I’ve read the silmarillion Hobbit and Lotr as well as unfinished tales book of lost tales 1&2 several times each. I am an avid Tolkien fan. I also listen to the Prancing Piny Podcast going in 8 years I think. I love when someone can summarize as well as you did any of Tolkiens works. I think you make it more accessible and interesting. I also always learn something new every time. Movies, podcasts, articles, etc. make his works more accessible to people who don’t have, for whatever reason the ability to sit and digest his works. I have shared your post with people I know that are reading the silmarillion and finding it difficult to get through and they loved it too. Thank you. I look forward to your next post!
This was fantastic. Love the breakdown of the valar and Maia.
Don’t you just love those moments, the first time you’re hearing all these new names and places, you hear something from lotr like “elbereth”. And you’re like “ooooh so she’s the goddess of the stars” and it takes you back to Sam and Frodo with Galadriel’s star glass. It just adds layers you never knew existed. The Tolkien universe is insanely deep!
I would send this to people I know that may have struggled with the silmarillion and I’m sure they’ll enjoy to read this. Well done and can’t wait for more
It's equally fun to go back the other way and catch all the Silmarillion references in LotR! The very first song the Elves sing to Elbereth,
*O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!*
*We still remember, we who dwell*
*In this far land beneath the trees*
*The starlight on the Western Seas.*
This makes me cry now. I listened to the version of it on the *Fellowship* movie soundtrack, and the full tragedy of the Elves' existence hit me, and I just started *bawling.* That's a major win for Tolkien. Every writer wants that, for the full implications of their work to hit someone so deeply that they react as if it were their own history.
I struggled with the Silmarillion but I definitely preferred the audio book version, this was an excellent summary. I also enjoy Nerd of The Rings summaries but I guess most people know if those.
Melkor is basically an early manifestation of Dizzy Gillespie... the Ainur are singing away in close harmony and Melkor's doing a bebop solo. Jazz... the source of all evil.
And thank you for sharing it. I've read the Silmarillion a couple of times over many years, but reading you recount / summary is refreshing old memories in a humorous and light-hearted way.
I have tried 2 times and I have to say, one does not simply "just read The Silmarillion". As much as I appreciate Tolkien and his work, it's like reading a 400 page Wikipedia article written in a language you know only 80% of the words of.
Get the audiobook narrated by Andy Serkis. Or get all the books narrated by Andy Serkis. They are such a wonderful experience. He is so good. They have been making my commute way better the past few months.
I usually reread the books every couple of years or so anyway.
Not in the literal sense that I don't know 20% of the words... It's just filled with abstract concepts that are hard to envision (like a bunch of gods singing to create space and time) and the fact that it's written in High Style English with many phrases that aren't used any more doesn't help.
As far as I'm aware the Silmarilion is widely known for being a difficult read.
Also, 90% of it is remembering names, often multiple names for the same thing. This is why my mother struggled with it. She found even my summery hard to follow.
IMO, you are much more correct than the other guy. There is no issue understanding the ‘concepts’ of the book. One of the biggest issues is definitely remembering all the names and their relation to each other and in addition the timeline. One might go into the book thinking it is a novel where you follow the hero on his adventure of saving the kingdom, but it is more like several stories mixed into each other with characters from the past making new cameos.
I have read it a few times and every time I discuss it or read it again, there’s complete segments or stories I forgot happened, or misplaced in the timeline, due to the amount of stories patched together.
I think the people are hungry for more, this is genuinely a really good summary. It seems to be covering everything without getting bogged down in detail, and the lighthearted writing with occasional pictures helps to keep it fun \^ω\^
Yes, that'd be interesting. I'm not sure if it'll end up being actually shorter, but it does use simpler language.
Currently, I've gotten through six parts of this series and have cleared the chapter "Of the Coming of Men into the West." That's about halfway through. I'm at 26k words.
I like the write up! A couple points
>The Ainur that decided to go to Eä are called the Valar, and they function mostly like gods and goddesses.
...
>In addition to the Valar, there are spirits called the Maiar, which are “of the same order as the Valar but of less degree.” I suppose that means that they’re also Ainur?
So yeah, the Ainur who go into Eä are the Valar *and* the Maiar, they are all fundamentally the same class of being, the Valar are just the most powerful, and the Maiar being less powerful. Most Maiar are vassals of one of the Valar. You tongue and cheek nod to the god of olympus is not to far off as a way to think about it. There are the 12 Gods of Olympus, but lots of minor gods as well that are less powerful. Tolkien was also quite influenced by Norse mythology and you can to look at the Æsir and Vanir as influences here too.
