Silmarillion is a collection of mitopoeic works by English author JRR Tolkien, edited and published posthumously by his son, Christopher Tolkien, in 1977, with the help of Guy Gavriel Kay. The Silmarillion, along with other JRR Tolkien's works, form a broad, though incomplete, narrative describing the EÃÆ'¤ universe where the Valinor, Beleriand, NÃÆ'Âmenmenor, and Middle-earth lands are found in where The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings occurs.
After the success of The Hobbit , Tolkien's publisher asked for a sequel. Tolkien sent them an early draft of The Silmarillion but, due to a misunderstanding, the publisher rejected the draft without fully reading it. The result is that Tolkien started working on "A Long Expected Party", the first chapter of what he described at the time as "a new story about the Hobbits", which became The Lord of the Rings .
The Silmarillion consists of five parts. The first part, AinulindalÃÆ'Â <, tells of the creation of EÃÆ'¤, "the world that is ". Valaquenta , the second part, gives a description of Valar and Maiar, supernatural powers at EÃÆ'¤. The next section, Quenta Silmarillion , which forms most of the collection, tells the history of events before and during the First Age, including the war over Silmaril who gave the title book. The fourth part, AkallabÃÆ'ªth , tells the history of the Fall of the NÃÆ'ºmenor and its people, which occurred in the Second Age. The final section, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age , is a brief description of the circumstances that are caused and presented in The Lord of the Rings .
The first five sections are separate works, but they are Tolkien's senior express wishes published together. Because J. R. R. Tolkien died before he finished revising legends, Christopher collected material from his older father's writings to fill the book. In some cases, this means that he has to design a completely new material to address the gaps and inconsistencies in the narrative.
Video The Silmarillion
Overview
The Silmarillion , like Tolkien's other Middle-earth writings, is meant to happen sometime in Earth's past. In accordance with this idea, The Silmarillion is meant to have been translated into three volumes of Bilbo Translation of Elvish , which he wrote while in Rivendell.
The chapters in this book include:
- "The Music of the Ainur"
- "Quenta Silmarillion" (Silmaril history and Noldor war against Morgoth)
- "From Beren and LÃÆ'Â ºthien"
- "TÃÆ'ºrin Turambar" (closely related to "Narn i ChÃÆ'®n HÃÆ'ºrin: The Story of the HÃÆ'Â º ºrin Children" in Unfinished Tales and HÃÆ'Â ºrin Children )
- "About Tuor and Fall of Gondolin"
- "From the Voyage of EÃÆ'¤rendil and the Anger War"
The title page contains inscriptions written in Tengwar. In the general manuscript, it reads "The Times of the First Age when Morgoth settled in the Middle and Elf World to wage war on it for the restoration of the Silmaril which added the destruction of NÃÆ'ºmenor and the History of the Power of Strength and the Third Age in which these stories came to an end."
Maps The Silmarillion
Synopsis
Ainulindalë and Valaquenta
The first part of The Silmarillion, Ainulindal's ("The Music of the Ainur"), takes the form of a primary creation narrative. Eru ("The One"), also called IlÃÆ'ºvatar ("Father of All"), first created the Ainur, a group of spirits or half-timeless, called "the descendant of his mind". IlÃÆ'ºvatar brought the Ainur together and showed them the theme, from which he ordered them to make great music. Melkor - the IlÃÆ'ºvatar has given "the greatest strength and knowledge" of all Ainur - broke out of the musical harmony to develop his own song. Some Ainur join him, while others continue to follow IlÃÆ'ºvatar, causing discord in music. This happened three times, with Eru IlÃÆ'ºvatar succeeding in defeating his rebellious subordinates with new themes each time. IlÃÆ'ºvatar then stopped the music and showed them the vision of Arda and his community. Vision disappears after a while, and IlÃÆ'ºvatar offers an opportunity to Ainur to enter Arda and regulate the new world.
