The Encyclopedia of Arda - Silmarillion (original) (raw)

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Dates Constituent parts date back to the First Age; assembled into a complete narrative between III 3003 and III 3021 Location The tales of The Silmarillion take place primarily in Beleriand and its neighbouring lands Origins Assembled from ancient works by various authors into a coherent narrative by Bilbo Baggins Race Primarily concerned with Elves, and those Men of the Edain who later joined them Pronunciation silmari'llion Meaning The full title, Quenta Silmarillion, means 'History of the Silmarils' Other names Composed from several works, of which Quenta Silmarillion forms the main narrative Indexes: Alphabetical: S Songs, Lays and Tales About this entry: Updated 20 March 2004 This entry is complete ‘Of the Silmarils’ Years of the Trees First Age I Second Age II Third Age III Fourth Age IV While Bilbo Baggins dwelt in Rivendell, he made use of all the resources there (including the memories of living Elves) to write four scholarly volumes bound in red leather. The first of these, the Red Book of Westmarch, was continued by Bilbo's heir, Frodo. It was copied many times, and became the original source for our modern The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbits of the Shire, though, seem to have had less interest in the other three volumes, originally entitled simply Translations from the Elvish, that told the tales of the ancient First Age going back to the making of the world. Only one copy was made, in Gondor in IV 172, and this was kept at Great Smials by the Took family, and it thus became known as the Thain's Book. It is from this copy that The Silmarillion in its modern form derives.1 The Silmarillion, which in its own words passes 'from the high and the beautiful to darkness and ruin'2 actually consists of a corpus of five works, of which the Quenta Silmarillion is the central tale. These are:*Ainulindalë, the tale of the Music of the Ainur and the creation of Arda.Valaquenta, the tale of the Valar, in which the nature of each of the Powers is described.Quenta Silmarillion, the longest tale, which gives an account of the history of Arda from its beginnings until the end of the First Age.Akallabêth, the tale of the Second Age, which concentrates on the history of Númenor until its Downfall.Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, which spans the late Second Age and the Third, telling of the forging of the Rings of Power and their history up to the War of the Ring. The documents that lay behind these works came from various sources. Ainulindalë, for example, was a very ancient work attributed to Rúmil the sage of Tirion. The Quenta Silmarillion* itself seems to have been developed in Númenor during the Second Age, though parts of it (particularly the Narn i Chîn Húrin) were said to date back to the First Age. The final section, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age must have different origins than the rest of the work. It cannot have been written or translated by Bilbo, since it contains an account of his own departure from Middle-earth. Its source is never stated directly, but a short reference about Peregrin Took in the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings provides a hint: '...he and his successors collected many manuscripts written by scribes of Gondor: mainly copies or summaries of histories or legends relating to Elendil and his heirs.' This was the likely route by which Of the Rings of Power (and probably also Akallabêth) came to be included in the Thain's Book. Notes 1 Within the context of Tolkien's tales, of course. The Silmarillion was actually written and rewritten over a period of some sixty years by J.R.R. Tolkien, and edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher. 2 From the last words of Quenta Silmarillion, in Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath. See also... Aldaron, Angainor, Beleriand, Beren, Children of Earth, Doors of Angband, Doves, Eledhwen, Elvenesse, Fire-drakes, Foamriders, Gates of Summer, Gethron, Glamhoth, Goblins, [See the full list...]Good People, Great Hall of Osgiliath, Hells of Iron, House of Finrod, House of the Golden Flower, Indor, Inglorion, Menelvagor, Middle-earth, Narrow Ice, Nómin, Phantoms, Power of Terror and of Hate, Quenta Silmarillion, Red Book of Westmarch, Rhûn, Salmar, Spyhill, Teleporno, The Abyss, The Ever-young, ‘The Fall of Gondolin’, The Wise, Timeless Halls, ‘Translations from the Elvish’, Urwen, Vairë, Vása, Walls of the World, Woodwose Indexes: Alphabetical: S Songs, Lays and Tales About this entry: Updated 20 March 2004 This entry is complete For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page. Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1998, 2000, 2004. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ. Website services kindly sponsored by myDISCprofile, the free online personality test.How do your personal strengths fit in with career matching? How can you identify them? Try a free personality test from myDISCprofile.

