Silmarillion
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Silmarillion
The Silmarillion
The title page of the English edition
Author: Tolkien, John Ronald Ruel
Genre: Fantasy
Original language: English
Translator: N. Estel
Publisher: AST
Issue: 2004
Pages: 416
ISBN: ISBN 5-17-016270-7
Next: The Lord of the Rings
The Silmarillion The Silmarillion is a work by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien, published posthumously by his son Christopher.
The Silmarillion is a collection of myths and legends of Middle earth, describing from the point of view of the Valar and elves the history of Arda since its creation.
If in the "Lord of the Rings" the actions unfold at the end of the Third beginning of the Fourth epoch of Middle earth, then the "Silmarillion" tells about the events from the creation of the world to the end of the Third (briefly describing the events of the "Lord of the Rings").
Content
1 Place and time of action.
Legendary Origin 2 Plot 2.1 Ainulindale (Ainur music) 2.2 Valaquenta 2.3 Quenta Silmarillion (History of the Silmarils) 2.4 Akallabet (The Fall of Numenor) 2.5 About the Rings of Power and the Third Age
3 The concept and creation of the "Silmarillion" 3.1 The creation of the text 3.2 Posthumous publication 3.3 Influences
4 See also 5 Sources 6 Notes
Place and time of action.
Legendary origin[edit / edit wiki text]
It is implied that the action of the Silmarillion, like other works of Tolkien about Middle earth, takes place in the distant past of the Earth[1].
Based on this idea, The Silmarillion in Tolkien's legendarium acts as an arrangement of the three volume work "Translations from the Elven" by the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, written by him during his stay in Rivendell.
The title page of the book contains an inscription in Tengvar runes.
The meaning of the inscription is as follows: The stories of the First Era, when Morgoth lived in Middle earth, and the elves went to war against him for the return of the Silmarils, to which are added the stories about the fall of Numenor and about the Rings of Power and the Third Era in which these stories end.
Plot[edit / edit wiki text]
Ainulindale (Ainur music)[edit / edit wiki text]
Ainulindalë is the first part of The Silmarillion, a work by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Ainulindale is a message about the creation of the world, which happened with the help of Music created by Eru Iluvatar and Ainur.
It is framed as a legend about the creation of Arda, which belongs to the pen of the elf Rumil from Tyrion and was created in the First Epoch.
Translated from Quenya, it means "Ainur music".
Published by Christopher Tolkien as the first chapter of The Silmarillion.
The creation of the world is described as the embodiment of the musical themes proposed by Iluvatar Ainur.
There were three topics in total: The first topic was created by Ea;
The second defined the outlines of Arda and corrected the dissonance introduced by Melkor in the First theme, at the same time absorbing it into itself; in the Third theme, the Ainur did not participate — in this theme, Iluvatar personally created the Children of Iluvatar and determined their fate.
The first topic
The Era was started by Iluvatar and taken up by Ainur.
Arda or Ea, the world of existence, was conceived in it (the theme).
During the singing, one of the Ainur — Melkor made his own changes to the melody, which in his opinion were important.
Thus Melkor gave birth to evil in Arda.
The second topic
Hearing the tune of Melkor, Eru Iluvatar laughed, raised his left hand, and a new tune sounded.
Ainur again picked up the melody, and Melkor again deviated from the topic.
The third topic
Eru Iluvatar stood up, and there was an angry look in his eyes.
He raised his right hand, and a new tune sounded again.
And again Ainur picked up the melody, and Melkor deviated from the topic.
The Children of Iluvatar were conceived with only the Third theme.
The Creation of Arda
For the third time Eru Iluvatar arose, and his face was terrible.
He raised both hands, and the melody stopped.
And he showed Eru Iluvatar Ainur Ardu, and said: "Behold your Song!
This is your Singing; and each of you will find there, among what I have revealed to you, things that, it seemed to him, he himself invented or developed."
After the end of the world, the Second Ainur Music will be performed, in which people will take part.
It will be even greater than the First One, but even the Ainur themselves do not know what kind of music it will be.
Valaquenta[edit / edit wiki text]
Valaquenta is the second part of J. R. R. Tolkien's" Silmarillion".
In this part, the Valar, Maiar and the Enemy (Melkor) are described.
