I actually think I was most confused by the geography next time I read, I might pull out my Atlas of Middle-earth. Some of the characters have annoyingly similar names, but I didn’t have an issue with that. I know many readers find The Silmarillion confusing, but I don’t think it is. It’s a different time in Middle-earth, and Tolkien (and editor Christopher Tolkien!) does an excellent job of making it feel so. While I think the theme of hope still permeates the story, there are things one wouldn’t necessarily except to see in LotR, like Elves killing Elves and some (accidental) incest.

It’s also a bit darker than The Lord of the Rings in many ways. They’re still delightfully Other, but they’re not a monolith of wisdom and virtue, and it is fascinating. They kill each other, they lust after the titular Silmarils, they betray one another, they ignore the plights of those who need help. While in The Lord of the Rings, Elves are nearly always associated with goodness, so much that evil things will not pass through areas where Elves once lived, they’re a mixed bag in The Silmarillion. The Elves, for the record, are much more chaotic here. (For the record, I think it’s good.)Įven though it covers an extremely long time period for the First Age, it’s am immersive experience, and I loved seeing the beginning of Arda and then the trials of the Elves. What can I say that hasn’t already been said? How can I adequately convey how amazing it is? It’s a fantasy classic, even if not as popularly read as The Lord of the Rings, so saying it’s “good” or “bad” seems a bit silly when people will read it no matter what I say. Reviewing The Silmarillion seems a daunting task to me.

( You can read Krysta’s guide to the Second Age here.) However, there have been references to events in The Silmarillion in the show, like references to the War of Wrath, Elrond’s family, the Valar, etc., so rereading it does help one appreciate the show at least a little. Amazon, of course, does not actually have the rights to anything in The Silmarillion, so none of the plot of the show is related to The Silmarillion (and most of the The Silmarillion is about the First Age, not the Second Age anyway).

I read The Silmarillion once several years ago, but I decided that now was the perfect time for a reread, since Amazon’s The Rings of Power is being released. The tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor. It is the ancient drama to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in whose events some of them such as Elrond and Galadriel took part. The Silmarillion is an account of the Elder Days, of the First Age of Tolkien’s world.

The silmarillion paperback