The Silmarillion in More Than 3 Minutes: A Condensed Version of the History of Middle-earth
Enjoy this seventeen minute summary of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Silmarillion", a despairingly complex history of Middle-earth compiled by Tolkien's son in 1977. A high-water mark for fantasy readers, this video will give you a crash course on all the obscure references made throughout the Lord of the Rings, explained with hastily animated stick figures.
For more stuff I've made, visit: www.jpkloess.com
Chapters:
0:00 What is the Silmarillion?
0:26 Ainulindalë & Valaquenta
1:22 Quenta Silmarillion
14:44 Akallabêth
16:52 Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
This video is a redone version of my popular but somewhat haphazardly constructed 3 minute summary of the Silmarillion: • The Silmarillion In Th...
Thanks to my sister Julia for proofreading this. If there are spelling errors, I decline to take responsibility for them.
"Read Silmarillion. You'll feel like you've climbed the book equivalent of Mount Everest... Since like Mount Everest, an alarming number of people die before they complete the journey." Greatest Silmarillion review ever.
I read it…and I didn’t leave any dead bodies or trash behind me…okay shit. I lost the book. Damnit.
What’s funny is The Silmarillion is only a summary of the greater bulk of Tolkien’s writings.
Except finishing Silmarilion isn't rewarding. At least it wasn't for me.
@@burger-enjoyer agreed. I read it like an assignment I gave myself. Still not sure why. Its just not entertaining, enlightening, or even a little amusing. Its like a history text book, only more boring and without facts or even useful knowledge. Gotta be honest though, there were points I just skimmed, because it was just bad.
"Luthien, however, refuses to acknowledge she is in a tragic love story, and so, essentially asks to see the manager of the universe, somehow brokering a deal with Manwe in which Beren would live again, if luthien herself became mortal." This is my favorite oversimplification ever.
It's good, but I think the best oversimplification was "and then the good guys sort of killed Sauron for a while"
Luthien is a Karen god damn.
Luthien, the Karen elf?
So, Luthien is... a Karen?
@@nicodemous52 Luthien became a Karen for her love… I’d like to find a lady with that much devotion 😖
The major reason Eru destroyed Númenor (and incidentally turned the flat world into a sphere and removed Aman from "the circles of the world") wasn't due to human sacrifice but because Ar-Pharazôn built a war fleet and invaded Valinor. Eru, the world's DM, literally said "rocks fall, everyone dies".
That seems like more of the final act in a series of disloyal acts toward Eru, rather than the principal act which caused their destruction.
"no, you can't take over the upper planes" *drops a mountain on the party, makes the sea swallow it and makes them inaccessible to scrying or time travel*
@@JPKloessit was stated that the valar asked for help when Numenor’s fleet landed, and eru stepped in at that point.
In the grand scheme of things, the Dwarves seem like to most laid back and chill race of them all. Besides the Ents, of course.
You forgot Bombadill
Only because the Hobbits don't feature into the Silmarillion- and it wasn't mentioned specifically in the video, but the Dwarves were actually the ones who treacherously murdered King Thingol.
Just don't forget to pay them for the work you commission from them. Whatever you do... don't do that ;)
Even the Dwarves were caught up in the madness of the Silmarils. They were given one by Thingol to make into a necklace, Nauglamir. But that didn't go well. Dwarves and elves fought over the necklace, several times, and I think their city of Menegroth was sacked by elves trying to get it. Probably the reason Dwarves and Elves had so much distrust in LotR.
What? No. They sacked Doriath. Thingol made the dwarves fashioned a necklace for the silmaril and then when finished, they squabbled over it, murders happened, then the dwarves sacked the shit out of Doriath. That's the start of elves and dwarves hating each other.
When asked for the Silmarils, I don't think Feanor was afraid of being executed. Instead, I think he was worried that their undoing would break his spirit, since he poured so much of himself into their creation.
I thought he was worried because he didn't want them to take his neat jewels
I think he actually threatened to commit die
It's sounds like neither of you read the book lol
It wasn't worry that drove Feanor, it was greed and envy.
Feanor essentially says that by giving away that which he loved so dearly it would rend his heart and he would die (a little more elegantly put of course) pretty much dying from grief but in the grandiose elf way were emotional hurt seems to be worse for them? idk but thats what I took from it.
I think that what helps people think that the Silmarillion is to complect and not an easy read, is the fact that there are to many characters in this "anthology" and the have similar "non memorable" names. When you have like 4 main elves that star with F and are all strange names you almost forget or mix them up. I feel like the reader has to make notes while reading lol. I LOVE the Silmarillion but we all have to admit that it can get overwhelming especially in the beginning when all the characters are introduced.