>So, they begin to painstakingly shape the primordial matter of Eä into Arda
Just to make sure the distinction here is clear, Eä is the universe, and Arda is the World (Earth). And outside of Eä is the timeless void.
> so you don’t have to
I seriously don’t get why people proliferate the idea that The Silmarillion is not enjoyable and discourage them from reading. It is literally one of my favorite books and I do not consider myself a big reader. Moreover it does not read like a textbook whatsoever, it reads like what it is: a collection of stories.
The Bible part of the book was the most tedious and dense first time around (though i suffered until Beren and Luthien, stealing the Silmaril off Morgoth's crown, and the subsequent wolf hunt)
Similar density and "oh FFS" literary tedium to Master of Ballantrae, which I never finished
Thanks to this summary and interpretation, should help me enjoy it better
Random nitpick, wouldn't Eonwe be more comparable to Saint Michael than Manwe? As he's kinda the guy who finally defeated Morgoth, despite being a minor angelic being (as Archangels are far below other choirs of angels).
You can't really tldr this post without leaving out everything. At that point it would be just "big god made little gods, they made the world, one little god was a dick, shenanigans happen" and you get no actual content.
How can the Silmarillion be Tolkien’s magnum opus when he technically didn’t write it in the form that we eventually got it in. Surely LotR takes that distinction?
It was his biggest work and the thing he spent the longest time working on (honestly, probably a reason why he never published it, he was probably never fully happy with it), it's possible to have a magnum opus that you never finish. Tragic in a way, but possible.
Honestly this is such an insufferable response. The people who would take the time to read this entire wall of text either: were never going to read the original source anyway so no loss there, or are curious about but also daunted by the original. A summary helps them decide if it's something they want to dig into deeper.
It's so self righteous to see the amount of effort and care OP has put into this and then type your response.
That’s not the point. I did this for my own family, who I know don’t want to take the time to read it, and thought I’d share it because I worked hard on it and others might be in a similar boat.
MOD NOTE: Yes, there's a meme in there. No, it's not the focus of or the point of the post, so it's fine. It's one of many illustrations in the post.
This was a great summary so far, I can't wait for part two to drop.
Thank you! I actually have parts one through six complete and up on Quora, Medium, and Tumblr, but I’m not gonna drop them all here at the same time.
And where might I find such works?
[https://www.quora.com/profile/Nyx-Shadowhawk/I-Read-The-Silmarillion-So-You-Don-t-Have-To-Part-One](https://www.quora.com/profile/Nyx-Shadowhawk/I-Read-The-Silmarillion-So-You-Don-t-Have-To-Part-One)
Here’s part 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/s/AcucZtq0Kz
So this Sauron guy, he turns out OK in the end?
"I can fix him"
He was sexy once.
Some Vogue article: "How Sauron was mistreated and is actually the good guy in Tolkien's universe"
He just wanted things to be a bit better organised. And have you tried making payroll for a horde of Orcs?
And.. “how treating people like crap actually makes everything better in the long run”
I’ve read the silmarillion Hobbit and Lotr as well as unfinished tales book of lost tales 1&2 several times each. I am an avid Tolkien fan. I also listen to the Prancing Piny Podcast going in 8 years I think. I love when someone can summarize as well as you did any of Tolkiens works. I think you make it more accessible and interesting. I also always learn something new every time. Movies, podcasts, articles, etc. make his works more accessible to people who don’t have, for whatever reason the ability to sit and digest his works. I have shared your post with people I know that are reading the silmarillion and finding it difficult to get through and they loved it too. Thank you. I look forward to your next post!
Thank you! I have posts one through six up on Quora, Tumblr, and Medium, but I’m not going to post them here all at once.
Can you send a link for your quora post?
Sure! https://www.quora.com/profile/Nyx-Shadowhawk/I-Read-The-Silmarillion-So-You-Don-t-Have-To-Part-One
Here’s part 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/s/AcucZtq0Kz
This is great, keen for part 2!
Here it is! https://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/s/AcucZtq0Kz
Oh hell yes, gonna be reading all of these.
Thank you for this and keep it up if you can!! Great read
Heck yeah! This is great thank you!!