Many Ainur came down, took physical form and became attached to that world. The larger Ainur is known as the Valar, while the lower Ainur is called the Maiar. The Valar seeks to prepare the world for the inhabitants to come (Elves and Men), while Melkor, who wants Arda for himself, repeatedly destroys their work; this lasted for thousands of years until, through the wave of destruction and creation, the world began to form.
Valaquenta ("Valar Account") describes Melkor and each of 14 Valar in detail, as well as some Maiar. It also reveals how Melkor seduced many Maiar people - including those who would eventually become Sauron and Balrogs - became his servants.
Quenta Silmarillion
Quenta Silmarillion ("The History of the Silmarils"), composing most of the books, is a series of interconnected stories set in the First Age which formed the tragic story of the three gems, Silmarils.
The Valar has been trying for the fashion world for Elves and Men, but Melkor continues to destroy their work. After he destroyed the two lights that illuminated the world, Valar moved to Aman, a continent west of Middle-earth, where they built a house called Valinor. Yavanna created the Two Trees that illuminated Valinor and left Middle-earth into darkness and Melkor. Soon after, the stars made by Varda began to shine and the Elves woke up. The elves initially formed three groups: Vanyar, Noldor, and Teleri, although some elves were captured and enslaved by Melkor, who eventually grew up into orcs. Knowing the dangers faced by the Elves, Valar decided to fight Melkor to keep the Elf safe. After defeating and capturing Melkor, they invite the Elves to stay in Aman. Many Elves went to Aman, while others refused and others stopped along the way, including the Elf who later became Sindar, ruled by King Elf Thingol and Melian, a Maia. Of the three established tribes, all Vanyar and Noldor, and many Teleri reach the Safe.
In Aman, FÃÆ' Â «anor, son of FinwÃÆ'«, King Noldor, creates Silmaril, a gem that shines with the light of Two Trees. Melkor, who was detained in captivity by Valar, was finally released after pretending to be converted. Once released, Melkor tricked FÃÆ'® anor into believing that his half-brother Fingolfin was trying a coup against the FinwÃÆ'Â «. This rift caused the expulsion of FÃÆ' Â «anor from the town of Noldor Tirion, and FÃÆ'« anor then created the Formenos fortress to the North of Tirion. FinwÃÆ' Â «moved to Formenos to stay with FÃÆ'« anor, her favorite of three sons, and there they safely guarded the Silmarils. After many years, FÃÆ' Â «anor went to Tirion to make amends with Fingolfin, while FinwÃÆ'« stayed in Formenos. While repairing, Melkor destroys Two Trees with the help of Ungoliant, a Melkor dark spider found in Avathar, on the southeast side of Safe. Together, Melkor and Ungoliant then escape to Formenos, kill the FinwÃÆ' Â «, steal the Silmarils, and flee to Middle-earth. Melkor guarded the Silmarils and drove the Ungoliant, then attacked the Doriath Empire. He was defeated in the first five battles in Beleriand, and fortified himself in the northern fortress of Angband.
FÃÆ' Â «anor and his sons swear revenge against Melkor - and against whomever restrains Silmaril from them, even Valar. FÃÆ' Â «anor persuaded most of Noldor to pursue Melkor, whom FÃÆ'« anor renamed Morgoth, became Middle-earth. FÃÆ' Â «anor son seized the ship from Teleri, attacked and killed many of them, and left the other Noldor to make the voyage on foot. Upon arriving in Middle-earth, Noldor under FÃÆ'Â «anor attacked Melkor and defeated his host, though FÃÆ'« anor was killed by Balrogs. After a period of peace, Melkor attacked Noldor but was again defeated and besieged. Nearly 400 years later, he broke the siege and drove Noldor back.
