100 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.

Tolkien described the island kingdom of Númenor as his own new version of which ancient legend?

Atlantis even lent the drowned island a name by happy accident: Tolkien found that Atalantë, the Downfallen, could be built from an Elvish root for falling.

In The Silmarillion, what did the Valar make from the last fruit of the dying tree Laurelin?

The Sun came from Laurelin's last fruit and the Moon from Telperion's last flower, all that could be saved once the Two Trees had been destroyed.

Which actor from the Lord of the Rings films narrated a 2023 audiobook of The Silmarillion?

Andy Serkis, the films' Gollum, read The Hobbit aloud online for charity in lockdown and went on to record Tolkien's books as audiobooks.

In The Silmarillion, which creator of the universe do the Elves call the Father of All?

Eru Ilúvatar joins two Elvish names, Eru, the One, and Ilúvatar, Father of All; he made the Ainur first, as the offspring of his thought.

In The Silmarillion, which creatures did Melkor breed from captured and tortured Elves?

Orcs began, in the published Silmarillion, as Elves enslaved and ruined by slow cruelty, though Tolkien never settled on a single origin for them.

In The Silmarillion, from what did Lúthien weave the cloak she used to escape her father's guards?

Her own hair, enchanted into a cloak that made her guards drowsy, let Lúthien slip from the tall beech where her father Thingol had shut her away.

Beren called Lúthien by the Elvish name Tinúviel, which signifies what kind of bird?

Nightingale is the sense of Tinúviel, literally daughter of the starry twilight, the name Beren cried out as Lúthien fled from him.

In The Silmarillion, where did Melkor keep the three Silmarils he stole from Fëanor?

Set in an iron crown that he wore at all times, the hallowed jewels burned Melkor's hands, as they would burn any evil creature that touched them.

In The Silmarillion, how was the shape of the world changed when Númenor was destroyed?

It was made round, having been flat until then, so that no ship of Men could reach the Undying Lands by sailing west.

Lúthien's dance in The Silmarillion was inspired by whom, dancing for Tolkien in a wood near Hull?

His wife Edith danced for him among flowering hemlock near Roos, and the names Beren and Lúthien were later carved beneath the couple's own on their grave.

The Silmarillion's legends are often described as Tolkien's mythology for which country?

England lay inside the earliest drafts themselves, where the Elves' island of Tol Eressëa stood for it and the town of Kortirion for Warwick.

The Silmarillion's echoes of Genesis reflect Tolkien's boyhood devotion to which Christian faith?

Catholicism ran so deep that Tolkien called The Lord of the Rings a fundamentally religious work, and one scholar reads The Silmarillion as a calque on Genesis.

In The Silmarillion, what is named the Gift of Men, which sets them apart from the Elves?

Mortality, the Gift of Men, frees their spirits to leave the world altogether, while Elves stay bound to it for as long as it lasts.

Which hero of Númenor stole a fruit of the White Tree Nimloth before Sauron had it burned?

Isildur went in disguise to the king's court and was badly wounded escaping, but the stolen fruit kept the line of the White Tree alive.

Which lord of the Faithful escaped the drowning of Númenor with his two sons in nine ships?

Elendil, whom Tolkien called an echo of the biblical Noah, had kept his ships ready and was carried to Middle-earth on the waves that drowned the island.

Which sword broke beneath its owner in battle with Sauron, then cut the One Ring from his hand?

Narsil stayed in shards as an heirloom until it was reforged for Aragorn under the new name Andúril.

Which last High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth died fighting Sauron for the One Ring?

Gil-galad had been entrusted with two of the Three Rings and gave one of them, Vilya, to Elrond along with the rule of Eriador.

Besides the Silmarils, which famous objects of The Lord of the Rings were apparently made by Fëanor?

The palantíri were wrought in Valinor, apparently by Fëanor himself, and those saved from Númenor's wreck reached Saruman and Denethor ages later.

Which Elf-lord died killing a Balrog while guarding the refugees who fled Turgon's hidden city?

Glorfindel slew the Balrog but was mortally wounded, and an Elf of the same name later comes to Frodo's aid in The Lord of the Rings.

In The Silmarillion, how did Sauron first arrive in Númenor before corrupting its king?

As a prisoner he soon seduced the king and many of his people, promising them eternal life if they worshipped his old master Melkor.

In The Silmarillion, how did Lúthien overcome Melkor so that Beren could take a Silmaril?

She sang him to sleep along with his whole court, having walked into his hall in disguise, declared herself and offered to perform for him.

Which King of the Valar, lord of air and winds, is the brother of the rebel Melkor?

Manwë sits on Taniquetil, the highest peak in the world, and sends the great Eagles as his heralds to Middle-earth.

Which great wolf of Melkor's gate bit off Beren's hand together with the Silmaril it held?

Carcharoth, maddened by the jewel burning in his belly, slaughtered everything in his path, and it was this wolf that later killed Beren.

Which black dragon, the mightiest ever bred by Melkor, did Eärendil cast down in the War of Wrath?

Ancalagon fell so heavily that his body broke the volcanic peaks above Melkor's fortress, and with him came the first winged dragons ever seen.

Which first northern fortress of Melkor did the Valar besiege and break for the sake of the Elves?

Utumno fell only after a long siege, and Melkor was bound with the chain Angainor and led to Valinor as a captive.

At which place in the far east of Middle-earth did the first Elves awaken, in The Silmarillion?