Exactly, even with something as fun and simple as The Hobbit it took me a while to know who each of the dwaves were lol. The Silmarillion is terrifying, but I'm gonna tackle it one day... one day.
You forgot to mention: Many of the characters have multiple names on top :D
the amount of times i would have to flick back to the family trees to double who i was reading about
Plus they all get about three different names and you have to keep cross referencing the family trees
completely. the stories themselves arent that complex. heck, most of them are pretty direct and frank. Its really just the NAMES and NUMBER of the characters. If you take each sub story like a tv episode in an anthology, they are pretty rememberable. its just the names and number of names.
A bit of a tip for pronunciation (for readers in general): if you ever see two vowels next to each other and one is marked with two dots (known as a diaresis or trema - not to be confused with umlaut) that's a good sign that those vowels should be read as separate syllables. A good example is Eärendil, which should be four syllables. Other times that mark may appear when Tolkien wants to emphasize that the vowel doesn't follow the "silent E" conventions of English. Aulë for example. We see this in real life in names like the Brontë sisters; here the Irish name has been Anglicized but somebody added the diaresis (ë) to indicate that it's not a silent 'e'. Other diacritics Tolkien uses like ú or î also offer clues that the vowel is stressed or long in some way. In the case of ú as in Túrin, it's a single vowel like "oo" and not a diphthong as you would hear in the word "pure." Just as a general comment. 🙂
This was one of my BIGGEST gripes with the movies!!! They were supposed to have had fucking LINGUISTS to help realise the Elven languages. And yet, they made the fucking high-school mistake of thinking that the diaresis was a diphthong or possibly an umlaut (In Eärendil's name). There are a few Tolkien-esque channels that I follow, like In Deep Geek, or Men Of The West or Nerd Of The Rings. Even they made the same pronunciation errors. However, to their credit, when I pointed out the mistake and how they should NOT look to the movie for pronunciation of this name, they either took my word for it, or they did their own research and discovered that I was right. Upon doing so, they pronounced the name Eärendil correctly from that point onwards! Unfortunately, one of them INSISTS on mispronouncing Yavanna. He ignores the double-n pronunciation, reading it as though her name were "Yavana," despite Tolkien indicating that the double-N should have the same sound as the elongated N sound in Pen-Knife. But, again, he's taken all the rest of my pronunciation tips to heart, so this last, single word-whoopsie is hardly worth getting angry about (even though it still irks me)...
Also, with Dunadain, the final syllable is pronounced "dine." Just detracts from your credibility if you mispronounce things. Also, didn't Luthien make that deal with Mandos (the other not-Manwe thing was the doom pronounced on the fleeing, murderous Noldor (aka the Doom of Mandos). And Huan was a puppy dog, not a wolf, although the uber-wolf Carcharoth killed both him and Beren. Otherwise excellent and hilarious video.
Also the "dh" digraph is actually meant to be a voiceless "th" sound, if I remember correctly. The narrator of the video constantly pronounces it as a "d" sound.
Also "Aule" has only. 2 syllables. There is no accent or other Dia critical over the u that would suggest you pronounce it as its own syllable. It's "ow" as in Sauron.
@@CyrusdVulture You're right. It's a voiced "th" sound, as in 'That' or 'There,' as opposed to the unvoiced "th" sound, in words like 'thin' or 'thanks.'
I think what is most impressive about the Silmarillion is that it's fiction- it came from the imagination of one man. It's so convoluted, irregular and non-linear, it's almost as though he "received" it rather than invented it. Most authors when sitting down to write a story have an agenda, a point to make, a message to get across, they're trying to create a story with exposition, climax and denouement. With Tolkien it's like he's just reporting history as it happened, like it wasn't up to him. It adds a kind of faux authenticity that blurs the line between fact and fiction.
Is it really non linear??? I thought it told the story of the first age from A to Z (I haven't read any books)
For people who've never read the books and got confused on the part about Sauron "surviving" the destruction of Numenor; when Pharazon and some of the "Kings of Men" (a group of humans who also hated the Valar, the elves, and they're bipolar counterpart AKA "The Faithful") secretly went to Valinor with the help of Sauron creating ship/ submarine-like contraptions to slip past the barrier; although Sauron refused to leave with Pharazon because he prefers staying in Numenor where he has full control of the Kingdom during his time using Pharazon as his puppet and being afraid of the Valar's wrath. As he stayed in the temple, Sauron maniacally laughed to himself imagining the horrors Pharazon and some of his warriors are facing in Valinor. During that time, Sauron lost his physical form during the demise of Numenor and his soul fled to Mordor where he can regain his strength once again.