After the destruction of the Tree and the theft of Silmaril, Valar creates the moon and the sun. At the same time, Humans awakened, some of them then arriving in Beleriand and in communion with the Elves. Beren, a man who survived the final battle, wanders to Doriath, where he falls in love with the elf LÃÆ'ºthien, the princess's daughter. The king tried to prevent their marriage by imposing what he believed was an impossible task: take one of Silmaril from Melkor. But together, Beren and LÃÆ'ºthien begin this quest. Sauron, a powerful Melkor servant, imprisoned Beren along the way; but with the help of LÃÆ'ºthien he escaped, crept into the castle Melkor, and stole Silmaril from the crown Melkor. Upon reaching the task, the first union of man and the fairy is formed, although Beren is immediately severely injured and LÃÆ'ºthien also dies of sadness. But he convinces Vala Mandos to revive Beren and himself, even though he must abandon his immortality.
The Noldor, seeing that a mortal and an elf-woman can infiltrate Angband, feel that Melkor is not invincible. They struck again with a large army of Elves, Dwarves and Men. But they were deceived by Melkor, who had secretly darkened the hearts of many men. Thus is that the Elf Master has been completely defeated, partly due to the betrayal of some Men. However, many Men remain loyal to the Elf and are respected afterwards.
No one receives more honor than the HÃÆ'ºrin and Huor brothers. Huor was killed in battle, but Melkor captured HÃÆ'ºrin, and cursed him for witnessing the fall of his relative. HÃÆ'ºrin's son, TÃÆ'ºrin Turambar, was sent to Doriath, leaving his mother and his unborn sister behind his father's kingdom (which had been occupied by the enemy). TÃÆ'ºrin achieved many great deeds of courage, the greatest being the defeat of the dragon Glaurung. Despite his heroism, however, TÃÆ'ºrin was beset by Melkor's curse, which caused him to unknowingly kill his friend Beleg and to marry and impregnate his sister Nienor, whom he had never met before, and who had lost his memory through Glaurung's charm. Before their child was born, the witch was lifted when the dragon was dying. Nienor, realizing what grows inside her, takes her own life. After knowing the truth, TÃÆ'ºrin threw himself into his sword.
Son Huor, Tuor, was involved in the fate of the hidden Gondolin Noldorin kingdom. She is married to elf Idril, daughter of Turgon, Lord of Gondolin (second association between Elves and Men). When Gondolin fell, betrayed by Maeglin, Tuor saved many of its inhabitants from destruction. All the Elven kingdoms in Beleriand finally fell, and refugees fled to the seaside paradise created by Tuor. Son Tuor and Idril, Eärendil the Half-elven, are engaged to Elwing, himself a descendant of Beren and LÃÆ'ºthien. Elwing carries EÃÆ'¤rendil Silmaril from Beren and LÃÆ'ºthien, and uses EÃÆ'¤rendil light across the ocean to Aman to seek help from Valar. The Valar is obliged; they attacked and defeated Melkor, completely destroying his fort, Angband, and drowned most of Beleriand; and they drove Melkor from Arda. It ended the First World Middle Age. The last two Silmarils were taken by the surviving FÃÆ'¡oror boys, Maedhros and Maglor. However, Maedhros committed suicide by jumping into the fiery valley with Silmaril while Maglor threw it into the sea and spent the rest of his days wandering along the world's beach, singing his sorrow.
Eärendil and Elwing have two children: Elrond and Elros. As descendants of eternal elves and mortals, they were given the choice of which lineages included: Elrond chose to belong to Elves, his brother to Men. Elros became the first king of NÃÆ'Âmenmenor and lived up to the age of 500, given the extended life in exchange for choosing to be Man.
Akallabêth
Akallabêth ("The Downfallen") consists of about 30 pages, and recounts the rise and fall of the royal empire of NÃÆ'ºmenor, inhabited by DÃÆ'Â ºnedain. After the defeat of Melkor, the Valar gave the island to three faithful houses of People who had helped the Elves in the war against him. Through Valar's kindness, DÃÆ'ºnedain was given wisdom and strength and a more enduring life than any other transient race, making them comparable to the High Priest from Aman. Indeed, the NÃÆ'ºmenor island is closer to Aman than Middle-earth. But their strength lies in their happiness and their acceptance of mortality. The fall of NÃÆ'ºmenor appears in large numbers through the influence of corrupt Maia Sauron (Melkor's headmistress), who rose during the Second Age and tried to conquer Central Europe.
