The Silmarillion – Book Review

Posted by Samuel Walters

The Silmarillion is a difficult book to read. For fans of The Lord of the Rings, and especially the Hobbit, the dense language of The Silmarillion may appear to be rather daunting, especially in its earlier pages. However, if you’re willing to put in the time and effort to get deeper into the book, you will be rewarded with insights into Middle Earth well worth your investment. This is because The Silmarillion is replete with back stories of epic, and often tragic, proportions.

It starts at the beginning of time and brings us right up to the edge of The Hobbit, detailing the creation of the world, the arrival of Elves and Men and evil, and conflict of catastrophic proportions. This is not a book for the faint of heart – but it is a book for any Tolkien fan who wants to know more about the grand history that is presented only in tantalizing asides during the Lord of the Rings books.

The book contains five distinct sections. The first two, called Ainulindalë and Valaquenta, detail how Ilúvatar oversaw the creation of the world, called Eä, as well as the Valar and Maiar – the angelic beings whose song helped create Eä. The third section is called the Quenta Silmarillion. This section comprises the largest share of the book and its primary focus is on the Elves, the great jewels called the Silmarils, and the events leading up to the end of the First Age of Middle Earth. Akallabêth, the fourth section, tells the story of the Second Age of Middle Earth, focusing on the realm of Númenor – Aragorn’s distant ancestors. The fifth and final section, called Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, bridges the gap between the Second Age and the events of The Hobbit.

Perhaps the greatest value to The Silmarillion is the cosmology that Tolkien uses to establish his world. There is certainly a very Christian element to it, with Eru (God) casting down the powerful, but prideful Melkor. But Tolkien also makes extensive use of Finnish, Norse, and Greek influences. And these mythic underpinnings provide the foundation for the epic struggles that will unfold across three full Ages of Middle Earth – which was created from a song sung by the Valar, of which Melkor was once a member.

Because the song contains Melkor’s dissonance, that means Middle Earth, and everything that transpires upon, will also contain a dissonance of its own. And yet, the dissonance is but one part of the song which Eru commands to be sung. The end result is a world that is balanced between beauty and terror, between good and evil. And everyone, from Fëanor to Frodo, embodies both sides of the conflict.

One of the underlying themes of The Silmarillion are the ideas of pride and hubris. Indeed, a great deal of evil befalls Middle Earth as the result of prideful characters and actions. Melkor’s fall from grace was driven primarily by pride and hubris. Fëanor’s construction of the Silmarils, the great jewels from which the title of the book derives its name, was also motivated by pride. In fact, Fëanor’s pride leads his people to great sorrow and catastrophe as he seeks to recover them from Melkor (named Morgoth, by the Elves). Both Melkor and Fëanor symbolize the pride and hubris, fueled by temptation, that can literally destroy the world around them.

But pride and hubris is not limited to just these two prominent characters. In the Akallabêth, the Númenoreans become consumed by pride and hubris, through the whispered temptations of Sauron, and their homeland is consumed by the sea. They commited the most blasphemous act possible – and actually set out to attack the Valar in their stronghold of Valinor, so that they can claim Paradise as their own.

Power corrupts.

But unlike the relentlessly tragic Children of Húrin, not only are there great acts of heroism, but characters who are truly heroic. There are people, Men, Elves and Dwarves, worth saving, worth fighting for. And if you thought the War of the Ring was an epic fight, you’ll be in for conflict much greater proportions – both in terms of the clashes between hosts and on deeply personal tragedy. If you can work your way through the book, you will realize that, as grand a story as The Lord of the Rings may be, in terms of scale, it pales compared to the sweeping history of Middle Earth that preceded it.

Overall Grade: B

Again, the biggest criticism of The Silmarillion is its limited accessibility – even for Tolkien fans. But beyond the dense language and sometimes archaic circumstances is a story worth telling, and worth reading. Indeed, there is little else in the fantasy literary world that rivals the scope and detail of Tolkien’s world as it is detailed within the pages of The Silmarillion.