It differs in the absence of a plot: "Valaquenta" is not a story, but rather a collection of characteristics of the main divine beings of Ea: Valar, Maiar and Enemies.
Thus, the text lists the Valar "in the order of their power"[2], describes their kinship ties and "divine functions", lists and characterizes the Mayar, including Melian and magi.
Quenta Silmarillion (The Story of the Silmarils)[edit / edit wiki text]
The story of the Silmarils — the wonderful gems created by Feanor and stolen by Melkor, forms the main part of the book and gives it its name.
The whole history of the First Age of Middle earth is described in the same book.
Akallabet (The Fall of Numenor)[edit / edit wiki text]
Akallabet (adunaik Akallabêth, "The Fallen") is the fourth part of J. R. R. Tolkien's book "The Silmarillion", a story about the foundation and fall of Numenor.
One of the books of wisdom of Middle earth.
According to one of the versions of Tolkien's legends, it was written by Elendil.
A copy made by the Hobbit Peregrine Tooke is kept in Large Smials.
After the defeat of Melkor at the end of the First Age, Numenor, a large island in the middle of the Great Ocean, was created for the Edain people who fought with the elves against Melkor.
Despite the fact that the Numenorians were granted a long life, over time, they became jealous of the immortal elves.
Moreover, people were forbidden to approach the blessed lands of Aman, the abode of the Valar.
When the last king of Numenor, Ar Farazon, captured Sauron and fell under his influence, it was decided to send a huge battle fleet to conquer Aman.
However, the Valar did not accept the challenge of the people and resigned their powers, in connection with which Eru Iluvatar intervened in the conflict, destroying the fleet of Ar Pharazon along with all Numenor.
This part tells about the history of the island of Numenor.
It tells about the glorious history of the human race, their achievements and exploits, as well as about the fall of Numenor, which was destroyed by Eru Iluvatar because people intended to force their way to Valinor.
After that, Valinor was hidden, and only elves could find the way there.
About the Rings of Power and the Third Era[edit / edit wiki text]
This part describes the history of the appearance of the Rings of Power in Middle earth.
Here you can find out that the Rings of Power were forged by the great elf blacksmith of the Noldor people Celebrimbor, but at the same time Sauron helped him, because of which he was able to forge the Ring of Omnipotence.
It also turns out that three elven rings remained untouched by them, and their owners are also indicated: the ring of Air (Villa) was given to Gil Galad (later Elrond received it), the ring of Water (Nanya) was received by the Lady Galadriel, and the ring of Fire (Narya) — Kirdan Shipbuilder (the latter gave his ring to Gandalf).
Further in this part, the events described in The Lord of the Rings are briefly retold.
The concept and creation of the "Silmarillion"[edit / edit wiki text]
Creating text[edit / edit wiki text]
Tolkien began working on the stories that would form the basis of the Silmarillion in the future in 1914[3], having conceived them as an English mythology explaining the origin of English history and culture[4].
A significant part of these early works were written at a time when Tolkien, an English officer who returned from the First World War, from France, was lying in a hospital[5].
He finished the first story - "The Fall of Gondolin" - at the end of 1916[6].
The author called this collection of legends "The Book of Lost Tales".
This title later became the title of the first two volumes of The History of Middle Earth, which include these early texts.
The stories are told on behalf of a mariner named Eriol (in later versions — the Anglo Saxon Elfwin), who discovers the island of Tol Eressea, where the elves live; the elves also tell him about their history.
However, Tolkien never finished the Book of Lost Tales; instead, he wrote the poems "The Song of Leithian" and "The Song of the Children of Hurin".
The first completed version of the Silmarillion was "Sketches of Mythology", written in 1926 (later this work was included in Volume IV of the History of Middle Earth).
The "Sketches" were a 28 — page abstract written to explain the events preceding the history of Turin to R. W. Reynolds, a friend of Tolkien, to whom he sent some of his texts.
Tolkien developed the " Sketches "into a more complete version of the Silmarillion —" Quenta Noldorinwa "(kv.Quenta Noldorinwa), also included in volume IV.
"Quenta Noldorinva" was the last version of the Silmarillion completed directly by Tolkien.
In 1937, encouraged by the success of The Hobbit, Tolkien sent his publisher, George Allen & Unwin, an incomplete, but still more developed version of the Silmarillion, entitled "Quenta Silmarillion" (kv. Quenta Silmarillion), but the publisher rejected this work, recognizing it as vague and "too Celtic"[7].