The NÃÆ'ºmenÃÆ'³reans moves against Sauron, who sees that he can not defeat them by force and allow himself taken as a captive to the NÃÆ'ºmenor. There he quickly fascinated the king, Ar-PharazÃÆ''n, urging him to seek for eternity that Valar apparently denied himself, thus nourishing the enviable seed that NÃÆ'ºmenÃÆ'³reans began to hold against the Elves of the West and Valar. So it is that all knowledge and power of NÃÆ'ºmenor are changing towards seeking the avoidance of death; but this only weakens them and accelerates the gradual waning of life spans into something more akin to other Humans. Sauron urged them to fight against Valar himself to win immortality, and to worship his master Melkor, who he said could grant their wishes. Ar-PharazÃÆ''n creates the strongest army and the NÃÆ'ºmenor fleet has seen it, and sailed against Aman. The Valar and the Elf of Aman, beset by sorrow for their treachery, enlisted the help of IlÃÆ'ºvatar. When Ar-PharazÃÆ''n lands, IlÃÆ'ºvatar destroys the fleet and drowns the NÃÆ'ºmenor himself as a punishment for the rebellion against the legitimate power of Valar. IlÃÆ'ºvatar creates huge waves, like never seen, which are completely destroyed and submerged isle of NÃÆ'ºmenor, killing all but they are DÃÆ'ºnedain who have sailed east, and changed the shape of all the land of Middle-earth.
Sauron's physical manifestation was also destroyed in the ruins of NÃÆ'Âmenmenor, but as Maia, his spirits returned to Middle-earth, could no longer afford to take upon him the fair form he had ever had. Some NÃÆ' º ÃÆ'  ¢ ÃÆ'  ¢ à ¢ 'à ¥ reans remain loyal to Valar safely and drift on the shores of Middle-earth. Among those who survived were Elendil their leader, the descendants of Elros, and his two sons Isildur and AnÃÆ'¡rion who also saved the seedlings of the white tree of NÃÆ'ºmenor, the ancestor of Gondor. They founded the Kingdom of NÃÆ'ºmenÃÆ'³rean at the Exile: Arnor to the north and Gondor to the south. Elendil ruled as a high king of both kingdoms, but committed the Gondor government together for Isildur and AnÃÆ'¡rion. The power of the separatist government was greatly diminished from NÃÆ'Âmenmenor, "but it is great for Middle-earth wild men".
In the end, it is mentioned that the drowned Naas is called "AtalantÃÆ'« ", a name not used when it exists. This led many readers to the conclusion that the NÃÆ'ºor is Atlantis; This direct link, however, was rejected by Tolkien himself, who insisted that it was a reasonable word following Quenya's construction.
From the Circle of Power and the Third Age
The closing section of the book, consisting of about 20 pages, describes the events that occurred in Middle-earth during the Second and Third Century. In the Second Age, Sauron emerged as a major force in Middle-earth, and Rings of Power was forged by Elves led by Celebrimbor. Sauron secretly forges his own ring to control the other, which causes a war between the people of Middle-earth and Sauron, culminating in the Last Alliance War, where the Elves and the rest of ºmenÃÆ'³reans unite to defeat Sauron, bringing the Second Age. ends. The Third Age began with the passage of the Ring to Isildur, who was ambushed at Gladden Fields shortly after, and lost the ring on the Anduin River. This passage also provides a brief description of the events that occurred and took place in the Lord of the Rings , including the waning of Gondor, the reappearance of Sauron, the White Council, Saruman's treachery, and the final destruction of Sauron along with Ring One, the age of magic ends.
