The Silmarillion

J.R.R. Tolkien Forum

Have you read the Silmarillion? What are your thoughts on it? or

I haven't read it. I heard that it's kind of dry, and very complicated. Only for die hard Tolkein fans. What did you think about it?

i liked it. it did get confusing since half the elves names mentioned in the book start with the letter f. and the first chapter is rather dry, but once you get past that it gets interesting. also included is the rise and fall of numenor.

definitely although i forgot most of the names in it. It's more of a history book, or a collection of old legends. I guess if you like that sort of things you'll llike silmarillion too. And/or if you're a die hard fan.

Well I gave it a . I did have a hard time with all of the F names.

Finrod, Feanor, Fingon, Faramir...oops..wrong book.
but all the elven names seem to start with either f or c...and all the human names sound the same...

I'm working on the book now. Haven't gotten far. I am currently reading Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and Silmarillion simultaneously.

The first part I found boring, you know the creation of the world and existance through songs and the curruption of Maiar spirits by Melkor and the war of the Valar on Melkor and the destruction of the Lamps.

It got alot better when you get to the Quenta Silmarillion chapters. It was a bit long winded in places but altogether it was a good read.

I have only just finished reading the very 1st chapter and what is all this nonsense of it being dry?

I loved it. It talks about the creation of life, light, darkness, good, and evil. All the good elements of a fantasy world.! I enjoyed reading it and now am looking forward to the parts that eveyone thinks are better then the 1st chapter.

I think it just takes a bit to commit the names to memory.

The names are what make the book hard to read. Now I am going to go back and re read the book again, now that I have a good base. And reading the first chapter again, now that I know the story, it isn't as dry as before. Very biblical in a way.
I also found it hard to keep all the locations straight. And the map in the book doesn't really help.

What is that map of exactly?

I believe the map is of Middle Earth before the Numenorians. It shows the elf Kindoms of Thingol ect.

really, coulda fooled me. Maybe i should read the rest now