The part of Thingol and Melian not mentioned is that Thingol was Elwé, the Teleri leader who went to investigate Valinor. Elwé's brother Olwé took lead of the Teleri who eventualy crossed to Valinor. Royal cross-marriages meant Finarfin married Olwé's daughter, and Galadriel was one of their children. This explains both why Galadriel was accepted in Doriath, and why Thingol had a grudge against the Feanorions.
Easier to understand if you read his full name Elu Thingol, which is the Sindarin version of Elwë Singollo.
Many people die before they complete the journey The journey is so hard the author died before completing it
Im always imagining that when the rest of the Valar are singing nicely in the choir lead by the conductor ilúvatar. Melkor is in the next room playing loudly rock music.
Also important to mention that Beleriand (West Middle Earth) no longer exists as it was sunk after the War of Wrath
During, not after... Right? The battle was so fierce, the landscape itself was changed
Seriously so, so helpful. I just finished the Silmarillion a few days ago, and I know I missed SO much. It’s a truly overwhelming amount of information. This made the book far more accessible, and I greatly appreciate it! Now on to the Unfinished Tales…
Songs like it’s time for second reading of Silmarillion to catch all the gorey detail now that you got a good foundation
@@tobiasyoder Yep! That’s what I plan to do now having just finished the Silmarillion. Should be way more digestible the second time through. Might start unfinished tales first though to get even more detail, that way I will feel even less overwhelmed in re-reading the Silmarillion. Such a fantastic book!
I don't really want to tell you not to read Unfinished Tales, but ... the Silmarillion is the result of editors going through some (in some cases very) rough drafts and putting together a mostly-consistent story out of the pieces. Unfinished Tales is the pieces they didn't use, so in a lot of places it's basically "you remember that story in the Silmarillion about X? Here's another way it could have gone." If you're going into it with the attitude "I want to know every half baked idea JRRT ever had about elves" then godspeed, otherwise maybe give it a pass.
Yea I totally spaced on creating the ents in retaliation of dwarves
Just a minor correction with the two hosts of the Noldor that left Valinor: Fingolfin had the larger host out of the two half brothers. That’s the only reason they were able to overcome the Teleri at Alqualonde, when Fingolfin’s host joined the battle in their ignorance of who had instigated the kinslaying.
I'm not a brave person, i can't handle the Silmarillion. Thanks for this video!! It was so great! Edit: I'm 2/3 of the way through the book, using videos and the Tolkien companion to help and its SO GOOD!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I would recommend one searching up a free silmarillion audiobook online, it’s only like 10 hours and the format really lends itself well to oration (it’s also easier to understand as it’s not reading so many unfamilliar words and names)
Still a better love story than _The Rings Of Power._
Yup😂
yes! finally the extended edition we have all been waiting for! its amazing!
And too think one guy made ALL of this lore. Just a truely brillante writer
This guy made all fantasy
And he never finished writing it really. He was writing and rewriting it until his death 😔 what we have as The Silmarillion is thanks to his son Christopher, or we would never have know about all this.
Great video! Enjoyed watching, although I feel like you missed out a couple of pretty important things; firstly the pretty monumental part of Turin's story where he kills Glaurung, and secondly, the event that made Eru sink Numenor, which was the Numenoreans sailing West (which they were forbidden to do) and landing in Valinor to make war on the Valar
plus that ungolient was not just a spider but rather a primordial form of evil on a cosmic scale
Yeah, I recently read The Children of Hurin and this video made me wonder if it's a different version of the story than the one in The Silmarillion.
@@Bloodshark123 Nope, the Children of Hurin is just a much longer and more detailed version of the chapter in Silmarillion. My favorite book of all time :D
And Sauron creating a cult and corrupting/encouraging the men of Numenor to sail West.
Also missed out was the reward that Eärendil received to sail the heavens, meaning that the light from the star Eärendil is the light from the silmaril, and that means that Frodo and Sam used the silmaril's light (and by extension, that of the two Trees of Valinor) to fight off Shelob.