Instead of publishing "Quenta Silmarillion", the publisher asked Tolkien to write a sequel to"The Hobbit".
Tolkien began to edit The Silmarillion ,but soon he really started writing a sequel, which later became The Lord of the Rings[8].
He resumed work on The Silmarillion only after the completion of The Lord of the Rings and was very eager to publish both works together[9].
But when it became clear that this was not possible, Tolkien fully devoted his time to preparing The Lord of the Rings for publication[10].
In the late 1950s, Tolkien returned to The Silmarillion, but the bulk of his works at that time were more devoted to the theological and philosophical implications of his works than to narratives.
By this time, Tolkien began to doubt the fundamental aspects of the works relating to the earliest versions of the Silmarillion, and seems to have felt the need to resolve these problems before the end of the "final version" of the book.
During this time, he wrote a lot on such topics as the nature of evil in Arda, the origin of the Orcs, the habits and rituals of the elves, the nature and meaning of the rebirth of the Eldar, as well as about the history of the "discworld" and the origin of the Sun and Moon[11].
In any case, apart from one or two exceptions, in the last years of his life he made very few changes to his legendarium.
Posthumous publication[edit / edit wiki text]
For several years after the death of his father, Christopher Tolkien was engaged in compiling the narrative of the Silmarillion.
Christopher Tolkien's intentions were to make maximum use of Tolkien's later works and to ensure the greatest possible internal consistency of the work (as well as consistency to the Lord of the Rings)[12], although he admitted that it is apparently impossible to achieve complete consistency.
As explained in The History of Middle Earth, Christopher used many sources for his work, where possible relying on texts written later than The Lord of the Rings, but sometimes even referring to such early works as the Book of Lost Tales of 1917 to fill in existing gaps in the narrative.
In one of the chapters of "Quenta Silmarillion "("On the ruin of Doriath"), which Tolkien had not touched since the early 1930s, Christopher had to compose a narrative almost from scratch[13].
The final result, which included genealogies, maps, an alphabetical index and the first printed list elvish words, was published in 1977.
After the publication (in the History of Middle Earth) of Christopher Tolkien's detailed explanations of how he compiled the subsequently printed book, many texts of the Silmarillion were actively criticized by readers.
Everyone recognized that the task of Tolkien Jr. was extremely difficult, given the state of his father's texts at the time of the latter's death; some critical fragments no longer belonged to the Tolkien family, and Christopher Tolkien had to study a huge amount of draft materials.
In the later volumes of The History of Middle Earth, he demonstrated many different ideas, very different from the published version.
Christopher Tolkien suggested that if he had spent more time analyzing texts and had access to all the texts, the book would have turned out very different from the published one.
However, he was under great pressure from his father's readers and publishers, who demanded to release something suitable for printing as soon as possible.
Some believe that certain parts of the Silmarillion are the product of a son rather than a father, and therefore the book's place in the legendarium is actively disputed in certain circles.
In October 1996, Christopher Tolkien commissioned illustrator Ted Nesmith to create full size, full color works for the first illustrated edition of The Silmarillion.
It was published in 1998, followed by a second edition in 2004, including corrections to existing ones, as well as additional illustrations by Nesmith[14].
In the 1980s and 1990s, Christopher Tolkien published most of his father's texts about Middle earth in the 12 volume series "The History of Middle Earth".
In addition to the source material and early drafts of some parts of the Lord of the Rings, these books significantly expand and supplement the original material published in the Silmarillion, in many cases differing from it.
Tolkien planned to correct many things, but only outlined them in comments and notes, some new texts surfaced after the publication of The Silmarillion.
The History of Middle Earth also once again showed how incomplete the later parts of the Silmarillion were in fact: some of them have never been rewritten since the time of the Book of Lost Tales.
Influences[edit / edit wiki text]
"Silmarillion" is a complex work that demonstrates the influence of many sources, the main of which is the Karelo Finnish epic "Kalevala", especially the story of Kullervo.
The influence of Greek mythology is also obvious: the island of Numenor, for example, resembles Atlantis[15].
Tolkien even borrowed the Greek word " Atlantis "(Atlantis) and reworked it into the Quenian word" Atalante " (Fallen), meaning Numenor, thereby exacerbating the idea that his mythology only expands the mythology of the real world[16].