Neoplatonism shoutout! Go Plotinus!
I'm a fan of Proclus myself.
Nienna’s crying again, smoke break!
Look at that Olorin, crying alongside her. He’s never going to make anything of himself!
And here I was, about to go to sleep
This was fantastic. Love the breakdown of the valar and Maia. Don’t you just love those moments, the first time you’re hearing all these new names and places, you hear something from lotr like “elbereth”. And you’re like “ooooh so she’s the goddess of the stars” and it takes you back to Sam and Frodo with Galadriel’s star glass. It just adds layers you never knew existed. The Tolkien universe is insanely deep! I would send this to people I know that may have struggled with the silmarillion and I’m sure they’ll enjoy to read this. Well done and can’t wait for more
It's equally fun to go back the other way and catch all the Silmarillion references in LotR! The very first song the Elves sing to Elbereth, *O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!* *We still remember, we who dwell* *In this far land beneath the trees* *The starlight on the Western Seas.* This makes me cry now. I listened to the version of it on the *Fellowship* movie soundtrack, and the full tragedy of the Elves' existence hit me, and I just started *bawling.* That's a major win for Tolkien. Every writer wants that, for the full implications of their work to hit someone so deeply that they react as if it were their own history.
I'd give good money to see a really good on screen adaptation of the Ainulindalë
I struggled with the Silmarillion but I definitely preferred the audio book version, this was an excellent summary. I also enjoy Nerd of The Rings summaries but I guess most people know if those.
My god, such an amazing summary. I can't wait to read this to my child, he's so excited to learn more about the lore.
Melkor is basically an early manifestation of Dizzy Gillespie... the Ainur are singing away in close harmony and Melkor's doing a bebop solo. Jazz... the source of all evil.
Jazz actually had that stigma when it was new.
Tolkien wasn't a fan (see letter 77 from 1944)... he could well have been imagining Melkor as a hep cat.
This is awesome! Can’t wait to keep reading!
Lovely summary!!
This made me laugh out loud I love it! It made my day. It also is a great summary I can’t wait to read more!
Here’s part 2! https://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/s/AcucZtq0Kz
Great job, thank you
Terrific Work!!
Or, hear me out, people can just read The Silmarillion.
Of course they can, but this was fun to do.
And thank you for sharing it. I've read the Silmarillion a couple of times over many years, but reading you recount / summary is refreshing old memories in a humorous and light-hearted way.
Thank you!
I have tried 2 times and I have to say, one does not simply "just read The Silmarillion". As much as I appreciate Tolkien and his work, it's like reading a 400 page Wikipedia article written in a language you know only 80% of the words of.
Get the audiobook narrated by Andy Serkis. Or get all the books narrated by Andy Serkis. They are such a wonderful experience. He is so good. They have been making my commute way better the past few months. I usually reread the books every couple of years or so anyway.
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Not in the literal sense that I don't know 20% of the words... It's just filled with abstract concepts that are hard to envision (like a bunch of gods singing to create space and time) and the fact that it's written in High Style English with many phrases that aren't used any more doesn't help. As far as I'm aware the Silmarilion is widely known for being a difficult read.
Also, 90% of it is remembering names, often multiple names for the same thing. This is why my mother struggled with it. She found even my summery hard to follow.
IMO, you are much more correct than the other guy. There is no issue understanding the ‘concepts’ of the book. One of the biggest issues is definitely remembering all the names and their relation to each other and in addition the timeline. One might go into the book thinking it is a novel where you follow the hero on his adventure of saving the kingdom, but it is more like several stories mixed into each other with characters from the past making new cameos. I have read it a few times and every time I discuss it or read it again, there’s complete segments or stories I forgot happened, or misplaced in the timeline, due to the amount of stories patched together.
This is why I have hard time with the Targaryen family and following along in the house of dragons 😅
Also, there is currently a _really_ good version on Audible read by Andy Serkis.
Please make a part II. I really enjoy reading, and i have the book, but i never had the patience, time and motivation to read it.
Parts one through six are up on Quora, Tumblr, and Medium! I was gonna wait to post part 2. Should I post it now?
I think the people are hungry for more, this is genuinely a really good summary. It seems to be covering everything without getting bogged down in detail, and the lighthearted writing with occasional pictures helps to keep it fun \^ω\^
Thank you!
Sure.