I love that i randomly thought about your old video just as you released this one
It's incredible that you condensed this down to 17 minutes, considering everything you covered. There's just so much cool stuff in there. I always try to tell people The Silmarillion is a book full of some of the most Metal legends you've ever read... interspersed with pages-long geography maps that are read out to you in text. For anyone watching this and thinking "do I want to read The Silmarillion?" and you think this all sounds cool, yes, do it. It is as cool as all this and more. But mostly if you know how to skim-read while reading the map parts. (And have an index and glossary in the back of the book if you, like me, have a terrible memory for names.)
Túrins full story is the original grimdark
imagine putting all these nuanced plot points together, having to pick things apart from seriously hardcore, thick-ass books. ty for the relay!
The books not that thick. The Fellowship is bigger I think.
@@adriandenton6637 "this video will give you a crash course on all the obscure references made throughout the Lord of the Rings" LOTR collected works is thick as hell.
You actually did it, you mad lad. Great video!
Broad strokes. If nothing else your summary offers a window into the creation and complexities of the 'world' and its growing inhabitants. Having read the Silmarillion (several times) I enjoyed how you raced through it. If I may be so bold; you did miss a few salient points - but to explain this volume in 17 minutes is quite an achievement. Kudos!!!
Thanks for watching!
Honestly a pretty good summation of so much time/events, so seriously props on that. Others have noted some fairly important points that were missed, so I won't re-hash those, but one thing no one else has mentioned that you don't address is @3:25 with why the Teleri split and one half fails to immigrate to Valinor -- namely that Thingol **is** Elwë (also known as Elu and Singollo at various times -- dude's got a lot of names). So it's not just "an elf" that Melian enchants and weds, it's the lord and high king of the Teleri, and the ambassador of the Valar to his people. Indeed, arguably the main reason the Teleri split into two groups with one remaining behind (the rest being led to Valinor by Thingol's brother, Olwë, who in turn becomes the replacement lord) is that the group that remains in Middle Earth refuse to leave without their king, who incidentally was not just "enchanted" but then also went missing for some 200 years. So to say "they got distracted" is a simplification at best. Also, maybe consider listening to the audiobook of the Silmarillion in order to get pronunciation of various things in elvish/Sindarin? I'm not really a stickler for such things, but I'm guessing you do care, and in fairness Tolkien was first and foremost a scholar/linguist, so he certainly cared (you don't invent your own languages if you don't care...). This is a good enough video that it deserves more or less correct phonetics, and I'm sure your future content on the matter would/will benefit from that kind of attention to detail!
Sending this to everyone I know that are watching RoP. Thanks for making this!
You know people watching that desecration 🤣🤣🤣
@@SpartyCubsFan how’s it feel to be so negative all the time? I like that show
Ha! This is the most condensed, yet precise overview of the Silmarillion that I have ever seen. Good job! Makes me want to read it again. Thanks.
I've read the silmarillion three times and this is the best summary i've ever seen!
Hey Thank you for this brilliant breakdown. Your work does not go unappreciated! Cheers!
I have been waiting for this ever since I saw the original.
I understood more in this video than reading the whole book. THANK YOUUUU
Elves of Mirkwood are not Sindar, they are Sylvan Elves, the ones that never went to Valinor and simply dwelt in Middle Earth. Their rulers Thranduil and Legolas are Sindar though. Most other elves in Middle Earth are also Sindar - including elves of Lorien, Rivendell and Grey Havens.
The main difference is that Sylvan are not high elves and never seen the light of Valinor. The Sindar of are a mix of High elves of the Nolder and the noble lineage of Doriath. In the Third Age the Grey Havens and Rivendell are purely Noldor. While Galadriels realm and Kirkwood is where the Sindar rule over the Sylvan elves.
@@alejandromaldonado6159 Impressive. Almost everything you said is wrong.
Rivendell are Noldor, one of the last places where the noldor still live. The Elves of the Grey Havens are smth different. They are a mix of noldor and Sindar, since they are the decendants of the survivors of Doriath, Nargothrond and the Elves of the Isle of Balar.
Thank you for raising this. When I saw it in the video I immediately thought it wasn't right (or at least confusing in its brevity). I read the Silmarillion last month and have gone straight onto the Hobbit. I'm at the point where Thorin has been imprisoned by the king of the Elves of Mirkwood. When the video said these were the Sindar, I thought, "surely this wasn't king Thingol who is in Doriath, isn't it king Thranduil?" I'm glad to discover I have been paying attention. I didn't realise though that Thranduil was Sindar and the Sylvans took him and some others as their king/rulers. Very interesting.