The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien

ALPHABETICAL RACES PLACES MISCELLANEOUS REFERENCE INTERACTIVE

SHARE User guide Latest entries FAQ and e-mail Disclaimer and bibliography Awards Old and rare words Lexicon of names Excyclopedia of Arda Movie-goer's Guides: • The Fellowship of the Ring • The Two Towers • The Return of the King The Hobbit Viewer's Companions: • An Unexpected Journey • The Desolation of Smaug • The Battle of the Five Armies Tolkien links Book news Latest Chronicle Calendar Old and rare words Lexicon of names Links Random

Dates Constituent parts date back to the First Age; assembled into a complete narrative between III 3003 and III 3021 Location The tales of The Silmarillion take place primarily in Beleriand and its neighbouring lands Origins Assembled from ancient works by various authors into a coherent narrative by Bilbo Baggins Race Primarily concerned with Elves, and those Men of the Edain who later joined them Pronunciation silmari'llion Meaning The full title, Quenta Silmarillion, means 'History of the Silmarils' Other names Composed from several works, of which Quenta Silmarillion forms the main narrative Indexes: Alphabetical: S Songs, Lays and Tales About this entry: Updated 20 March 2004 This entry is complete ‘Of the Silmarils’

Years of the Trees First Age I Second Age II Third Age III Fourth Age IV While Bilbo Baggins dwelt in Rivendell, he made use of all the resources there (including the memories of living Elves) to write four scholarly volumes bound in red leather. The first of these, the Red Book of Westmarch, was continued by Bilbo's heir, Frodo. It was copied many times, and became the original source for our modern The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbits of the Shire, though, seem to have had less interest in the other three volumes, originally entitled simply Translations from the Elvish, that told the tales of the ancient First Age going back to the making of the world. Only one copy was made, in Gondor in IV 172, and this was kept at Great Smials by the Took family, and it thus became known as the Thain's Book. It is from this copy that The Silmarillion in its modern form derives.1 The Silmarillion, which in its own words passes 'from the high and the beautiful to darkness and ruin'2 actually consists of a corpus of five works, of which the Quenta Silmarillion is the central tale. These are:Ainulindalë, the tale of the Music of the Ainur and the creation of Arda.Valaquenta, the tale of the Valar, in which the nature of each of the Powers is described.Quenta Silmarillion, the longest tale, which gives an account of the history of Arda from its beginnings until the end of the First Age.Akallabêth, the tale of the Second Age, which concentrates on the history of Númenor until its Downfall.Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, which spans the late Second Age and the Third, telling of the forging of the Rings of Power and their history up to the War of the Ring. The documents that lay behind these works came from various sources. Ainulindalë, for example, was a very ancient work attributed to Rúmil the sage of Tirion. The Quenta Silmarillion itself seems to have been developed in Númenor during the Second Age, though parts of it (particularly the Narn i Chîn Húrin) were said to date back to the First Age. The final section, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age must have different origins than the rest of the work. It cannot have been written or translated by Bilbo, since it contains an account of his own departure from Middle-earth. Its source is never stated directly, but a short reference about Peregrin Took in the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings provides a hint: '...he and his successors collected many manuscripts written by scribes of Gondor: mainly copies or summaries of histories or legends relating to Elendil and his heirs.' This was the likely route by which Of the Rings of Power (and probably also Akallabêth) came to be included in the Thain's Book. Notes 1 Within the context of Tolkien's tales, of course. The Silmarillion was actually written and rewritten over a period of some sixty years by J.R.R. Tolkien, and edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher. 2 From the last words of Quenta Silmarillion, in Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath. See also... Aldaron, Angainor, Beleriand, Beren, Children of Earth, Doors of Angband, Doves, Eledhwen, Elvenesse, Fire-drakes, Foamriders, Gates of Summer, Gethron, Glamhoth, Goblins, [See the full list...]Good People, Great Hall of Osgiliath, Hells of Iron, House of Finrod, House of the Golden Flower, Indor, Inglorion, Menelvagor, Middle-earth, Narrow Ice, Nómin, Phantoms, Power of Terror and of Hate, Quenta Silmarillion, Red Book of Westmarch, Rhûn, Salmar, Spyhill, Teleporno, The Abyss, The Ever-young, ‘The Fall of Gondolin’, The Wise, Timeless Halls, ‘Translations from the Elvish’, Urwen, Vairë, Vása, Walls of the World, Woodwose Indexes: Alphabetical: S Songs, Lays and Tales About this entry: Updated 20 March 2004 This entry is complete For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page. Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1998, 2000, 2004. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ. Website services kindly sponsored by myDISCprofile, the free online personality test.How do your personal strengths fit in with career matching? How can you identify them? Try a free personality test from myDISCprofile.