bought the Silmarillion today! Any pointers?

[HotSnow50]

I have heard, that this book is a hard one to slog through... I really like Tolkien's writing style but see at the bottom that his son edited it... Anyone have any tips for me before I launch in?

[Davio]

Give the same tips "Tolkien professor" told.

- Keep going. There are tons of names that will pass your eye. Some are meaningful and many will just be mention once or twice before be forgotten. So dont try to remember any names at first and just keep going. If you read Game of Thrones, then you should be used to the idea.

- Even if it is adviced not to, but if it helps its ok to draw parallells to our own myth world. Its ok to think "Oh Ulmo, he is the god of water like Posedion!" as long you know Ulmo is his own character.

- Simarillion is more a collection of notes and stories than a full litterary book. There are tons of few short stories, and each story is its own. There is no center narration that binds the whole books story together and therefor it helps just to see what it is. Sure, there are some connections.

- Read it through, even if its painful, and then re-read the chapters you found intresting since you now have a broader view of the mythos of Eä.

[HotSnow50]

Awesome! Thanks, Davio!

[zedturtle]

On your first reading, skip or skim the first two chapters... the Ainulindalë and Valaquenta. Focus on Fëanor for the first few chapters... read his stuff closely and skim the other things. Note that it is written at a higher level (10,000 feet above, rather than hobbit's eye level)... you will often end a chapter thinking it could have been a good sketch for a book, rather than a story itself.

Perserve.

Track down The Tolkien Professor's Silmarillion Seminar... it's a breakdown of the book, in about 35 two-hour segments with lots of fun discussions and digressions. But it's also full of spoilers, so try to do that after your first read-through.

[Rocmistro]

Read it and make up your own mind about it. I read it and devoured it faster than the lord of the rings. I had no trouble with it and enjoyed it very much. I find george martins material far more daunting than the Sil.

[Glorelendil]

Silmarillion is like the great literature they made you read in high school: it gets way better each time you re-read it.

[Morgoth]

Excellent! The Silmarillion might be my all-time favorite book, but it's a lot different from most novels. Don't read it like you're reading the Lord of the Rings. It's not the same kind of story, and if you're expecting the same kind of story, you might be disappointed. The Silmarillion is part novel, part history book, part epic saga. If you read it with that in mind, you'll be a lot more likely to enjoy it. Best of luck! Let us know what you think.

[HotSnow50]

Track down The Tolkien Professor's Silmarillion Seminar... it's a breakdown of the book, in about 35 two-hour segments with lots of fun discussions and digressions. But it's also full of spoilers, so try to do that after your first read-through.

Holy moly, that's a lot of "clarification."

Is this the Middle-Earth version of how confused everyone was with "2001 A Space Oddyssey?"

[HotSnow50]

Excellent! The Silmarillion might be my all-time favorite book, but it's a lot different from most novels. Don't read it like you're reading the Lord of the Rings. It's not the same kind of story, and if you're expecting the same kind of story, you might be disappointed. The Silmarillion is part novel, part history book, part epic saga. If you read it with that in mind, you'll be a lot more likely to enjoy it. Best of luck! Let us know what you think.

I'm excited! Over the past decade I have been hit with an on-again-off-again burning desire to read up on historical events in Middle-Earth history. This type of desire, if it hits me during a watching of the films or if I hear "Gollum's Song" pop up on Pandora, makes it nearly imPOSSIBLE to continue listening to the song or watching the film without pausing it/them and pouring through the LOTR Wiki, or digging through forum posts, or... Spending 200 dollars on the new LOTR roleplaying tabletop that came out *COUGH*TOR*COUGH!!* ;D

Does the Silmarillion cover how Celebrimbor was tricked by Sauron into forging the rings? Or what was imbued into that hammer that he gave to Celebrimbor to use in the forging? If not, no worries but, it's THAT sort of stuff that I find fascinating.

How the Elves were first awakened, and what brought about the age of Men/where they came from... What caused the Numenoreans to diminish and is there any backstory to the Drakes and Dragons? Ok, starting to get ahead of myself...

Excellent! ... Best of luck! Let us know what you think.

Of this you can be sure !!!!!

Also, a buddy of mine told me that I should track down a good map of Middle-Earth to aid me in my reading. I am very spatial and visual with my learning and reading, and having an ability to pause-check map-resume is nearly REQUIRED when I do certain types of regional history reading or study. For instance, my major in my Undergrad was German Studies/Language. If I didn't have the maps of Modern Germany, The Weimar Republic, Dark ages Germanic lands and the Holy Roman Empire I WOULD HAVE BEEN SCREEEEEEEWED, lol!

[zedturtle]

Then might I suggest The Atlas of Middle Earth?

It's truly a great piece of work, covering all three Ages of the world. I'm not fond of her answer to the problem of why the Dwarves take so much longer to reach Rivendell but that's a minor nitpick.