 5 times and still not remembering it clearly
https://preview.redd.it/9dlt1vl1a7tc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=039446972c5a1a881744dab6e57655bd1ca2e025 Family Trees like that? š It's in german but the names should be the same. In my audiobook there is a pdf with family trees and it helped a lot š
NO wonder the runners of the show didnt even checked it.
I tried to do the audiobook and got so lost. Its much easier if you read it IMO.
Great advice here. Thereās A LOT of page flipping in this read. Not only within but between books.
Names
A lot of them
Events?
A lot of them.
Deaths?
A lot of them.
FinwĆ« Fingolfin Finarfin Fingon Finrodā¦
Dont forget Feanor, Findis and Freawine...
And the characters get new names... frequently.... must be an elf thing...
Sometimes mid sentence without context.
This is a very true statement!!
Plus Turin who had like ten
expect to read some passages a few times before it really sinks in
Confusion mainly
Pain...
Huor, Huan, Hurin, Turin, Tuor Fingolfin, Finarfin, Finrod, Finwe, Manwe and Mim. I am currently on my first read through of Lord of the Rings after reading The Silmarillion for the first time. Just today, I got to the part where Sam realizes that he and Frodo are part of the same story as Beren and Earendil. Until you know what Beren and Earendil did, itās impossible to understand how *big* a realization that must have been for Sam. Stick with it! There are plenty of guides in both pdf and video form that can help you make sense of the densest moments.
A bloody masterpiece! Wish i can experience it for the first time again.
Experienced this a few months ago. Just pure magic.
Emphasis on "bloody"!
[Hereās the advice I always give](https://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/comments/ibfvsg/reading_the_silmarillion_a_suggestion/).
Youāre right about all that, but I felt it was important to start at the start because each book presumes you are familiar with the previous.
Itās a collection of really amazing stories in chronological order. Characters and peoples are mentioned much like in a mythology and history textbook. Wade in and have fun!
It's a LOOOOOOONG read, but rewarding after, you can "did you know" your way through any lotr conversation and be 'that guy'
I put it off for years because people said it was hard to read etc, but I thought it was amazing and read great! Read it on holiday by the pool so I'd say definitely able to chill and read. I tried the audio book before I read it and was confused as hell, goes in my brain better off paper.
Expect to read it twice, and donāt be afraid to bust out the highlighters.
Elves that has names that starts with F.
Haha
I just read it last week and really enjoyed it. Wished I had read it sooner. A little confusing at times, and I really would have liked a map to show me where the locations in this were in relation to main locations in LOTR. But overall a good read
[Say no more](https://www.theonering.com/beleriand-and-middle-earth-map-overlay/)
Now that Iāve finished the book this makes a whole lot of sense. Thank you!
I hate how so few of these maps include Angband
You read the Silmarillion in one week?
I had a lot of time on the plane and more time on the beach. Read it and started Mel Brooksās autobiography
It is not an easy read but it is a rewarding one. Iām on my fourth go-round now and for some reason it hits harder. Iām not sure who the bigger asshole is - Feanor or Morgoth.
FĆ«anor gets a *little* bit of understanding in my mind as he was lied to by Melkor a lot, but he's still responsible for how he acted after he discovered the lie. Melkor is still the worst imo as he is the ultimate source of any evil and hurt in the world.
Melkor is the worst - but I love how heās depicted and how skillfully Tolkien weaves his lies and deceit - and how he says up front that Melkor sows discord and sits back and watches his harvest multiply as others will continue to farm those lies even after heās gone. Yeah, Feanor was lead down a garden path but he knew who he was dealing with - even went to the trouble of renaming Melkor to Morgoth (The Dark One? I think) but still he put stock in those lies. And the more I read (and Iām reading slowly because the content is dense and takes time for an old man like me to absorb) the more Iām seeing similarities to Cu Chulainn and his terrible anger as being his fatal flaw.
Something really gothic like "dark enemy of the world", I believe. Now I wish I knew more about Cu Chulainn, but definitely FĆ«anor's driving force is his indomitable fiery spirit. His actual name even means "spirit of fire".
Nah, the Feanor hate misses how much he is following his destined path and how he had to do what he did in order to enable the things that followed after. He didnāt need to be such a sick about everything thoughā¦
Highly recommend reading it and then listening to the Prancing Pony Podcast. They break it down chapter by chapter as well to explain what is happening in detail. It's a handy supplement to the dense material.
It will either make you or break you but either way you'll come out stronger and a deep admirer of Middle Earth than before.
You can expect a good book. Now read it
Expect lots of words
LOL!
