<![CDATA[The Silmarillion]]>

false <![CDATA[The Silmarillion]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255678090m/7332.jpg 7332 130 The tales of The Silmarillion were the underlying inspiration and source of J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginative writing; he worked on the book throughout his life but never brought it to a final form. Long preceding in its origins The Lord of the Rings, it is the story of the First Age of Tolkien's world, the ancient drama to which characters in The Lord of the RIngs look back and in which some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part. The title Silmarillion is shortened from Quenta Silmarillion, "The History of the Silmarils," the three great jewels created by Feanor, most gifted of the Elves, in which he imprisoned the light of the Two Trees that illumined Valinor, the land of the gods. When Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, destroyed the Trees, that light lived on only in the Silmarils; Morgoth seized them and set them in his crown, guarded in the impenetrable fortress of Angband in the north of Middle-earth. The Silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of Feanor and his people against the gods, their exile in Middle-earth, and their war, hopeless despite all the heroisim of Elves and Men, against the great Enemy. The book includes several other, shorter works beside The Silmarillion proper. Preceding it are "Ainulindale," the myth of Creation, and "Valaquenta," in which the nature and powers of each of the gods is set forth. After The Silmarillion is "Akallabeth," the story of the downfall of the great island kingdom of Numenor at the end of the Second Age; completing the volume is "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age," in which the events of The Lord of the Rings are treated in the manner of The Silmarillion. This new edition of The Silmarillion contains the revised and corrected "second edition" text and, by way of introduction, a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1951, which provides a brilliant exposition of his conception of the earlier Ages. It also contains almost fifty full-color illustrations by the artist Ted Nasmith, many of which appear for the first time. 4733799 book 1977 The Silmarillion total:14598|5:4279|4:3976|3:3895|2:1761|1:687| 14598 53193 19207 1065 5 8 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1980 Fri May 11 11:07:26 -0700 2007 Sat May 12 10:43:30 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 3 false false Sat Feb 09 15:34:28 -0800 2008 Sun May 18 20:11:21 -0700 2008 When Owen Barfield read poetry, he would at times come across a passage which would impress him very strongly. It would cause what he ...more...]]> 5 2 false false Wed Jul 09 12:45:37 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 09 12:45:57 -0700 2008 the Lord of the Rings, which s...more...]]> 1 2 false false Fri Aug 04 00:00:00 -0700 2000 Mon Feb 11 06:23:52 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 11 06:23:52 -0800 2008
In the sixties, something changed. Perhaps Mother Church realized that people were turning away from her; perhaps a cadre of teachers decided the younger generation needed to get in touch with its cultural roots; whatever. We ended up wi...more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Feb 07 07:40:11 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 07 08:08:14 -0800 2008 J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings in 1976 and have prized it above all since then, yet I didn't finish reading the Silmarillion until 2007, 30 years after having received the first edition as a gift from my freshman English professor.

All that I valued about LOTR was multiplied ...more...]]> 5 2 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 10 23:21:53 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 24 10:09:15 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 3 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Sep 12 09:17:34 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 12 09:19:36 -0700 2007 4 3 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Sat Oct 04 06:19:31 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 04 06:32:19 -0700 2008 3 The Bible for J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth. It's the first book Tolkien started working on in 1917, and he continued working on it until his death. It was actually edited and published by Tolkien's son Christopher Tolkien.

The book is not nearly as prosaic as The Hobbit...more...]]> 4 2 false true Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1978 Fri Apr 18 21:31:17 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 01 19:06:27 -0800 2009 The Silmarillion, I thought to take this opportunity to review this volume of Tolkien's posthumously published works (which I first read 30 years ago). I'll be posting this review here and with the hardcopy version of the book.

F...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Mon May 07 14:16:00 -0700 2007 Mon May 07 14:22:24 -0700 2007 the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This book is a must for anyone interested in devouring more history of Middle Earth. It details the beginnings of Middle Earth, the creation of Elves, Dwarves, and Men and the subsequent re...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Oct 15 00:00:00 -0700 2002 Wed Apr 09 19:55:18 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 09 09:28:53 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 3 false false Mon Jul 02 10:45:06 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 02 10:48:35 -0700 2007
The prolgue about the creation ...more...]]> 5 2 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1996 Sat Jan 12 23:30:52 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 18 13:18:11 -0800 2008 LOTR is incredible, but in my opinion, the war of the ring just doesn't hold up to the stories inside The Silmarillion. The heroes inside these pages are so much more mythic, audacious and awe-inspiring than those of the latter age. In the grand scheme of...more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sat Dec 06 00:41:14 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 06 01:01:16 -0800 2008 2 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Nov 21 06:29:33 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 21 06:32:36 -0800 2008 1
I found it to be one of the best books I have ever read. The back story it provided to the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit books was highly enterta...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Mar 31 15:12:33 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 15:20:00 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Nov 16 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 24 08:26:19 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 24 08:40:49 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Mon Aug 31 15:43:07 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 15:52:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 16:17:30 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 16:25:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jun 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 10:08:24 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 10:29:34 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=7332