Concepts and creations
Text development
Tolkien first began working on the stories that would become The Silmarillion in 1914, making it a British mythology that would explain the origins of British history and culture. Most of this early work was written when Tolkien, then an English officer who returned from France during World War I, was in hospital and sick leave. He completed his first story, "The Fall of Gondolin", at the end of 1916.
He calls the collection of his newborn stories The Book of Lost Tales . This became the name for the first two volumes of The History of Middle-earth, which included these early texts. The narratives use a narrative device from a sailor named Eriol (in later versions, an Anglo-Saxon named ÃÆ'â € lfwine) who discovered the island of Tol EressÃÆ'Â a a, where the Elves live; and Elves tell their history. However, Tolkien never finished The Book of Lost Tales ; he left it to compose the poems of "The Lay of Leithian" and "The Lay of the Children of HÃÆ'ºrin".
The first complete version of The Silmarillion is the "Sketch of Mythology" written in 1926 (later published in Volume IV of The History of Middle-earth). "Sketch" is a 28 page synopsis written to explain the background of the TÃÆ'ºrin story to R. W. Reynolds, a friend Tolkien sent several stories. From "Sketches" Tolkien developed a more complete version of the narrative of The Silmarillion called Quenta Noldorinwa (also included in Volume IV). The Quenta Noldorinwa is the final version of The Silmarillion completed by Tolkien.
In 1937, driven by the success of The Hobbit , Tolkien handed over to his publisher George Allen & amp; Unwin incomplete but fuller versions of The Silmarillion are called Quenta Silmarillion , but they reject the work as vague and "too Celtic". The publisher even asked Tolkien to write a sequel to The Hobbit . Tolkien began to revise The Silmarillion, but soon turned to the sequel, which became The Lord of the Rings . He renewed his work on The Silmarillion after completing The Lord of the Rings, and he was desperate to publish the two works together. But when it became clear that it would not be possible, Tolkien turned his full attention to prepare for The Lord of the Rings for publication.
In the late 1950s Tolkien returned to The Silmarillion, but much of his writing from this period paid more attention to the theological and philosophical foundations of the work than to the narrative itself. At the moment, he has doubts about the fundamental aspects of the work that goes back to the earliest version of the story, and it seems he feels the need to solve this problem before he can produce an "end" version of The Silmarillion . During this time he wrote extensively on topics such as the nature of evil in Arda, the origin of Orcs, Elf customs, the nature and means of the Elevent birth, and the "flat" world and the story of the Sun and the Moon.. However, with one or two exceptions, he made slight changes to the narrative during the rest of his life.
Posthumous publication
For several years after his father's death, Christopher Tolkien composed the Silmarillion narrative. Christopher's intentions seem to be mostly using his father's latest writings so he can, and to maintain internal consistency (and consistency with The Lord of the Rings) as well as possible, although he acknowledges that complete consistency is impossible. As described in The History of Middle-earth , Christopher drew many sources for his narrative, relying on post-Lord of the Rings work, if possible, but eventually regained as far back as 1917 Book of Lost Tales to fill in the sections of the narration his father planned to write but never discussed. In the next chapter of Quenta Silmarillion, "About Doriath Destruction", which has not been touched since the early 1930s, he had to build a practical narrative from scratch. The final result, which included the first genealogy, maps, indexes and lists of Elvis words released, was published in 1977. Due to Christopher's extensive explanation (in Middle Eastern History) how he collected published works, many of The Silmarillion has been disputed by readers. Christopher's duties were generally accepted as very difficult given the circumstances of his father's texts at the time of his death: some critical texts no longer exist in the possession of the Tolkien family, and Christopher's task forces him to break most of the material. Christopher reveals in the following volumes about The History of Middle-earth, many different ideas that are inconsistent with the published version. Christopher Tolkien has suggested that, if he takes more time and has access to all texts, he may have produced far different works. But he was forced by the pressure and great demand from his father's readers and publishers to produce something published as soon as possible.
