The Hobbit Battle of 5 Armies.

[Gracie]

WTF is Silmarillion?

 

[mdk]

There is always a chance of a Silmarillion movie. It won't have many of the characters, but it would still be a cool movie.

Till you fall asleep five minutes in......couldn't read the book....boring....

yea my wife has read all these things more than once and she could not get into that one either.......

It was a tough but enlightening read.

 

[mdk]

It should have been two movies. I enjoyed them but they strayed quite far from the books.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Meh. I just watched it. Not impressed. But, I still wanted it anyway to go with the set. The only thing that made me really sad was....this is the end. Last one. No more Gandalf. No more elves. No more hobbits. No more of that world.

It kinda makes me sad.

Get the books, you can read them over, and over... I've been reading and re-reading both the Ring trilogy and The Hobbit since I was in high school. I love those fantasy adventures. And, there's a LOT more in the books that didn't make it into the films.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Gonna miss them.

While you guyz read Tolkien, I was reading Roman and Greek history....

Read that, too. Greek mythology has also been a fav of mine over the years.

 

[gallantwarrior]

There is always a chance of a Silmarillion movie. It won't have many of the characters, but it would still be a cool movie.

I'm not so sure. The Silmarillion was a bit more fragmented, including lots of ancillary stories.

 

[gallantwarrior]

WTF is Silmarillion?

The Silmarillion - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

 

[mamooth]

WTF is Silmarillion?

It's Tolkein's book about the pre-pre-prequel to The Hobbit and LoTR.

It's mostly about the First Age. The creation of the world, Morgoth's betrayal, the rebellion of the elves against the gods, the subsequent hopeless fight of the elves against Morgoth.

The style is not the third-person story style of the other books, but more literary. Like the Bible, as others pointed out.

It's not a necessary read. It just gives some backstory. Like it tells you what's going on with that Galadriel scene "I pass the test. I will diminish, and go into the west, and remain Galadriel". Galadriel is old, literally older than the sun and moon. She was a leader of the elvish rebellion against the gods, and she knew the gods did not forgive. Alone of the remaining elves, she was barred from going west over the sea. Then along strolls this halfling, offers her the ring, she refuses, and she suddenly understands that after thousands of years, she's earned redemption.

 

[Gracie]

How many tolkein books are there?

 

[aaronleland]

How many tolkein books are there?

There are only a few, but his son later published The History of Middle Earth. It consisted of what his son interpreted of his father's writings. It's an interesting read.

 

[Gracie]

Went huntin'. Found this. Note the red.

Which order should I read Tolkien’s books in?
This really is something it’s almost impossible to be prescriptive about. Every reader is different. For instance, a reader’s age is a very important factor. If you are a child of 9 then the first book should definitely be The Hobbit. Children from 11 onwards may be OK with The Lord of the Rings next, followed perhaps by the stories in Tales from the Perilous Realm. The Silmarillion is quite a dense read, and should probably be tackled a little later.

However, an adult may be better starting off with The Lord of the Rings followed by The Children of Húrin, Unfinished Tales, The Silmarillion, and the various volumes of The History of Middle-earth. Even this is a bit prescriptive. One reader might particularly enjoy epic poetry, so they may prefer to read The Lays of Beleriand much earlier than someone who dislikes verse.

The most obvious order in which to read the books is probably to follow that in which the books were published. This is:

• The Hobbit
• The Lord of the Rings
• Tales from the Perilous Realm [mainly short stories with only nominal Middle-earth content]
• The Silmarillion
• Unfinished Tales
• The History of Middle-earth series
• The Children of Húrin
• The Fall of Arthur
• Beowulf

If you wish to read Tolkien’s Middle-earth works approximately in the order they were written, then this is a very rough guide:

• The Book of Lost Tales [volumes 1 & 2]
• The Lays of Beleriand
• The Shaping of Middle-earth
• The Lost Road
• The Hobbit
• The Return of the Shadow
• The Treason of Isengard
• The War of the Ring
• Sauron Defeated [first part]
• The Peoples of Middle-earth [first part]
• [The Lord of the Rings]
• The Notion Club Papers [in Sauron Defeated]
• Unfinished Tales [omit Narn i Hîn Húrin]
• The Children of Húrin
• Morgoth’s Ring
• The War of the Jewels
• [The Silmarillion]
• The Peoples of Middle-earth [last part]

However, in reality it doesn’t really matter in which order anyone reads the books. They should be read in any order the reader chooses, but most of all they should be enjoyed.

I’m having trouble getting into The Silmarillion. Have you got any tips?
There is no doubt after the relative simplicity of the prose in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, the rather more severe, ‘biblical’ style of The Silmarillion can be an unfamiliar jolt for some readers.

There are several possible remedies:

1. Omit the first two sections and start reading ‘Of the Beginning of Days’. When you’ve finished the book, go back and read those two missed sections: ‘Ainulindalë’ and ‘Valaquenta’.
2. Write brief notes on the characters mentioned and consult the family trees at the rear of the book.
3. If you have read The Lord of the Rings go back to just before the attack on Weathertop and read Strider’s summary of the story of Beren and Lúthien (p. 210). Then, go straight to the chapter ‘Of Beren and Lúthien’ in The Silmarillion.
4. Read The Children of Húrin, which is almost written in the same depth and style as The Lord of the Rings but is an expanded version of the same basic story as ‘Of Túrin Turambar’.
5. Some readers find the style of The Silmarillion hard to get used to. Try reading the final section, “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age”. This summarises some of the events of The Lord of the Ringsbut is written in the same style as The Silmarillion.
6. If you are still encountering problems, get a copy of Unfinished Tales and read ‘Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin’, which is a part of a story from The Silmarillion but written in the same style and depth as The Lord of the Rings.
7. Several people have found that listening to Martin Shaw’s unabridged reading of The Silmarillionhelps them to go on and read the book themselves.

F.A.Q. The Tolkien Society

 

[Gracie]

All I know is...I'm in mourning of the end of this tale. Movie wise, anyway. Guess I better go huntin' for the books. I'm not ready to let Middle Earth go.

 

[Gracie]

Ouch. I went and looked in ebay. Um. 4k? Uh. No.