The+Silmarillion

J.R.R. Tolkien 442 pages, Random House __The Origins of Middle-Earth__ //The Silmarillion//, by J.R.R. Tolkien, is a story describing the origins of Middle- Earth. It describes the creation of the world, the rise of evil, and the attempts to recover lost gems of power. The character list is frighteningly large, and the book is rather nonsequitorial in places. The book begins with the creation of the world, called Arda in this book. One of those who aided in the creation of Arda, Melkor, rises against the others, “for he sought therein to increase the power and glory of the part assigned to himself.” He is banished, remaining in shadow to the north for ages. Eventually, elves arrive in Middle-Earth, and one, foremost among them, creates gems containing magical light of ages gone by. The gems, the Silmarils, which give the book its name, can be used to restore the glory of the Valar, the creators of Middle-Earth, but Fëanor refuses, saying that if he is forced to surrender them to the Valar, he “shall know indeed that Melkor is of their kindred.” That night, Melkor, later Morgoth, rises and steals the gems. Through the rest of the book, elves and men battle the shadow to regain the Light of the Valar, with mostly limited success for most of the book. There are hundreds of characters in the book, some easy to remember, and oft-mentioned, but some less memorable or too similar to others. There were four or five elf-lords with similar names, such as Fingon, Finrod, and Fingolfin. Only a few familiar characters are mentioned, such as Sauron, making the book slightly less connected to //The Lord of the Rings// and //The Hobbit// than they are to each other. Many characters are mentioned in both //The Silmarillion// and //The Lord of the Rings//, though they have little “screen time” or importance to one or the other. Compounding the dissimilarity between the earlier books and //The Silmarillion//, there is a disturbing lack of hobbits and rings of power in the book as a whole. Sauron’s power is greatly reduced as well, being a mere minion in //The Silmarillion//, but a dark spirit whose return will bring a reign of shadow to Middle-Earth for millennia in //The Lord of the Rings//. Merely one chapter mentions hobbits, Gandalf, or the Ring, who are the primary focus of //The Lord of the Rings//. In addition to the confusing list of characters, there are several subplots within chapters which have unique characters and locations not mentioned in any other chapter. At least a dozen characters are first introduced and die in the same chapter. While they are important, it may have been easier to read if some characters from the anecdotes were mentioned before or after. However, it is an important addition to a Midle-Earth lover’s collection, and has a extremely interesting and (excessively) detailed world in which the numerous characters live and do battle. It is important to understand some events and characters in the trilogy and //The Hobbit//, such as many of the tales Aragorn tells Frodo, and is an interesting read once one gets absorbed in it. It should, however, be noted that Tolkien was not finished with //The Silmarillion// at the time of his death, ergo it was hardly more than a rough draft when it was published, and was messier than his earlier books. The dissimilarity can be explained by the fact that //The Silmarillion// was started before any of his other works, and worked on throughout Tolkien’s life. It is probably the most important Tolkien book after //The Lord of the Rings// and //The Hobbit//, and a must read for nerdy Tolkien completists.
 * //The Silmarillion//**