The Silmarillion Review

Review of “The Silmarillion”

By: JRR Tolkien

            This was the creation story of Middle Earth and the history leading up to the third age when Sauron created the rings and the war between the beings of Middle Earth and Sauron.

            “The Silmarillion” was organized into five distinctive parts that gave the history of Middle Earth up until the third age.  Tolkien started with the creation story via Iluvatar and Valar.  Iluvatar was like God, Melkor was the Devil, and the Valar were like the Angels.  The third part was the story of the Silmarils and the wars with Melkor, whose name was changed to Morgoth. The last two parts covered “The Fall of Numenor” and related the events of the third age, which were what “Lord of the Rings” was about. 

            Unlike “Lord of the Rings” this read more like a folktale with an omnipresent narrator telling the reader about this history. The narrator put the reader at a distance as if you’re watching from above instead of being immersed in the story. It was also very dense with details and names of beings and places that were confusing at times, and I had to reread some parts where he first them introduced certain characters. Tolkien did include family trees and a pronunciation guide, which helped me. I learned what I got wrong when saying the names as I read them.  

At the same time, Tolkien also included the story of “Beren and Luthien”, which I had a hard time following when I read the separate format of an epic poem due to my struggling to follow along with epic poetry. “Children of Hurin” was also included and it was able to prepare me for when I read my separate copy of the story.  

I would recommend this for the hardcore Tolkien fans who want to dive deep into the world of Middle Earth.  It was harder to read “The Silmarillion than the “Lord of the Rings”, because of how dense “The Silmarillion” was and how it read like the Christian Bible or a textbook.  I would also compare it to “Fire and Blood” by George RR Martin, but shorter in length because it wasn’t a detailed account of ruling families. I loved this for the history of Middle Earth that Tolkien created and how much effort he put into it. He writes like a professor, which isn’t for everyone, but it is for me. I wish I could do that, but I’m lazier than Tolkien. I also have more distractions than Tolkien.