@@trevhib Right. Thranduil's father Oropher was possibly a lord under Thingol, living in Menegroth, and escaped the Second Kinslaying (I don't think this info has ever been actually canon though). As for the Sylvan, I'm fairly sure they're part of the Moriquendi, the group of elves that never even started the journey West in the first place.
I always forget about how the genealogy goes. I think it's hilarious how closely Galadriel and Elrond are related when you look at the new Rings of Power series.
Well, in the new series it's not clear if they have that relationship yet. Elrond does marry Galadriel and Celeborn's daughter, Celebrian, however it's kind of murky when that occurs, but at the very least it's known that Celebrian wasn't born until the Second Age after Galadriel leaves Lindon, and some 300 years into it at that. In The Rings of Power thus far, Celeborn is nowhere to be found and Galadriel is very much still hanging around Lindon, doing the will of King Gil-galad, so it would seem that she's not yet his mother in-law. Indeed, the absence of Celeborn and Galadriel almost returning to Valinor without him is... intriguing to say the least.
@@joshuatatro4503 In RoP, Galadriel is already a minimum 15,000 solar-years old. It's been about 800-1000 years since Morgoth's demise. Celebrian is a mere 200 when Sauron is first sighted in the Second Age- so, in RoP, Galadriel's being an absent mother in the first centuries of her child's life.
@@Shamino1 You are talking like the TV series Rings of Power have any real connection to Tolkien and the story in Silmarillion.
To be fair, there's much hilarity in the new Rings of Power series compared to The Silmarillion.
RoP is not Tolkiens story at all
"an alarming of people die before they complete the journey." is a perfect summary of the Silmarillion
3:35 i thought most of the mirkwood elves would be Nandor rather than sindar as the Nandor elves were the ones who left the journey east of the misty mountains specifically
I thought the mirkwood elves were Silvan, one of the branches of the Avari. One other being the Moriquendi, or dark elves, who were captured by Melkor and twisted, explaining why the orcs were so sensitive to light.
@@radagast7200 the silvan and nandor are two branches of the same group, which split off from the Teleri. There isn't really any information about any of the Avari.
10:36 "NOT A TRAP" Brilliant.
What a great video and synopsis! Loved it!!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for this. I needed a recap
First I was not sure if you could do a complex, wide-ranging topic like the Silmarillion in more than 3 minutes. To be honest my doubts were enormous. But then you did it. You just did it. And I am still puzzled :)
These are amazing I just casually assumed that this had millions of views and you were a massive youtuber was shocked to see the view count. One day this is gonna be a huge channel and you deserve it
Almost half a million now...
Melkor wanted to make his own creations without the constraints of Eru which made him unable to give his creations a soul. He pretty much got angry with the other Valar for obeying Erus plan for the world and his First and Second born. That is how he turned evil. Corrupting and twisting other beings. Creating the race of orcs from elves. Hence the quote aboute evil being unable to create something new. The Undying Lands was a place for immortals to live. Not that it made the ones living there immortal. Only Eru has the power to grant life and longevity to his creations. Immortality means that your soul is tied to the world. Elves are bound to Arda. When they die they go to the Halls of Mandos in Valinor. They may reincarnate also. Men are free to create their own destinies. And due to their souls not being inherently connected to Arda, their souls wander to another place when they die. Only Eru knows where.
Elves can reincarnate, but don't always do. Some, like Feanor, are not allowed to for a long time
@@sjonnieplayfull5859 Sinse Arda itself is tainted and marred by Melkor, the damage to it and its corruption makes Elves weary after some time. Their soul literally consumes their body and they fade away. Being killed is also a very traumatic, unnatural experience for the Elves and that is why their souls stay for some time in the Halls of Mandos to heal the weariness before they could be reincarnated. FInrod Felagund, brother to Galadriel and Glorfindel got reincarnated very quickly while some like Feanor will not be reincarnated until the end of days and the completion of the Music.
@@pathfinder2reality about the trauma of death, why did the elves decide to start killing eachother like, 30 minutes after they woke up?
@@pathfinder2reality I thought he was not allowed to, but it's been some time that I read the book
Does Eru llúvatar predate both the timeless halls and timeless void beyond EÄ?
Dang, that was enlightening. Thank you for that!
Thanks, it was very concise but also very good: I read the Silmarillions and it was indeed a lot, and this kind of puts back things into prospective, and is great as a sort of extended table of content that helps to find the part that I want to deepen by understanding the general story
Glad it was helpful!
Had the original in my recommended! Excited!
I've read The Silmarillion three times (once physical, twice audio), and still never understood it, until now. Thanks.