Cuiviénen was a bay of the inland Sea of Helcar, and the Elves who woke there were divided into three tribes before any of them marched west.

Which huntsman of the Valar, riding his steed Nahar, was the first to find the newly awakened Elves?

Oromë carried the great horn Valaróma and kept hunting Melkor's creatures in Middle-earth after most of the Valar had withdrawn to Aman.

Which Vala, a wrestler who laughs even in battle, was the last of the Powers to enter Arda?

Tulkas fights with his fists alone and runs too fast to need a horse; it was he who overthrew Melkor and put him in chains.

Which King of the Eagles, with a wingspan of thirty fathoms, guarded Turgon's hidden city?

Thorondor was called the mightiest of all birds, and Tolkien made Gwaihir and Landroval, the eagles of The Lord of the Rings, his descendants.

Which Man, the father of Beren, was given a ring by the Elf-king Finrod for saving his life?

Barahir's ring, made in Valinor, was an heirloom of his line ages later, when Elrond handed it to the young Aragorn.

Which Vala of mercy and grief watered the Two Trees with her tears, in The Silmarillion?

Nienna weeps constantly, though never for herself, and her tears later washed the filth from the Two Trees once they had been destroyed.

At which haven of the Teleri did Fëanor's Noldor kill fellow Elves to steal their ships?

Alqualondë saw the first Kinslaying after the Teleri refused to give up their fleet, and Fëanor burned the stolen ships once he had crossed the sea.

Which captain of the Balrogs gave Fëanor his fatal wounds and later killed the High King Fingon?

Gothmog met his own end in the sack of Turgon's city, where he and the Elf-lord Ecthelion of the Fountain killed each other in single combat.

Which Elven friend and teacher of Túrin was killed by him in the dark, mistaken for an enemy?

Beleg had pricked Túrin's foot with the black sword Anglachel while cutting him free of his bonds, and Túrin seized the blade and struck before he knew his friend.

Who leapt into the sea with a Silmaril and was changed into a white bird to fly to Eärendil?

Elwing was the granddaughter of Beren and Lúthien, and the jewel she carried to her husband is the one he later bore across the sky.

Under which fair name, meaning Lord of Gifts, did Sauron befriend the Elven-smiths of Eregion?

Annatar taught the smiths arts and magic and helped them forge their great rings, then secretly made the One Ring to rule all the others.

Which city of King Thingol, capital of his forest realm, was sacked by the Dwarves who killed him?

Menegroth fell after Thingol scornfully refused the Dwarves' demand to keep a necklace they had set with his Silmaril.

Which kindred of the High Elves, ruled by King Ingwë, has a name meaning the Fair?

Vanyar are the fairest and noblest of the High Elves, a small golden-blond clan that broadly matches the first tribe to awaken.

Which Elvish writing system does The Silmarillion's legendarium say Fëanor invented in Valinor?

Tengwar was supposedly based on the older alphabet of Rúmil of Tirion, and it was first used to write the Elven tongues Quenya and Telerin.

In Tolkien's Elvish, the name of Fëanor, maker of the Silmarils, translates as which phrase?

Spirit of Fire renders Fëanáro, the name his mother gave him; his father had called him Curufinwë, the skilful son of Finwë.

Which monster met by Frodo and Sam is a child of the creature that helped destroy the Two Trees?

Shelob was born to the spider-shaped being that destroyed the Trees, and the giant spiders of Mirkwood in The Hobbit are her own descendants.

Which artist painted the full-page plates for the first illustrated edition of The Silmarillion?

Ted Nasmith was approached in October 1996, formed a strong working relationship with Tolkien's son and editor, and added more paintings to a 2004 edition.

Which prize for best fantasy novel did The Silmarillion win in 1978, the year after it appeared?

Locus Award voters were honouring a book that had already topped the New York Times fiction best-seller list in October 1977.

Which publisher of The Hobbit turned down The Silmarillion in 1937 but issued it forty years later?

Allen & Unwin asked instead for a sequel to The Hobbit, and Tolkien soon set his legends aside to write what became The Lord of the Rings.

Which two-volume work prints the earliest forms of The Silmarillion's myths, begun in 1917?

The Book of Lost Tales opens a twelve-volume history of the drafts, and its second half holds the first tellings of Túrin and of Beren and Tinúviel.

Which abandoned poem in rhyming couplets tells the story of Beren and Lúthien in over 4,200 lines?

The Lay of Leithian, subtitled Release from Bondage, was never completed, though C. S. Lewis read it in draft and sent Tolkien a detailed critique.

Tolkien took the name Eärendil from the poem Crist, which was written in which early language?

Old English gave him the name Earendel, which struck him around 1913 as so beautiful that his whole mythology began to grow from it.

Scholars liken Túrin, famed for killing a dragon, to which hero of the Norse Völsunga saga?

Sigurd kills the dragon Fafnir in the saga, and Tolkien himself named Sigurd the Volsung among the figures Túrin might be said to derive from.

After losing a fight in wolf form in The Silmarillion, Sauron fled in the shape of which creature?

A vampire bat was only one of his shapes: Sauron later wore a fair and beautiful form to win over both the Elven-smiths and the men of Númenor.

Tolkien's Sickle of the Valar, set in the sky as a warning to Melkor, is which real star pattern?

The Big Dipper, known in Britain as the Plough, also lends its seven stars to the emblem of the Dwarf-lord Durin.