50 Fun Facts About The Silmarillion

Who edited and published The Silmarillion after his father's death?

Christopher Tolkien later called it an error to have published the book with no framework explaining what it was, and he laid the drafts bare in the twelve-volume History of Middle-earth.

Which book followed The Silmarillion in 1980?

Unfinished Tales took the opposite approach: where The Silmarillion smoothed the drafts into one story, it printed them much as Tolkien left them, gaps and all.

Which future fantasy novelist spent a year in Oxford helping Tolkien's son edit The Silmarillion?

Guy Gavriel Kay, then a Canadian philosophy student, got the job through a family connection, and a decade later published the first book of his own fantasy trilogy, the Fionavar Tapestry.

In The Silmarillion, what is the whole universe called, within which Arda is the world?

Eä is the word Ilúvatar spoke to make the vision real: it is the Quenya verb 'to be', so the universe is named after the command that created it.

Tolkien's publisher rejected an early draft of The Silmarillion as obscure and "too" what?

"Too Celtic" was the verdict, and the rejection pushed Tolkien to start a Hobbit sequel instead, which grew into The Lord of the Rings.

The Silmarillion's last part retells Frodo's quest, set in which Age?

Third Age events close the book in brief: the War of the Ring, which fills The Lord of the Rings, is retold as the short last episode of a far older history.

Which part of The Silmarillion tells of the world's creation through a great music?

Ainulindalë is Quenya for 'The Music of the Ainur': the song comes first, and only afterwards is the world it describes shown to the singers as a vision and then made real.

Which part of The Silmarillion relates the Downfall of Númenor?

Akallabêth means 'The Downfallen': it is Tolkien's version of the Atlantis legend, born of his own recurring dream of a great wave towering over green land.

Which Elven king challenged Melkor to single combat and wounded him seven times before falling?

Fingolfin could not kill an immortal foe, but his last stroke hewed the Dark Lord's foot, and his enemy walked with a limp ever after.

Which Finnish epic is cited as a major influence on The Silmarillion?

Kalevala so captivated Tolkien that he borrowed a Finnish grammar at Oxford to read it in the original, and the language became a model for his Elvish tongue Quenya.

Which doomed hero of the Finnish epic became Tolkien's model for Túrin?

Kullervo ends by asking his sword whether it will take his life, and the blade answers; Tolkien gave Túrin the same death scene with the black sword Gurthang.

Which Silmarillion chapter, on Thingol's death, did its editor build almost from scratch?

Of the Ruin of Doriath had not been touched since the early 1930s and no longer fitted the later story, so the editor wrote new linking narrative in his father's manner to bridge the gap.

Which hobbit wrote the Translations from the Elvish, the supposed source of The Silmarillion?

Bilbo Baggins filled three volumes with Elvish lore at Rivendell; Tolkien's son found no statement that these were The Silmarillion, but assumed so from the hints in The Lord of the Rings.

Melkor searched the Void for what?

The Flame Imperishable stayed with Ilúvatar alone, so Melkor could never give true life to anything; denied it, he turned to marring what others made.

Which Vala, Lord of Waters, never dwelt in Valinor and went on aiding Elves and Men in Middle-earth?

Ulmo never abandoned the exiled Elves, even under the wrath of the Valar: he appeared to the mortal Tuor on the coast and sent him as a messenger, warning King Turgon that his realm would fall.

The Valaquenta describes the Valar and which lesser spirits, Sauron among them?

Maiar are spirits of the same kind as the Valar but lesser in power; Gandalf was one as well, the same order of being as Sauron and the Balrog he fought in Moria.

In The Silmarillion, which two lamps lit the world before Melkor cast them down?

Illuin and Ormal stood on pillars taller than any later mountain; when Melkor threw them down, the Valar abandoned Middle-earth for Aman and grew the Two Trees to light it instead.

Which Vala made the Two Trees, Telperion and Laurelin?

Yavanna sang the Two Trees into being while Nienna watered the mound with her tears; when they were killed, the two could revive only one last flower and one last fruit, which became the Moon and the Sun.

Which Vala, the smith, created the Dwarves?

Aulë made the Dwarves because he was too impatient to wait for Elves and Men to appear; Ilúvatar gave them life but would not let them come first, so they were laid to sleep until the Elves had awoken.

Which Vala kindled the new stars under which the Elves first awoke?

Varda finished her new stars just as the Elves woke, so starlight was the first thing they ever saw; that is why they revere her above all the Valar and call on her as Elbereth.

In The Silmarillion, Thingol and Melian ruled which Elves?

The Sindar were Teleri who never crossed the Sea: many stayed in Beleriand searching for Thingol, who had vanished for years in a forest, spellbound by Melian.

After his banishment from Tirion, Fëanor built which fortress to the north?

Formenos held Fëanor's treasury, and his father King Finwë chose to share the exile there; Melkor killed Finwë at the stronghold when he came for the Silmarils.

In The Silmarillion, which dark spider spirit helped Melkor kill the Two Trees?

Ungoliant then demanded the Silmarils as her reward and turned on Melkor himself, who had to be rescued by his Balrogs; Shelob of The Lord of the Rings is her offspring.

What name did Fëanor give Melkor after the theft of the Silmarils?

Morgoth means 'Black Foe': Fëanor cursed Melkor by that name on learning he had murdered Fëanor's father Finwë and taken the jewels, and the Dark Lord goes by it from then on.

Returning with the stolen Silmarils, Melkor rebuilt which ruined fortress as his seat of power?

Angband had begun as a mere outpost guarding Utumno; rebuilt, it withstood a siege by the Noldor that lasted centuries, until Melkor broke out in the Battle of Sudden Flame.

How many sons joined Fëanor in swearing his oath to recover the Silmarils?