Great (and hilarious) summary!
Love the "gauge-o-evil" on "E" -- brilliant :)
Immensely enjoyed this. Well done, my friend!! 😃👏🏽
Glad you enjoyed it
"Halls of Mandos in a handbasket" 😂
Thanks for this! It's been so long since I read it that it was all a mush in my head. The refresher is super helpful!
You're welcome!
This was just amazing!
Loved it, and even better with subs, it has the pace of your voice, good job really
Glad you liked it!
I loved this. Illustrations were great. Content excellent. Side bar comments superb. Had me laugh out loud a number of times. Great work by all.
Thanks
This was outstanding
Thank you and Love your Illustration.
I found the best way to read The Silmarillion is a little at a time, each day. This helps greatly in digesting all of the intricate details, names, descriptions, relations, etc, without feeling overwhelmed by so much information bombarding your brain. The time and place that I found that worked best at limiting my exposure to information overload was (if you're easily offended by reality, read no further) during my first morning "break" at work when I had a 15-20 minute period all to myself while resting in that alliterative room... ... lol
I'm glad you agree that musical battles are so cool.
this is so good
This was actually fantastic, thank you for your time 😂
Excellent video! One of the things that always drew me to the silmarillion is the way in which you kind of sympathise with Feanor throughout even as he slowly descends into madness. At each stage in the journey to too feel frustration with the valar for being slow to act, and being seemingly so naive in letting morgoth go free again. You feel like in a way it is all the Valar's fault even as Feanor slays his own kin. It has extraordinary parallels to real life tragedies.
Honestly i never felt any of those sympathies to Feanor. He acted like a pretentious, ruthless bigheaded di$% who even killed others for not helping him. The most symphathy to anyone of his clan i had for Maedhros, as he seemed the least a§§§ole of them. His brothers refused to help others in hope of those in need to ge tkilled to have fewer "rivals", played intrigues and schemes... And he did the least of that.
One thing that wasn't mentioned was that Elwë, one of the Elves who got the all-expenses paid trip to Valinor, IS Thingol, the Elf who fell in love with Melian and fathered Lúthien (the most beautiful woman, Elf, Human, Hobbit or Dwarf,* to ever live). So he decided to hang out in Doriath with her, and became King of a bunch of his Elf-buddies who had waited for him after he disappeared for awhile (being enchanted by Melian's otherworldly charms for an unknown amount of time, intimated by Tolkien as many months at least) on the journey to the West (those who didn't wait - the Noldor and Vanyar - kept on travelling). Thingol was the lone Calaquendi (Elf who had seen the light of the Two Trees of Valinor**) among his people. Edit: The Prophecy of the North (or the Doom of the Noldor), handed down by Mandos himself in the wake of the First Kinslaying and the beginning of the flight of the Noldor, should've been part of this synopsis. It's riveting stuff, so I reproduce it here in full: _Tears unnumbered ye shall shed; and the Valar will fence Valinor against you, and shut you out, so that not even the echo of your lamentation shall pass over the mountains. On the House of Fëanor the wrath of the Valar lieth from the West unto the uttermost East, and upon all that will follow them it shall be laid also. Their Oath shall drive them, and yet betray them, and ever snatch away the very treasures that they have sworn to pursue. _*_To evil end shall all things turn that they begin well; and by treason of kin unto kin, and the fear of treason, shall this come to pass._*_ The Dispossessed shall they be for ever._ _Ye have spilled the blood of your kindred unrighteously and have stained the land of Aman. For blood ye shall render blood, and beyond Aman ye shall dwell in Death's shadow. For though Eru appointed to you to die not in Eä, and no sickness may assail you, yet slain ye may be, and slain ye shall be: by weapon and by torment and by grief; and your houseless spirits shall come then to Mandos. There long shall ye abide and yearn for your bodies, and find little pity though all whom ye have slain should entreat for you. And those that endure in Middle-earth and come not to Mandos shall grow weary of the world as with a great burden, and shall wane, and become as shadows of regret before the younger race that cometh after. The Valar have spoken._ In bold is the most important line - Mandos prophesied that the Noldor (and any Elves, Dwarves or Men who allied themselves with the Noldor) could never prosper for long in Middle-Earth. Everything that they did turned to crap in the end. Also, note that last part: "[Those] that endure in Middle-Earth [...]