The Centenary of “The Silmarillion”: Celebrating Two Tolkiens

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The Imaginative Conservative

Bradley J. Birzer

Sept. 1 2015

 

This weekend, I completed The Silmarillion. Not my first time. In fact, I have read The Silmarillion so many times since the fall of 1977, I have no idea what number of reading I’m actually on. Eight times? Nine? Ten? It was the first J.R.R. Tolkien I had ever encountered, even before The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. I can still see myself sitting on the floor of my maternal grandparents’ family room in Hays, Kansas, trying to read the story of Creation, the “Ainulindalë,” over and over again. At age ten, I am not quite sure how much of it I actually understood, but, to this day, I cannot read or teach the first three chapters of Genesis without imagining Ilúvatar and the Powers. Tolkien’s mythological version of Creation is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read, and I think it does mighty justice to the Hebraic account. Regardless, Tolkien’s version is indelibly imprinted on my soul and mind.

This most recent reading of The Silmarillion is the first time, however, that I have mapped out the entire book—not just in marginalia but on paper and in .doc format. I have kept track of characters, plots, empty spaces, ideas, etc.

 

As always and with each reading, I have come to the same conclusion: this is one of the richest stories ever imagined and recorded. Whether I’ve read it ten times or one hundred times, I will always be amazed by its depth and its intensity of beauty.

 

This time, two new thoughts hit me. Or, if they are not new, they are not ones I remember having had before.

 

(Snip)

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To Paraphrase Ryan Reeves This Is NOT A Fun Read...The Hobbit Is A Fun Read...This is not. Still Good Stuff.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cduuNfh-Lrg