If you want a handy visual that shows the lengths of different fiction, check out my. This is somewhat tricky, because there are a lot of characters in the silmarillion, which essentially tells the entire. 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. The events within this book precede those occurring in his more popular works of fantasy, the hobbit 1937 and the lord of the rings trilogy 19541955. Of the voyage of earendil and the war of wrath summary and analysis. Tolkien into an intimate portrait of the writer whose mythic universe. While this number of words would be very common when pitching a nonfiction text, such a length reminds me of tennis lessons in my youth. Tolkien this study guide consists of approximately 51 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of. Unfortunately, film makers and especially their financiers seldom understand such concepts and often end up debasing great literary works in pursuit of the lowest common denominator and box office gold. Is the silmarillion actually a good book or is it one of. The silmarillion asks a lot of you, but it pays its debt tenfold. Dec 07, 2016 you can borrow it from the open library. Tolkiens work sets the standard for fantasy, and this audio version of the bible of middleearth does the silmarillion justice.
Elements in the setting also help tolkien explore the theme of pride. 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. Kilby spins his remembrance of a summers close personal acquaintance with j. Several tales of victory and tragedy are caught up in it. He was middleearths singular creator and historian. The silmarillion may well be unfilmable in any meaningful way and to attempt to do so may well be disrespectful to the source text. Jun 30, 2000 on my fathers death it fell to me to try to bring the work into publishable form. 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 any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this. Tolkien and the silmarillion an aslan book kilby, clyde on. Handling and agerelated wear to page block edges, but normal for a book this age. Tour in october to promote the silmarillion about the book revised and expanded to include twentysix breathtaking new fullcolor paintings forty. Nov 11, 2014 season 2 covers the long peace and the breaking of the siege of angband, from the beginning of the first age to year 456. Nov 24, 2012 so once i finally started my longoverdue assault on the silmarillion. The silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of feanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from valinor and return to middleearth, and their war, hopeless despite all their heroism, against the great enemy.
Over 300,000 authors trust the professionals on reedsy, come meet them. After the success of the hobbit tolkiens publisher wanted him to write a sequel but when the publisher saw this book he didnt understand it and rejected it. Since just comparing the number of unique words in a book does not take its length into account i. Is the silmarillion actually a good book or is it one of those things that only big tolkien fantasy fans like. In addition this copy of the book has maps at the back of the book and various indexes in which you can look up wordsreferencesnames etc. Tolkien the silmarillion is a collection of mythopoeic works by english writer j. The book of lost tales is a collection of early stories by english writer j. My coach would tell me to stand at the back line to volley or approach the net, but never to float in between the areas, because. Apr 28, 2020 the silmarillion is the history of the war of the exiled elves against the enemy, which all takes place in the northwest of the world middleearth. The total volume of tolkiens middleearth manuscripts is vastly greater than that of the completed lord of the rings, but it seems to be a nearhopeless tangle of variants and unfinished reworkings in both prose and verse. Theres no mathematical exactness about this word range, but generally speaking, when a work falls a few thousand below 20,000 words, its a novelette, and when it falls under 7,000 words, its a short story.
Wed love you to buy this book, and hope you find this page convenient in locating a place of purchase. Tolkien, silmarillion is the prequel to the hobbit. It became clear to me that to attempt to present, within the covers of a single book, the diversity of the materials to show the silmarillion as in truth a continuing and evolving creation extending over more than half a century would in fact lead to confusion and the submerging of what is essential. Two or three novellas might be published together as a standardsized book. Tolkien, edited and published posthumously by his son, christopher tolkien, in 1977 with assistance from guy gavriel kay. Clyde s kilby in tolkien and the silmarillion, clyde s. This is why both the silmarillion and the return of the king may appear shorter than expected.