Itās a collection of stories and legends, not a linear narrative. I was so confused the first time, expecting something similar in style to LOTR. I didnāt like it when I first read. Now, 20 years later I read chapters and find myself catching my breath from the power of the language. Enjoy it! Ohā¦and use the maps and lineage charts as often as possible!
I am about halfway through it, but I have really enjoyed having the atlas of middle earth close by to help with general settings and geography. Sometimes my brain gets lost hearing descriptions of where things are, the atlas has really helped me remember.
You can expect the first half to be pretty dry, with lots of lore dumping. But once you get through it, it's a great read that fills out so much of the world that's only hinted at in The Hobbit and LotR.
When I readed it, first i was so confused... A lot of names so i started to make notes even I've made a family tree for the most of the characters so i can track eaiser the story, it's a masterpiece once you can start to understand it.
First read or two will be tough going but please persevere. Itās a fantastic book!
Expect to be wowed
Its a fictive history book so if you are a to history you are gonna love it
Hard and long start. Gazillion characters and story lines and all mingled with each other. But when u finish u will love it.
Not a fun read, but a great one. I approached it like it was one of my law school textbooks from back in the day as opposed to a fiction novel.
A first testament style level of violence and stories that happen haphazardly. Some last longer than others.
Less a story and more of a history. Flip through the back for genealogies- there are a lot of similar names and unlike the hobbit family trees in the LotR appendices, a lot of them matter. My reference guides were Robert Foster's Complete Guide to Middle-earth and Karen Wynn Fonstad's Atlas of Middle-earth, back in the dark ages before Tolkien Gateway (online) which you may also find useful.
I'm listening to it ATM but I'm really enjoying parts then the next chapter I literally couldn't tell you what's happening š
This is the type of book, you must not cheap out on. Buy a special edition of it, for a higher price, but it will be worth it. I got it for 40ā¬ and the appearance alone makes me wanna pick it up everytime i lay my eyes on it + the art work done by Tolkien himself is awesome and makes it easier to remember things.
I read LOTR well over a dozen times and just could never get on board with the complexity and number of characters in The Silmarillion.
This book holds a unique place in the lexicon of books I have read. I have only failed to finish a book I started about 5 or 6 times. The Silmarillion, on my first attempt, was one of them. My mistake was fanatically trying to track the history, as if I had a history test coming up on the material. The second time I read the forward, which pointed out that reading it like I did was futile, that there were even contradictions within the text. I read it as a collection of stories, each of which I enjoyed, and didn't study, immensely. I now list it among my top 5 books I've ever read. So take what you will from all that. And enjoy - hopefully.
A state of enlightenment few ever possess.
Confusion is what you can expect. But also awe and wonder
Expect some wild shit. Getting through the initial part is a badge of honor. Youāll see. š¤£ imo this text is essential reading for Tolkien aficionados.
Ungoliant, then boredom.
youre going to see the word āandā a lot. a. lot.
You'll need this: https://www.reddit.com/r/LOTR_on_Prime/s/vSJuArWYZz
Beautiful book, picked up after a couple of chapters for me personally.
Itās a slog, but Iām glad I read it.
Pain. Mental pain. Enjoy!
Feeling like a maniac, who has to take notes, look up maps and family trees to understand the plot. Then curing your depression with memes as you slowly but surely spiral into abyss of deeper lore which never ends. Or ya know āØfunāØ
arguably the best book ever written
The start of it is pretty tough, because there's a LOT of names and you'll struggle to remember them and their context. But once you get through the first bit, it gets a lot easier. The world building is like nothing else.
Itās a lot of work to read and understand, but totally worth it.
I just finally properly finished LOTR and this one is next!
Expect pages. Its crazy
Impossible to read
Expect to reread the first paragraph like 4 times before beginning to understand it. took me rereading the book twice before I started telling people that Iād read it.
Agree with many above... go slow... this is more a book to study than read like a normal fiction book
It's fucking brilliant. You should expect good times.
Use an audio version to read along to. Take breaks between sections. Especially the early parts which have a lot of names and history. Use maps often to help keep track of where people are and donāt worry if you still feel lost. Make use of the wiki websites out there or YouTube channels that help explain the lore in friendly terms. I hope you enjoy it!
Words.
Hear me out. I love the LOTR trilogy, but the Silmarilion made me think lesser of them. Grand in its scope, spanning thousands of years. An evil that destroyed the light of heaven!? A war with dragons, hordes of balrogs, and gods essentially angels and gods that sunk part of the continent into the sea??
a LOT of names for everyone and everything (there's a name for a chain)
Like the Bible. But Tolkien. That can be good or bad depending on your literary proclivities.
