Silmarils

[DSV]

how do you think the silmarils look like??

I imagine them as sort of palantir looking (like a perfectly round globe) but with great white-yellowish radiance.

[Stoatly Grimes]

It's a cop-out I know, but I reckon any attempt to describe the silmarils is pointless, as I imagine them to be beautiful beyond our comprehension. I am inclined towards the idea that their shape is almost irrelevant; it was the light they contained (the light of the Trees) that characterized and defined the silmarils, a light so boundlessly captivating that the Noldor destroyed themselves trying to get the silmarils back.

Just my opinion; on the other hand they could look like large rubies

[Nazgûl-king]

Well, I’ve always imagined the Silmarils as star-like in both light and shape.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

I always imagined them as large diamonds. Many-faceted, clear, somewhat white-shining. Though it contradicts what was said about them and my image of them is just very, well, simple

[Raynor]

Seeing that both Feanor and Earendil wore a silmaril on their brow (Feanor all three), I would expect them to be quite small..

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Raynor

Seeing that both Feanor and Earendil wore a silmaril on their brow (Feanor all three), I would expect them to be quite small..

Perhaps they just had large heads

But yes, that's interesting, I never thought about it. It's true the Silmarili had to be also at maximum of the size to be hidden inside a man's hand - though probably a big and strong adult man's hand. I always imagined them quite big, though - indeed, about the size of a man's closed fist. What you said however implies they were a lot smaller - unless they were to function like a cap peak.

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

I imagined them being quite like you Legate "large diamonds. Many-faceted, clear, somewhat white-shining" but even though I pictured them as white-shining, they can shine in all kinds of colours. garr it is hard to describe!

I really do like that cold white light of the stars, but I imagine that when you glance at the silmaril again it would seem slightly different.

Anyways a large diamond would still be small enough for you to carry it upon your brows.

[Groin Redbeard]

Originally Posted by Raynor

Seeing that both Feanor and Earendil wore a silmaril on their brow (Feanor all three), I would expect them to be quite small..

Yes, that's exactly how I picture them. Small diamond shaped crystals and the radiance from it makes them seem larger than they really are.