For the uninitiated, the silmarillion is a history book of tolkiens middleearth, the land in which the hobbit and the lord of the rings take place as well as many other works by tolkien, most of them unfinished. How many pages do the lord of the rings books have. Register now for a free lifetime membership, and enjoy posting topics and replying to threads from other members in an ad free environment. Tolkien, edited and published posthumously by his son, christopher tolkien, in 1977 with assistance from guy gavriel kay. That was the formula in the good old days when courier was the only typeface and typewriters were king. Pages in category characters in the silmarillion the following 21 pages are in this category, out of 21 total. It shows us the ancient history to which characters in the lord of the rings look back, talk, rhyme and sing about. The silmarillion, a posthumous publication from christopher tolkien in 1977, combines several myths, or five separate parts, written by j. If youre asking this because youre wondering how long it is, i would tell you that if you worry about its length, youll never get through it. Readers of the hobbit and the lord of the rings will find in the silmarillion a cosmology to call their own, medieval romances, fierce fairy tales, and fiercer wars that ring with heraldic fury. What follows is a rough guide to book length expectations in certain genres.
The silmarillion isbn 0618391118 is a collection of j. Theres a lot of stuff here i didnt understand very well. In origin it precedes even the hobbit, and is the story of the first age of tolkiens middle earth. Great way to read the silmarillion as the book itself can be a bit impregnable to read.
Or are you a visually impaired reader who prefers largeprint editions. Big books have fabulous stories, but are intimidating to start. Pages in category characters in the silmarillion the following 200 pages are in this category, out of 215 total. Tolkien, is a work in five parts that serves as a mythological creation story and history of the middle earth, the fictional universe created by tolkien that served as. Since just comparing the number of unique words in a book does not take its length into account i decided to calculate the percentage of unique words of the whole text. Tolkiens the silmarillion would be a wonderful thing for fans of the worlds greatest fantasy author, but its unclear if this is ever going to happen. The silmarillion the one wiki to rule them all fandom. The silmarillion is a book written by j r tolkien who is an. As a 15 year old silmarillion was actually the book i learnt english with, i loved how grandiose yet authentic some of the stories felt, and it certainly amplified my appreciation of lotr for a while. While rumors early last year suggested that a deal had been made with the tolkien estate, nothing has been heard of the matter since then. Ea, the world that is, is created, and the valar prepare the way for the children of iluvatar. As with everything else when it comes to writing a book, these are only guidelinesnot rules. Once signed in, youll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox.
In the lord of the rings were narrated the great events at the end of the third age. 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. Id go round explaining, like, ooh, gandalfs a nickname, real names olorin and hes a maia, which is a type of god, did you know. The return of the king is the towering climax to j. Tolkiens other works, forms an extensive, though incomplete, narrative that describes the universe of ea in which are found. Is the silmarillion actually a good book or is it one of. Tolkiens works, edited and published posthumously by his son christopher tolkien, with assistance from guy gavriel kay, that collects many of the underlying chronicles of middle earth that tolkien had been working on since 1917 that formed the foundations upon which the hobbit and the lord of the rings were based. This is somewhat tricky, because there are a lot of characters in the silmarillion, which essentially tells the entire. There are plenty of books that purposefully play with the word counts of their chapters. Answered oct 14, 2018 the word count of the silmarillion is just over k words, but i wouldnt worry too much about that. Tolkiens works that were edited and published posthumously by his son christopher, with the assistance of fantasy fiction writer guy gavriel kay. The tales of the silmarillion are set in an age when morgoth, the first dark lord, dwelt in middleearth, and the high elves made. The news that production for one or more movies based on j. For movie length, i simply used the run time for the theatrical version of the movie as listed on imdb.
The stories take place in a time preceding the hobbit and the lord of the rings of middleearth. Great performance as well, but one thing that did start to get a bit annoying was the frequency of audio glitches throughout. The silmarillion is an account of the elder days, of the first age of tolkiens world. Though the average word count of a chapter is around 2,000 5,000 words, it all depends on your story. Though unfinished tales cannot be read as a book in its own right, any one who comes to it after reading the lord of the rings and the silmarillion will indubitably find it interesting, as the book gives various nuggets of information about characters, events and places that are only hinted at in the other two books. It is in these lands that the stories of the hobbit and lord of the rings take place. 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. Tolkien, and edited and published posthumously by his son christopher 2. The tales of the silmarillion are set in an age when morgoth, the first dark lord, dwelt in middleearth, and the high elves made war upon him for the. The work was finished by the son of tolkien after tolkien initially started it. This is why both the silmarillion and the return of the king may appear shorter than expected. Tolkien, the silmarillion it is said by the eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the music of the ainur more than in any substance that is in this earth. I had to read this part several times before moving on with reading the book.
The book is a collection of narratives which talks about the universe of ea in which different lands exist. How to read the silmarillion and why observation deck. The silmarillion is a collection of mythopoeic works by english writer j. Chapter intro music playing randomly mid chapterthe chapter title repeatedly being said over the top of the narrator. I have read the hobbit and the lotr, but i am busy with other books right now. The silmarillion, now published four years after the death of its author, is an account of the elder days, or the first age of the world. Time the story of the creation of the world and of the first age, this is the ancient drama to which the characters in the lord of the rings. Tolkien, it is the story of the creation of the world and of the first age, this 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. Designed to take fans of the hobbit and the lord of the rings deeper into the myths and legends of middleearth the silmarillion is an account of the elder days, of the first age of tolkiens world.
The word count of the silmarillion is just over k words, but i wouldnt worry too much about that. For book length, i chose to go with word count rather than page count, since theres so much variability when it comes to the number of words that get squeezed onto a single book page. Tolkien never found a publisher nor an editor for the silmarillion while he was alive. Tolkien worked on it, changed it, and enlarged it throughout his entire life. Its written in a very different style from his more famous works and i think a lot of people are put off by that. A full, booklength form of the silmarillion existed by the early 1930s. In contrast, word count is finite and usually i can calculate book length with about 99% accuracy in part because also included in any calculation is a count of figures, tables, etc. Tolkien the silmarillion is a collection of mythopoeic works by english writer j. The silmarillion is actually tolkiens first book and also his last.
The latter tend to have larger, and therefore fewer, pages. Tolkien never scoped the silmarillion to a single booklength or even trilogylength story, and and left a legacy of a jumbled mess of versions of what happened before the hobbit. A novelist of my acquaintance insists that the only way to estimate the number of words in a book is to multiply the number of pages by 250. Tolkien, edited and published posthumously by his son, christopher tolkien, in 1977, with assistance from guy gavriel kay. Along the way, the valar and the children of iluvatar battle evil in the form of melkor in order to survive and maintain good in ea.
Tolkiens trilogy that tells the saga of the hobbits of middleearth and the great war of the rings. This work served as the model for tolkiens last full version of the history, which he composed in the mid to late 1930s. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent. In this concluding volume, frodo and sam make a terrible. The silmarillion was actually written and rewritten over a period of some sixty years by j. The silmarillion made a deeper and stronger impression on me than. The elves live in bliss in valinor and set the scene for the start of the rollercoaster. The great tales at the heart of the mythic cycle beren and luthien, turin turambar, and the fall of gondolin do not begin until around page 150 pagination is usually pretty standard across editions.
379 211 361 75 309 372 1206 484 485 235 1077 1305 880 336 1027 1076 1491 561 622 446 752 1090 1201 1140 1190 522 1330 741 1176 897 118 1030 863 1435 1168 346 1444 460 400 622 978 105 969