More beauties and sorrows are woven into those 300some pages than most fantasy series can manage to dredge up. Season 2 covers the long peace and the breaking of the siege of angband, from the beginning of the first age to year 456. From the great body of material dealing with the first age of middleearth, tolkiens son christopher has compiled a prose narrative of the events surrounding the. So once i finally started my longoverdue assault on the silmarillion. Very much too long to be a short story, and very much too short to be a novel. How to read the silmarillion and why observation deck. Tolkien, 9780261102736, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Several jacket creases at top edge of front panel with one jagged but closed tear 1. Short fiction forms can generally be broken down based on word count. A novella typically starts at about 20,000 words and tops out at 50,000, which is the minimum length for a short novel. The silmarillion is an account of the elder days, of the first age of tolkiens world. In a moment of weakness nothing to see herei decided to catalogue my old tolkien collection, and i made this website to keep track of everything.
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 recovery of the silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of valinor. To make matters worse, the recover was even glued on crooked which warps the shape of the paperback see photos. Is there a greek mythology book as a history, like the. The longoverdue serious attempt at the silmarillion, part 3. More beauties and sorrows are woven into those 300some pages than most fantasy series can manage to dredge up with dozens of doorstopping tomes. A novella is a standalone piece of fiction that is shorter than a fulllength novel but longer than a short story. About the book about the illustrator a conversation with ted nasmith updated edition of tolkiens bestseller features 26 new paintings ted nasmith on u.
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. Poke around the book stacks and you are bound to find a story that fits in between these two genres. Novels are usually printed around 350400 words per page, and a novel of publishable length is usually around 80100,000 words. I try and update this site when i get the time which is rarely these days. The myths that make up greek mythology are a massive collection of stories that have been.
In the lord of the rings were narrated the great events at the end of the third age. Lets take a look at what defines a novella, and what makes them so unique. Tolkien, edited and published posthumously by his son, christopher tolkien, in 1977, with assistance from guy gavriel kay. The narrative then tells us that as enoch preaches to all nations except the people of canaan, he becomes the leader of the people of god. I would have blogged about it again sooner, but as regular readers will know, i got distracted by git, buffy both the tv series and the dreadful movie, and selection sorting. On my fathers death it fell to me to try to bring the work into publishable form. How often one reads a contemporary fulllength novel and thinks quietly, mutinously. Tolkien, published as the first two volumes of christopher tolkiens 12volume series the history of middleearth, in which he presents and analyzes the manuscripts of those stories, which were the earliest form of the complex fictional myths that would eventually comprise the silmarillion. There are a few time skips of several hundred years. The index to the silmarillion has not been included and neither has the appendicies to the lord of the rings since they are not part of the story. As of writing this, there are 6 copies of it there and a waiting list of 2. A novella is substantially shorter, but long enough to be clearly not a short story. 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. Tolkien includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis covering 28 chapters, as well as several more indepth sections of expertwritten literary analysis.
Tolkiens other works, forms an extensive, though incomplete, narrative that describes the universe of ea in which are found. Tolkien edited by christopher tolkien 1978 book club edition reset science fiction book club houghton mifflin company boston isbn. The silmarillion writers guildan online community for. A numberone new york times bestseller when it was originally p.
Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides for challenging works of literature. A novella is defined as a work of narrative fiction that runs between 20,000 and 50,000 words the average is around 30,000. The skys the limit for the maximum length, though anything over 250,000 is getting into war and peace territory. The complete guide to middleearth, from the hobbit to the silmarillion by foster, robert and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. But i dont like to do things halfheartedly, so here is the bigger picture of length in fiction a novel is anything over 50,000 words. The term novel, borrowed from the italian novella, originally meant. May 27, 2010 so once i finally started my longoverdue assault on the silmarillion. This gives a final printed size around 200250 pages. Tolkiens tragic, operatic history of the first age of middleearth, essential background material for serious readers of the classic lord of the rings saga.
I believe the novella is the perfect form of prose fiction. Just as complex and rich as the plot of the silmarillion is its setting which is best studied by being divided into six subdivisions. There never was and there never will be, because middleearth and its history belonged to tolkien. I remember two decades ago or more, hard to remember now i read the lord of the rings and the hobbit and loved them all.
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