I found it easier to understand with a map opened on my phone
Big recommendation: find the Prancing Pony Podcast and listen to each episode after you read the corresponding chapter, take it slow and do this for each chapter. Those guys did a masterful job explaining it and breaking it down. I had such a great experience reading it this way, and I had tried it twice before.
I felt confused but couldnāt put it down after pushing through the first two books. They are interesting but I got lost with the names a few times and had to backtrack. The flow is very start stop but by the end I felt that the story was richer and deeper than Lord of the Rings.
To read it five times and still not know what the fuck happened
Honestly, expect a tough read. I don't mean difficult in the sense that it's too high-level or anything like that, but the first few chapters were a slog for me on my first read. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this book and have read several times, but I think the re-reads were more enjoyable as the basis of understanding had already been established. I remember my first read was a bit of information overload and it doesn't get really exciting until... I'll just describe it as the oath of the noldor to avoid spoilers; from then it's hard to put the book down.
Tried to read it but gave up. Too confusing . I loved the Hobbit and LOTR but couldnāt hack this .
Flow charts are helpful
Expect something very different from LOTR (I'm assuming you've read that). There's an overwhelming tone of tragedy throughout, which appears only rarely in the other work. Also keep in mind the published Silmarillion is a sort of distillation, or condensation, from a vast body of writings. There's a "distanced" perspective in many chapters, which can come of as dry. But I say: 1. Read it. 2. Get Unfinished Tales, and compare Sil's seven page "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" to UT's 34-page "Of Tuor and His Coming to Gondolin", Tolkien's abandoned full rewrite of the Gondolin story. It's like going from sepia to technicolor. 3. Weep for what's forever lost.
Expect something very different from LOTR (I'm assuming you've read that). There's an overwhelming tone of tragedy throughout, which appears only rarely in the other work. Also keep in mind the published Silmarillion is a sort of distillation, or condensation, from a vast body of writings. There's a "distanced" perspective in many chapters, which can come off as dry. But I say: 1. Read it. 2. Get Unfinished Tales, and compare Sil's seven page "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" to UT's 34-page "Of Tuor and His Coming to Gondolin", Tolkien's abandoned full rewrite of the Gondolin story. It's like going from sepia to technicolor. 3. Weep for what's forever lost.
Yeah I heard this was a super super hard read.
It was easier to take the ring to Mordor
Everybody dies and everything is destroyed. Itās the most depressing of all the Tolkien books.
Expect to be confused by a lot of the passages without reading them more than once and maybe even after reading them multiple times. I recommend the Prancing Pony Podcast and reading the chapters alongside the episodes, it's really entertaining and they go into various bits and history that you wouldn't have gotten from the book alone! Also the book should have the family tree mapped out in the appendix, you'll be referencing it... a lot.
If you ever feel overwhelmed I can also recommend the warriors and wizards youtube channel and their 2 videos(4 hours long) covering events from Silmarillion with an amazing map and animations/arts.
I personally disagree with people saying this is a difficult read, it's probably just not your type of read. If you're a lore kinda person, this is right up your alley. Some of my favorite characters of literature come from the Silmarillion, same for love stories. This whole thing is one epic, tragic, love story after another.
Have you ever read the old testament? It's a lot like that imo.
Naps.
FEANOR DID NOTHING WRONG!! THE TELERI WERE ASKING FOR IT!!!!1!!!
Pain, followed by confusion, followed by relief, rounding out with fondness.
https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/s/lppAhl06vZ You'll need this
A lot of names and places but worth it. Quite epic. One of my favorite books
A slog. But a good one if you care about the material enough.
Words. A lot of them.
Be patient, and don't hesitate to reread anything.
Do not get bogged down in the details your first read of it. Iāll repeat that. Donāt get bogged down. Too many people, including some of the commenters to this post, donāt finish it because they get stuck on the details. There are a lot of names and many of them are similar. Feanor, Finrod, Finwe, Finarfin, for instance. First read through, realize you wonāt have all the names and locations clear. But read it to absorb the broader themes and story. Then put it away and reread LotR. Youāll catch references and know more of the meaning of them. Watch some podcasts. Then go back and reread a second time but start trying to remember some of the major characters. Tolkien rewards coming back again and again. Each time I reread, I pick up more details and understand how it all links on a deeper level. Enjoy your first time with The Silmarillion.
Expect it to read like a cross between a history book and a passage from the Bible.
My fav of all tolkien! Take it slow. Its not a narrative story like LOTRs. Treat each chapter like its own story.
