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#1 |
Newly Deceased
Join Date: May 2021
Posts: 9
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I'm trying to read it for the third time, and I'm having a lot of trouble keeping everything straight in my head. Especially the parts where chapters get retold differently--all the different versions kind of blend together, and then it makes no sense at all.
I was taking notes the first time around, but even as I was writing them out I wasn't really convinced that they were helping. Then, of course, I lost them. Anyway, my question is: how do you keep track of everything? I've seen a few discussions on here from people who seem to have learnt it by heart--how?? Any tips appreciated! I enjoy reading it but I feel like 95% of it flies over my head and what does makes sense I immediately forget, no matter how many times I reread a passage. |
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#2 |
Spirit of Mist
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Tol Eressea
Posts: 3,355
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The short answer is, yes, those of us interested in the Silmarillion have probably read it and related books over and over again several times. But the sheer volume of names, places and dates can be overwhelming.
There are several passable guides that have been published (in addition to the index/glossary at the end of the book). They all have flaws, so I'm not inclined to recommend any in particular. There is an on-line wiki, which I cannot vouch for in any way. It does have a First Age timeline (beginning with the first rising of the sun) that might be helpful. https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/First_Age Welcome to the Downs!
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Beleriand, Beleriand, the borders of the Elven-land. |
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#3 | |
Newly Deceased
Join Date: May 2021
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#4 |
Dead Serious
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The Silmarillion, in what is a frustrating yet accurate mirror of real world mythologies, is the sort of thing that is best read when you already know the stories and yet you become familiar with the stories by reading The Silmarillion. My first read-through is now so far behind me that I don't remember it, beyond a general sense of lostness/bewilderment mixed with trying to keep all the Fin-s straight (not the Finns--that's a strictly on-this-website problem
![]() The second time through, which I hardly remember any better (it's been over twenty years for both those early read-throughs), I do distinctly remember having recourse to the family trees at the end, and I definitely spent more time keeping track of the relationships and the names of the Valar and the divisions of the Eldar, etc. It is definitely a book the rewards rereading. I find now, after the aforementioned twenty-plus years, that, in some moods, I even prefer it to The Lord of the Rings. But it isn't as accessible as the LotR--and there are some who just can't get into that. And there's nothing wrong with not getting into them, one or both. But the Silm is very much the key to the rest--to the History of Middle-earth Series, that is, because other than an LotR-sized digression in the middle, the HoME is the history of what becomes the Silmarillion, and if you don't know and love the Silm, you'll be lost in the references and have no reason for plodding through. But, of course, to speak of the HoME is to really speak of things that are not to everyone's tastes.
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I prefer history, true or feigned.
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#5 |
Blossom of Dwimordene
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: The realm of forgotten words
Posts: 10,359
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I agree with the above-said. The first read-through for me was just plodding on through the confusion and constantly cross-referencing the family trees to keep the relationships straight, especially for the F's. (Side question - is there anyone in The Sil who begins with F and is not related to Finwe? Hmm, maybe moot question, as most Elves in The Sil are related to Finwe.) I would advise to bear with it through the first half, because once you reach the half-way point it becomes a lot more linear and a lot more intense: you find yourself in the realm of epic tales and lose the descriptive but plotless air of the early chapters. On repeated reads it makes a lot more sense, because you then know who is who, and which place is where, and what approximately happened when. Though - and I'd like to think I know The Sil fairly well - I wouldn't be able to tell you how much time passes between X and Y. The actual timeline makes no sense to me, it's a background of Elvishly-long periods of nothing punctuated by bursts of rapid plot development. But you get a clear sense of the order of things, if not the proportion of the time intervals, once you become a bit more familiar with it. My advice, if I can give any - press on! It will come eventually. And in the meantime, you can always post questions here as they arise.
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You passed from under darkened dome, you enter now the secret land. - Take me to Finrod's fabled home!... ~ Finrod: The Rock Opera |
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#6 | |
Overshadowed Eagle
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: The north-west of the Old World, east of the Sea
Posts: 3,864
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I'd agree with what's been said so far: the Silm is very much a mythology, not a firm narrative. The actual timeline is... kind of vague (consistent ones like the one Mith linked to are very much reconstructions), and sometimes we get these huge time-jumps backwards ("Of the Sindar" is one of the worst offenders, I think).
It may help to explain this if you know that the very first version of the Silmarillion was structured as people telling the stories to one another. Imagine each chapter as a different elf sitting down with you and saying "Forget all those Fin-types - what's really interesting is how Thingol met his wife!". If you want to look things up, the Encyclopedia of Arda is pretty good at sticking with just the published books, while Tolkien Gateway will happily lead you down the path of earlier versions and discarded theories. Quote:
Given that you said 'related to', probably not - Finwe is Luthien's uncle-cousin by marriage, Luthien married Beren, and Beren is related to basically the entire Edain family tree. hS
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Have you burned the ships that could bear you back again? ~Finrod: The Rock Opera |
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#7 | |
Newly Deceased
Join Date: May 2021
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