Greek mythology is also clearly visible in the images of the Valar, who borrowed many of their attributes from the Olympian gods[17].
The Valar, like the Olympians, live in the visible world, but on a high mountain, separate from mortals[18].
However, this analogy is quite approximate: the images of the Valar also contain elements of Old Norse mythology.
Some of the Valar have properties that make them extremely similar to various Ases, the gods of Asgard[19].
Thor, for example, the physically strongest of the gods, is reminded of Orome, who fights with the monsters of Melkor, and Tulkas, the physically strongest of the Valar[20].
Manwe, the head of the Valar, is in some respects similar to Odin, the "All Father".
Tolkien also said that he sees Maya Olorin (Gandalf) as "a wanderer like Odin"[21].
The influence of the Bible and the traditional Christian narrative can also be traced in the Silmarillion in the conflict between Melkor and Eru Iluvatar (as a parallel to the polarity of Lucifer and the Lord God[22]).
In addition, the Silmarillion tells about the creation and fall of the elves, just as the biblical book of Genesis tells about the creation and fall of man[23].
Like all of Tolkien's works, The Silmarillion leaves room for late Christian history, and in one of Tolkien's drafts, Finrod, one of the leading characters of the Silmarillion, discusses the need for the incarnation of Eru (God) for the salvation of mankind[24].
Medieval Christian cosmology demonstrates its influence especially in the story of the creation of the universe as a form of singing a song by God, the harmony of angels with this melody and the discord introduced into the music by a fallen angel.
The works of St. Augustine on music, as well as the extensive medieval tradition of divine harmony (better known to us today by the "music of the heavenly spheres") serve as the basis for the story of Creation.
Celtic legends demonstrate their influence in the story of the expulsion of the Noldor elves, which borrows some elements from the history of the Tuatha De Danann[25].
The Welsh influence is reflected in the Elvish language Sindarin, to which Tolkien gave
... a linguistic property that is very similar (although not analogous) to the British Welsh language... since it fits well with the rather "Celtic" type of legends and stories told about the speakers of it.
- The letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, letter 144
See also[edit / edit wiki text]
There is a page on the topic in Wikicitatnik
Silmarillion
The Black Book of Arda Zvirmarillion
Sources[edit / edit wiki text]
John R. R. Tolkien.
The Silmarillion.
// Series: Extracurricular reading.
- Moscow: AST Moscow, 2009 — - 432 p.: ill.
— ISBN 978-5-17-056902-1, ISBN 978-5-403-00003-1.
Notes[edit / edit wiki text]
Письма Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, letters 165, 211 ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien.
The Silmarillion.
The Valaquenta ^ The Letters Of John.
R. R. Tolkien, letter 115 ^ the Letters of John.
R. R. Tolkien, letter 131, 180 ^ the Letters of John.
R. R. Tolkien, letters, 165, 180, 282 ^ the Letters of John.
R. R. Tolkien, letter 163, 165 ^ the Letters of John.
R. R. Tolkien, letter 19 ↑ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1993), Christopher Tolkien, ed., Morgoth''s Ring, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Foreword, ISBN 0-395-68092-1 ^ the Letters of John.
R. R. Tolkien, letter 124 ^ the Letters of John.
R. R. Tolkien, letter 133 ^ a b Tolkien, J. R. R. (1993), Christopher Tolkien, ed., Morgoth''s Ring, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0-395-68092-1 ↑ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1980), Christopher Tolkien, ed., Unfinished Tales, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Introduction, ISBN 0-395-29917-9 (English).
^ A b Tolkien, J. R. R. (1994), Christopher Tolkien, ed., The War of The Jewels, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Part Three, Chapter V "The Tale of Years", ISBN 0-395-71041-3 (English).
^ The cover of the first illustrated edition with illustrations by Ted Nesmith (ISBN 0-618-39111-8) ^ the Letters of John.
R. R. Tolkien, letter 154, 227 ^ a b Tolkien, J. R. R. (1954)
, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of The Rings, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (published 1987), "Note on the Shire Records", ISBN 0-395-08254-4 (English).
↑ Purtill, Richard L. (2003), J. R. R. Tolkien: Myth, Morality, and Religion, San Francisco: Harper & Row, pp.