." Mandos knew even then that the Noldor, the most OP of the Elves (both by nature and because they had lived in Valinor, seen the Trees before they were destroyed, and had their knowledge increased exponentially by studying with gods, Aulë in particular), would experience this precipitous decline should they remain in Middle-Earth...a decline that is approaching its inevitable terminus in Lord of the Rings. The power of the Silmarils, and the bitter oath to reclaim them are both gone by this point, and yet the prophecy still holds true (Mandos did say that they would be dispossessed for ever, which is a long time, I'm told). It's also worth remembering that the creator of the three Elven rings of power is none other than Celebrimbor, Fëanor's grandson. Being a part of the House of Fëanor, *at which the wrath of the Valar was directed most severely,* Celebrimbor's creation of the Three (which looked like a blessing for the Elves, a way to keep their power alive) ultimately made things worse in the end (indeed, Elrond plainly states that it would have been better if they had never been made). Once the One was destroyed, the Elves could either become a shadow of their former selves, or do as Galadriel herself did and seek the pardon of the Valar, following the straight path to the undying lands. Edit 2: Oh, and Tuor and Idril couldn't have survived the Fall of Gondolin without the help of an Elf called Glorfindel, who slew a Balrog barring their escape route. He saved the refugees, but died in the process. HOWEVER, in an interesting parallel to what happened in Gandalf's fight with a Balrog, Glorfindel didn't stay dead (zombie Elf?). He was sent by the Valar BACK to Middle-Earth...and eventually helps our boy Frodo (and Sam, Pippin, Merry and Aragorn) out on their road to Rivendell, when they are facing the Nazgûl. This ties him to both the salvation of the peoples of the First AND Third Ages. *Or orc, I suppose (shudders). Now that I think about it though, Peter Jackson implied that orcs were hatched from slimy, amniotic fluid-containing egg-like structures, and not birthed. And Tolkien didn't really deign to favour us with the details of #orcsex, so I'm wondering if there even WERE female orcs. The questions that keep a geek up at night... **This is important because the Calaquendi were the most powerful of the Elves. Somehow they got power, wisdom and even beauty from merely glancing at the Two Trees.
wow i learned more here of LOTR lore from your reply and the video itself than I have anywhere else in a short time. thanks
I could be wrong, but if you go by things mentioned in the Hobbit and te appendices of LOTR, orcs have to reproduce like all other beings in Middleearth: Azog was chief of the Orcs in the Battle of Azanulbizar where he got slain, and his *son* Bolg lead an orc army in the battle of the five armies. Also the slimy egg like structures in the movies was just how Saruman created his Uruk-Hai. So one could say "the Wizard did his own cloning experiments..."
well done. this is a great audiobook btw. it's a lot easier when someone else reads the names.
The coloquialisms you sprinkle in crack me up every time. Never expected and so deadpan!
Thanks!
amazing work my friend. I have started the Silmarillion several times, but never got past the first chapter. Way to go!
Thanks for watching!
I have trouble concentrating on reading books, but have listened to the silmarillion multiple times as a "book on tape". Might be worth trying. It's still a lot to take in, but the second time around was much easier to follow along with.
Huan the wolf? Huan the hound of Valinor!
I love stuff like this. Thanks so much, and there were bits that were quite funny. Well done.
Thanks!
This video makes me confident about my next attempt in reading the silmarillion
It has been several years since my last reading of the Silmarillion, but I would say you did a great Cliff Notes version! I wish someone would make it into a series of films or extended TV series. It deserves to be shown to those that lack the ability or patience to read. Because let's face it, it starts off about as fun as reading Genesis in the Old Testament...
The Amazon show "Rings of Power' takes place in the second age. It doesn't cover all of the Silmarillions but there's going to be a lot of over lap there.
the bible better
Yeah, the parallels to Genesis are definitely there.
@@GeorgeVazquez Amazon has no rights to any of The Silmarillion, and is contractually obliged to have nothing even appear to be influenced by anything they do not own rights to - so I doubt we will see anything like any overlap. It's sad really. Silmarillion would've made such a better serialised TV show. I doubt RoP is going to be anything special, from what I see so far - but am happy to be wrong.
@@TheGonzogibby oh wow I had no idea about that. Well if that’s the case then I have lost hope for this show. I’ve seen the first two episodes so far and was underwhelmed. I’ll watch the third one but I have always expected this show to be an ok show at best
This was excellent. I loved the presentation. The animated idea was very clever and it worked really well. Timing of jokes was great. I am about to read the Silmarillion and I know it will be tough going. LOTR took 2+ months to read and was great but not easy. thanks
Glad you liked it
Fire, fine work old boy.
