The Silmarillion, J R R Tolkien, ed. Christopher Tolkien

The Silmarillion is a collection of works that were posthumously published by his son, Christopher Tolkien in 1977 with the assistance of Guy Gavriel Kay. It describes the universe of Eä,of which Middle Earth is part of. The world of Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit.

It is written in five parts. The first part, the Ainulindalë (“The Music of the Ainur”), describes the creation of Eä by Eru (or Ilúvatar). Ilúvatar first created the Ainur, the “Offspring of his thought”. He then brought the Ainur together and showed them a theme. From this the Ainur made great music. Melkor, the most powerful of the Ainur, broke the harmony of the music to develop his own song. Every time this happened Eru overpowered him and a vision of Arda (a new world) was created.
The second part, the Valaquenta, gives a description of the Valar (the Ainur who descended to the new world, taking physical form) and Maiar (the lesser Ainur). The Valar’s aim was to prepare the world for the coming of elves and men. Their work was destroyed by Melkor, who wanted Arda for himself.
The third section, the Quenta Silmarillion, forms the main part of the book. This is a series of interconnected tales set in the First Age. It tells of the saga of the simarills (the three jewels), the movement of the Vanir to Valinor (in Aman). It also tells the tragic love story of Beren, a man and the elf Lúthien, which must’ve been important to J R R Tolkien. He had the name Lúthien inscribed next to his wife’s name on her grave. Later, after he died, the name Beren was inscribed next to his.
The fourth part, Akallabêth, tells of the story of the rise and fall of Numenor and its people in the Second Age. How Sauron poisoned the mind of the king Ar-Pharazôn into taking action against the Valar in a war to take immortality from them.
The final part, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, describes the events that lead up to The Lord of the Rings. It tells of the rings of power and the one ring, the white council and the treachery of Saroman.

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to have a greater understanding of the world of Lord of the Rings. Tolkien has given his readers such an expansive world to explore. It seems so complete, without boundaries. All the books combine to give us a perfect mythology. The Lord of the Ring’s gives us the legendary battles, the Silmarillion gives us it’s mythic start.

When the book first came out it was critisized, unfairly I believe, for not having the same excitement and adventure that Lord of the Rings had. Lord of the Rings had the advantage of following the exploits of a number of identifiable characters that readers could relate to. This was not the purpose of the Silmarillion. It was there to put Lord of the Rings into a larger picture and explain the origins of this world. It adds to the other books of Middle Earth by giving it a creation myth. It shows how light and dark came into the universe. It adds a certain mysticism to the world. Morgoth creates his own Pandemonium. Sauron’s corruption of man and his early incarnation mirroring his own corruption of form is quite luciferesque.