In October 1996, Christopher Tolkien commissioned Ted Nasmith's illustrator to create colorful works for the first edition of The Silmarillion . It was published in 1998, and followed in 2004 by a second edition featuring additional corrections and artwork by Nasmith.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Christopher Tolkien published most of his father's Middle-earth writings as the 12-volume series The History of Middle-earth. In addition to the original source and conceptual material of some parts of the The Lord of the Rings , these books greatly expand on the original material published in The Silmarillion, and in many different cases of the. There were many things Tolkien intended to revise but only sketched in the notes, and some new texts appeared after the publication of The Silmarillion . These books also clarify how unfinished the last part of The Silmarillion: some sections have never been rewritten after the initial version in Lost Tales.
Influences
The Silmarillion is a complex job that shows the influence of many sources. The main influence is the Finnish epic Kalevala , especially the story of Kullervo. The influence of Greek mythology is also clear. The island of NÃÆ'ºmenor, for example, reminds Atlantis. This, however, Tolkien later described in a letter to Christopher Bretherton just as "a strange occasion".
Greek mythology also colored Valar, who borrowed many of the attributes of the Olympian gods. The Valar, like the Olympians, lives in the world, but on a high mountain, separated from humans; But correspondence is only an estimate; Valar also contains elements of Norse mythology. Some of the Valar have characteristics that resemble various ÃÆ' â € sir, the Asgard gods. Thor, for example, physically the strongest of the gods, can be seen both in Oromó, against the Melkor monster, and at Tulkas, the most physically powerful of the Valar. ManwÃÆ' Â «, head of Valar, shows some similarities with Odin," Allfather ". Tolkien also said that he saw Maia OlÃÆ'³rin (Gandalf) as the "Odinic traveler".
The influence of traditional Christian Bible and narrative is seen in The Silmarillion in the conflict between Melkor and Eru IlÃÆ'ºvatar, parallel to the polarity of Lucifer and God. Furthermore, The Silmarillion tells the story of the creation and fall of the Elves, such as Genesis that tell about the creation and fall of Man. Like all Tolkien's works, The Silmarillion allows space for later Christian history, and one concept even has Finrod, the character in The Silmarillion, speculating on the need for the Eru (God) Incarnation finally to save humanity.
Medieval Christian cosmology shows its influence primarily in the story of the creation of the universe as a manifestation of the kind of hymn sung by God who was coordinated by the angels until the fallen angel introduced the dispute. Stories of St. Augustine's music, as well as the broad medieval tradition of divine harmony - is more familiar to us today in the idea of ​​"ball music" - serves as the basis for the story of this creation.
Celtic mythology shows its influence in Elf Noldorin's exile, for example, which borrows elements from the Irish legend of Tuatha DÃÆ' Â © Danann. The Welsh influence is seen in the Sindarin Elf, which Tolkien gives "very similar linguistic characters (though not synonymous with" English-Welsh... because it seems to fit the kind of legend and the somewhat 'Celtic' story narrated from his speakers. "
Critical response
At the time of release, the review on The Silmarillion was generally mixed with the negatives. The Silmarillion was criticized for being too serious, lacking the lightest moments found in The Lord of the Rings and especially The Hobbit. The Time Magazine complains that "there are none, unified searches and, above all, no brother band for readers to identify with". Other criticisms include hard-to-read ancient languages ​​and many difficult and difficult names to remember.
Robert M. Adams of The New York Review of Books calls The Silmarillion an empty and arrogant hole, not a literary event of magnitude, and even claims that the main reason for "extraordinary sales" is the "Tolkien cult" created by the popularity of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, predicts that more people will buy The Silmarillion than anyone has ever read it. The School Journal Library calls it "only postscript born dead" for Tolkien's earlier works. Peter Conrad of New Statesman goes even further by saying that "Tolkien can not really write".
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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