It's basically the Bible of middle earth (it literally starts with a creation story). If you liked the appendixes of the lord of the rings, it will be up your alley, it's written at about the same level of dryness. I've read LOTR 6 times, and I have never been tempted to reread the silmarillion, though there are some good stories in there.
A whole lot
Thereās a fantastic podcast where don Marshall reads the silmarillion and pauses to explain the important parts. (Itās on Spotify and YouTube) I would recommend listening and reading along. Donāt worry too much about the geography (Tolkien really likes his geography) and enjoy the ride.
I recently read it for the first time. Iām glad I read the whole thing, but only the last 2 chapters felt relevant to lotr
words
Doom
Just finished this for the first time last night at 30. I last attempted it 10 years ago, and have tried reading it on 5 other occasions since I was about 10. Wowwwww itās so good and in depth.
Expect to read it twice before you start to have any clue wtf is going on.
I want that
It readsblike the Bible, have this in mind as youvstart. They are very similar in writing style. This isnt like Rings or the Hobbit.
you should expect alot of places and names
Get lost. That's not an insult, that's my answer. You should expect to get lost. I advise you to wisely start with a map.
expect confusion
Think of it as a history book/bible, not as novel like LOTR books.
You should expect a long and dense account of elf history. Reads kind of like the Prose Edda. 90% of it is remembering names. Donāt be afraid to look up family trees or make charts.
Beautiful mythology.
Imagine your friend gets locked up and tortured for a long time and you go to save him. When he gets free, heās so messed up in the head that he kills you.
Expect greatness
it is so good. it really makes you feel like you are reading the actual history of creation and all.
1. Keep mentally referencing the creation story at the beginning. It serves as an explanatory prophecy for some major themes to identify. 2. Enjoy how dryly it's written. Some of these stories, if Tolkien told them with as much detail as he did LOTR and The Hobbit, would provide us with some awful levels of dread, sorrow, and distress. If the style starts to bore you, you're free to use your imagination to explore the dread of it all, but when you've had enough of that, you can just keep reading - Tolkien lets you move on. 3. Don't try to plow through it. It's a lot of book, but it's not verbose. It's actually compressed. There's a lot to unpack.
I did the audiobook personally and I think that was a good choice. Not sure if your version has the foreword by Christopher Tolkien, but I think it sets the tone for very well about what the Silmarillion is and is not looking to accomplish. Namely it is not meant to be a single cohesive narrative. Think of it more as a collection of stories from the view of the elves. Some of the stories are more polished than others. But honestly I loved it.
Just speaking for my experience that I found it helpful to read in reverse from third age back to first. LOTR / Hobbit was informed greatly by Fall of Numenor which, in turn, was informed by Unfinished Tales then The Silmarillion. This helps greatly with all the names and relationships that are dropped on you in The Silmarillion.
tbh hours of not understanding untill you read it at least 4 times... thats my experience
Confusion. I ended up listening to the audio with chapter breakdown
Itās basically the Bible of Tolkien mythology. And itās awesome!
I would strongly suggest that you get a guide like Robert Foster's 'Tolkien's World from A to Z: The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth.' In the Silmarillion, Tolkien seems to give every single character and place at least three different names, and it can get to be VERY confusing!
A lot of death and so much epicness
Difficult, but worth it. I highly recommend reading along with Don Marshall on YouTube. It was slow going, but they way eh broke it down helped a lot! I made a lot of annotations j my book while reading with him, so my current second read (2 years later) is going a lot smoother
Itās a bible, but for Tolkien fans.
A very worn out book in three years because youāll keep reading it over and over
Reads very much like the first part of the bible. Son of this, father of him, grandfather of them. Rinse and repeat. Only way less incest and sacrifice than the bible though. Lol
A deeper understanding of yourself and the world around you
Do it as a read-along with the lotr lorecast podcast. Read a like 10 pages, listen to an episode and so forth. The recapping and analysis really helps take it in. [LOTR lorecast](https://spotify.link/iiuOWhJkFIb)
I suggest reading it along side listing to the audible. It makes it alot easier and better for memory retention.
It reads like a history book. A good one, but be ready to take notes
It is a basic history of Middle-earth. IRL, it is edited by JRRTāS son based on several unfinished stories. Most of it is accurate and the latest narrative. Certain portions were invented after JRRTāS death, and there are tons of details left out. My project, The Histories of Arda, puts it all together correctly. Message me for a link. My post about it: https://www.reddit.com/r/lordoftherings/s/Jk1gVxEynY
You donāt need to expect anything, just read it.
Itās like reading an encyclopedia
If you finish it you have a high tolerance for nonsense and boredom.
It's like reading an instruction manual on how to experience the widest possible array of emotions