52, 131, ISBN 0-89870-948-2 (English) St Stanton, Michael (2001), Hobbits, Elves, and Wizards: Exploring the Wonders and Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 18, ISBN 1-4039-6025-9 (English) ↑ Garth, John (2003), Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle earth, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, p. 86 (English).
↑ Chance, Jane (2004), Tolkien and the Invention of Myth: A Reader, Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, p. 169, ISBN 0-8131-2301-1 (English).
^ The Letters Of John.
R. R. Tolkien, letter 107 ↑ Chance, Jane (2001), Tolkien's Art: A Mythology for England, Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, p. 192, ISBN 0-8131-9020-7 (English).
↑ Bramlett, Perry (2003), I Am in Fact a Hobbit: An Introduction to the Life and Works of J. R. R. Tolkien, Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, p. 86, ISBN 0-86554-851 X ↑ Morgoth''s Ring, Athrabeth Finrod Ah Andreth, pp.
322, 335 ^ a "Mad" Elves and "Elusive Beauty": Some Celtic Strands of Tolkien''s creed II (eng.)
J. R. R. Tolkien's Legendarium Published
during his lifetime
The Hobbit, or There and Back • The Lord of the Rings (The Brotherhood of the Ring • Two fortresses • The Return of the King) • The adventures of Tom Bombadil • The road goes far and far
Published
posthumously
The Silmarillion • Unfinished Tales • The History of Middle Earth (The Book of Lost Tales • The Ballads of Beleriand • The Dispensation of Middle Earth • The Lost Way and other Stories • The Story of the Lord of the Rings • The Ring of Morgoth • The War of Gems • The Peoples of Middle Earth) • The Last Song of Bilbo • The Children of Hurin • The Story of the Hobbit • The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien
See also
Influence and adaptations • Middle Earth: Characters (Elves • Dwarves • Hobbits • Orcs • Kings of Numenor • The Reigning Queens of Numenor • Numenorians • Kings of Arnor • Pathfinders of the North • The Kings of Gondor • Governors of Gondor • The Kings of Rohan • Kings of Dale) • Artifacts • Epochs • Races • States • Cities • Wars and battles • Languages • Plants • Animals • Secondary geographical features
The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien
Ainulindale • Valaquenta • Quenta Silmarillion • The Fall of Numenor • About the Rings of Power and the Third Era
The Characters are Immortal
Eru Iluvatar * Valar (Manwe • Ulmo • Aule • Orome • Mandos • Irmo • Tulkas • Varda • Yavanna • Nienna • Este • Vayre • Vana • Nessa) * Maiar (Melian • Sauron • Olorin • Tilion • Eonwe • Osse • Uinen) • Tom Bombadil
Elves
Ingwe • Finwe • Miriel • Indis • Thingol (Elwe, Elu) * Olwe • Rumil • Feanor • Sons of Feanor (Maedhros • Maglor • Celegorm • Curufin • Karantir • Amrod • Amras) * Fingo lfin • Fingon • Turgon • Aredel • Eol • Maeglin • Finarfin • Finrod (Felagund) • Orodreth • Galadriel • Aegnor • Celebrimbor • Idril • Daeron • Beleg • Mablung • Saeros • Glorfindel • Orofer • Thranduil • Luthien • Gil Galad
Humans (Edain) and half Elves
Beren • Gorlim • Hurin • Huor • Turin Turambar • Tuor • Earendil • Elving • Elrond • Elros
Antagonists
Melkor (Morgoth) * Balrogi (Gotmog) • Glaurung • Karharot • Ungoliant
Geography
Ea • Arda • Beleriand • Aman (Valinor) * Tol Eressea • Kuivienen • Sirion • Lindon • Nan Elmot • Gondolin • Doriath (Menegroth) • Nargothrond • Numenor • Thangorodrim • Angband • Utumno • Ered Engrin • Cosmology of Middle Earth • Stars of Middle Earth
Artifacts
Secret Flame • Silmarils • Rings of Power (The Ring of Omnipotence) * Palantirs
Races
Ainur (Valar • Maiar (Istari)) * Humans • Dwarves • Hobbits • Elves (Eldar (Vanyar, Noldor, Teleri, Sindar) * Avari) • Ents • Orcs • Trolls
The Battles of Beleriand • "The Lord of the Rings"
Source — "https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Silmarillion&oldid=75789342"
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