Fëanor's 7 sons swore with him to hunt down anyone, friend or foe, who kept a Silmaril; bound by it, they killed fellow Elves at the havens to seize ships, the first Kinslaying.

In The Silmarillion, the Noldor whom Fëanor betrayed crossed which region of ice on foot?

Helcaraxë means the Grinding Ice: it was the only road left to those Fëanor abandoned when he sailed off in the stolen ships and burned them on the far shore.

In The Silmarillion, Turgon built which secret city in a vale ringed by mountains?

Gondolin was raised as a memorial to Tirion, the city the Noldor had left behind in Valinor, and it stayed hidden for centuries before it was betrayed from within.

Which nephew of King Turgon betrayed his hidden city to Melkor?

Maeglin was captured by Orcs while mining beyond the mountains against Turgon's orders, and he revealed the city in return for the promise of his cousin Idril, whom he loved.

Which great hound of Valinor helped Beren and Lúthien on their quest and defeated Sauron in combat?

Huan overcame Sauron at the gates of his own tower, and later hunted down and killed the great wolf Carcharoth in the Hunting of the Wolf.

Which Vala did Lúthien persuade to restore Beren to life?

Mandos, the implacable keeper of the dead, was moved to pity by her song; Beren was granted a second life, and Lúthien became mortal to share his fate.

Túrin's greatest deed was the defeat of which dragon?

Glaurung's enchantment had wiped his sister's memory, leading to the tragedy that followed.

Under Melkor's curse, Túrin unknowingly married which sister?

Nienor had lost her memory to the dragon's spell, and Túrin had left home before this sister was born, so he took her for a stranger, named her Níniel and married her.

In The Silmarillion, Húrin took which necklace from the dragon's hoard at Nargothrond?

The Nauglamír was remade to hold a Silmaril; the Dwarf-smiths then claimed it, killed King Thingol among them and carried it off, setting Elves and Dwarves at war.

In The Silmarillion, which couple formed the second union between Elves and Men?

Tuor and Idril had a son, Eärendil the Half-elven, who carried a Silmaril across the sea and won the help of the Valar against Melkor.

Eärendil, sailing Vingilot, became what in the sky?

The Morning Star is Eärendil sailing the sky with a Silmaril on his brow; its light, caught in a phial, later goes with Frodo into Mordor as a light in dark places.

Which sons of Fëanor seized the last two Silmarils after the War of Wrath?

Maedhros and Maglor found that the jewels burned their hands: Maedhros leapt into a fiery chasm with his, and Maglor cast his into the sea.

Which brother of Elrond chose to be counted among Men?

Elros and Elrond were Half-elven, descended from both kindreds, so each was allowed to choose his fate: Elros chose a mortal life and became the first king of Númenor.

Which king of Númenor sailed a great fleet against Aman?

Ar-Pharazôn, the last king, was talked into the invasion by his prisoner Sauron, who promised that conquering the Undying Lands would win him everlasting life; instead a great wave drowned Númenor.

Tolkien began The Silmarillion's tales while recovering from which illness, caught at the Somme?

Trench fever, carried by lice, kept recurring, so Tolkien never went back to the front: he spent the rest of the war in hospitals and home camps, writing the Lost Tales that grew into The Silmarillion.

Which Silmarillion tale did Tolkien write first, after surviving the Somme?

The Fall of Gondolin was never rewritten in full: Tolkien revised his other tales for decades, but this first wartime telling remains the only complete one.

In early Silmarillion drafts, the mariner Eriol who hears the tales was later renamed as which Anglo-Saxon?

Ælfwine means 'Elf-friend' in Old English: he sails west to the Elves' island of Tol Eressëa, hears their history and carries it home, which is how the tales were meant to have reached England.

In The Silmarillion, which Elf-smith, a grandson of Fëanor, forged the Three Rings of the Elves?

Celebrimbor made the Three without Sauron's help, so Sauron never touched them; when the One Ring was forged to rule the rest, he saw the betrayal and the Elves hid theirs.

What was the last version of The Silmarillion that Tolkien actually completed?

Quenta Noldorinwa is the only version Tolkien ever carried through to its end; he went on revising for the rest of his life without finishing another, which is why his son had to assemble the published book.

Which German power metal band retold The Silmarillion on the 1998 concept album Nightfall in Middle-Earth?

Blind Guardian start the story at its end: the opening track, 'War of Wrath', has Sauron urging his beaten master to flee, and the rest of the album's 22 tracks look back on how it came to that.

Amon Amarth, the name of a Swedish metal band, is Sindarin for what?

Mountain of Doom, or Mount Doom, is the name Gondor gave the volcano when it erupted as Sauron attacked; the band kept the Elvish name even though its songs are mostly about Vikings.

What did Adam Roberts call his 2004 parody of The Silmarillion?

The Sellamillion followed The Soddit, his Hobbit parody of the year before; he signed that one A. R. R. R. Roberts, in mockery of J. R. R. Tolkien.

Which spirit did Tolkien describe as an "Odinic wanderer"?

Olórin is Gandalf's name in the West; like Odin in his wanderer's guise, he walks the world as an old man with a long beard, a wide-brimmed hat and a staff.

Which people's treachery cost the Elves the Battle of Unnumbered Tears?

Easterlings under Uldor, son of Ulfang, were secretly in league with Melkor: in mid-battle they turned on their allies, and the great alliance of Elves, Dwarves and Men was destroyed.

Which Elf of The Lord of the Rings appears in The Silmarillion as a leader of the Noldor's rebellion?

Galadriel, in The Silmarillion's telling, was the only woman to stand among the rebel princes; she marched into exile with them and did not sail home until the ship that carried Frodo.