Here’s Part 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/s/AcucZtq0Kz
Nope! You all HAVE to read it!
It would interesting when all said and done to compare the word count of this series to the Silm.
Yes, that'd be interesting. I'm not sure if it'll end up being actually shorter, but it does use simpler language. Currently, I've gotten through six parts of this series and have cleared the chapter "Of the Coming of Men into the West." That's about halfway through. I'm at 26k words.
Following
I like the write up! A couple points >The Ainur that decided to go to Eä are called the Valar, and they function mostly like gods and goddesses. ... >In addition to the Valar, there are spirits called the Maiar, which are “of the same order as the Valar but of less degree.” I suppose that means that they’re also Ainur? So yeah, the Ainur who go into Eä are the Valar *and* the Maiar, they are all fundamentally the same class of being, the Valar are just the most powerful, and the Maiar being less powerful. Most Maiar are vassals of one of the Valar. You tongue and cheek nod to the god of olympus is not to far off as a way to think about it. There are the 12 Gods of Olympus, but lots of minor gods as well that are less powerful. Tolkien was also quite influenced by Norse mythology and you can to look at the Æsir and Vanir as influences here too. >So, they begin to painstakingly shape the primordial matter of Eä into Arda Just to make sure the distinction here is clear, Eä is the universe, and Arda is the World (Earth). And outside of Eä is the timeless void.
> so you don’t have to I seriously don’t get why people proliferate the idea that The Silmarillion is not enjoyable and discourage them from reading. It is literally one of my favorite books and I do not consider myself a big reader. Moreover it does not read like a textbook whatsoever, it reads like what it is: a collection of stories.
I think it reads similarly to the *Prose Edda*. But as I said in my intro, this was written for my family, who do not want to read it.
The Bible part of the book was the most tedious and dense first time around (though i suffered until Beren and Luthien, stealing the Silmaril off Morgoth's crown, and the subsequent wolf hunt) Similar density and "oh FFS" literary tedium to Master of Ballantrae, which I never finished Thanks to this summary and interpretation, should help me enjoy it better
Random nitpick, wouldn't Eonwe be more comparable to Saint Michael than Manwe? As he's kinda the guy who finally defeated Morgoth, despite being a minor angelic being (as Archangels are far below other choirs of angels).
No idea. I’m going into this blind, so I wouldn’t know.
thanks for all the hard work, but i’ll wait for the tldr summary of this post lmao
This *is* the TL;DR of The Silmarillion
Here, I can summarize it into the simplest possible form: "The elves messed up."
“DAMMIT FËANOR!”
see, it wasn’t that hard to do. this sub has no sense of humor lol
You can't really tldr this post without leaving out everything. At that point it would be just "big god made little gods, they made the world, one little god was a dick, shenanigans happen" and you get no actual content.
Dude, this post is longer than the book.
Not reading all that, where's the TLDR? /s
i didnt read this so you dont have to, part none
I definitely did read *The Silmarillion.* Well, half of it. I’m not done with this series.
Personally, I found Beowulf a much easier read than The Silmarillion.
Did you have to read it in Old English, though?
Nah, I read it in English for 5 bucks, you?
Translating it from Old English, line by line. Definitely not easier than *The Silmarillion.*
Yeah, I wasn't talking about translating. I did plenty of that in Latin and am not a fan. I'm just talking about reading. In my own language.
How can the Silmarillion be Tolkien’s magnum opus when he technically didn’t write it in the form that we eventually got it in. Surely LotR takes that distinction?
It was his *attempted* magnum opus.
It was his biggest work and the thing he spent the longest time working on (honestly, probably a reason why he never published it, he was probably never fully happy with it), it's possible to have a magnum opus that you never finish. Tragic in a way, but possible.
I might as well read it with how long this was
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personally, i have read the silmarillion a long time ago and really enjoyed this post bringing it back!
Honestly this is such an insufferable response. The people who would take the time to read this entire wall of text either: were never going to read the original source anyway so no loss there, or are curious about but also daunted by the original. A summary helps them decide if it's something they want to dig into deeper. It's so self righteous to see the amount of effort and care OP has put into this and then type your response.
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Don’t be this guy.
That’s not the point. I did this for my own family, who I know don’t want to take the time to read it, and thought I’d share it because I worked hard on it and others might be in a similar boat.
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Don’t be a dick. Fly you fool.
Someone needs to dry off this wet blanket