Thanks for this! Helped to understand a very high level of what's been going on, especially that vague reference to when "Morgoth looked upon the Silmarils" that Celebrimbor made in Rings of Power. But also nice to have some plot spoilers, as it appears Rings of Power takes place during Akallabeth.
Celebrimbor? I thought it was Feanor?
@@sjonnieplayfull5859 Celebrimbor. I totally butchered the quote because I didn't go back and rewatch before posting, but I just did to be sure I didn't make it all up 😂
@@wesplybon9510 Just looked it up: Feanor made the Silmarils, Celebrimbor (his grandson) made the rings of power. And I see where our confusion lies: You mean Celebrimbor made the quote, I was thinking about making the Silmarils. English is not my native tongue, hence the confusion on my side. Peace and sweet water to you sir
if you are watching that show i highly recommend to forget about the lore. You will get miserable and angry trying to conceal both show and lore which is impossible. The amazon production is not canon, it can go wherever they want.
@@theuselessdrunk This, I spent so much time reading the Silmarillion and trying to remember who's who and who did what in wich order, that I can't watch the show. It just makes me angry when I see incoherence, and confuses me when I'm not sure about the original lore
To add to the fun: you mentioned three elves that went first to Valinor. Finwe, Olwe and Elwe. Then, they return to Middle-Earth and start the journey again with their folk. And then we are told about how a dude named Thingol quits the journey and stays with Melian. Well, Thingol and Elwe are the same character. Elwe Singollo or Elu Thingol. Four names, one dude. FML
whoops
Fantastic job! I have learned a lot ( even though i have red the book , there were so many confusing things for me ) This video really explains the “big picture “ 👏🏻
This is a true work of passion and love. Thank you.
Thanks for watching
That was actually hilarious with some of the stuff you did in the video. I would have liked the third age and the rings in depth but we all know at least some version of that story
thank you so much, I read the book when I was 14 and it was such a slog! I started again and then I found your video, and whew! btw, I also just think it's cool that Galadriel is Elrond's mother in law.
Thanks for this!!!
This was amazing.
Hey man this was an incredible video, if you had a catalogue of videos like this you sre basically guaranteed to hit higher subs!
The problem is they take forever to make. I'm thinking I will make one about Ancient Rome next, and go in a nonfiction direction.
@@JPKloess this is absolutely stunning incredible!!
16:52 Also up to that point the Earth (Arda) was flat and then it became round, while a good chunk of it (Valinor) was removed to basically float in space as a kind of practical paradise.
...the halls of Mando in a hand basket!! This is brilliant. Thanks much!
This was as informative as it was entertaining. I did laugh out loud quite a few times. Very well done, JP.
Thanks
The Children of Hurin is honestly one of the best stories set in the First Age.
*the best there I fixed it for you.
Didn't Eru Ilúvatar destroy Numenor because they went off to invade the undying lands? After that they got trapped in the caves of the forgotten by Eru Ilúvatar and he made the world round as to make invading an impossibility. He actually made a way for the elves to go the the undying lands by creating a path that curves of the angle of the earth. Then he destroyed Numenor. I also remember they called it a variation of Atlantis after that. I know it's a summary, but you missed so much info there i had to comment.
Yes, that is right, even up to the variant of Atlantis as an after-name that means something like "the fallen".
Yup, even if it’s a summary, the part where “God got so angry he made the world round and hid Valinor in what’s basically another dimension“ it’s a petty big thing to overlook lmao. But good video, tho.
@@ignacioaguirre9689 I'm 40 and read all this plus the "unpublished Tolkien notes" (didn't they end up just putting that in one big book with The Silmarillion?) when I was like 15......I remember NONE of these details LOLOL.......or I got into WH40k and that completely supplanted all the previous knowledge idk.
@@exspiravit6920 Warhammer 40k deserves a condensed history video of it's own. I can't even keep up with it, so I basically just resorted to the history of the faction I picked, The Tau (which is perhaps the easiest to follow because they're relatively new on the grand scale of things).
@@taqresu5865 Luckily I got into it when I was around 15-16 in the late 90s and the whole."Horus Heresy" thing wasn't a thing yet. I got to slowly and comfortably read EVERYTHING that already existed, then everything else as it was published. Right time right place, I guess. There are definitely several distinctive factions of 40k fans: The really old school table-top gamer fans, the semi-serious table toppers who loved the fiction and background lore (that's Me!!), and those who came "later" LOL.....I call them "Fluff-heads" but I realize they aren't all that simple to judge. They like to go to wikis and lexicanum and read all the fluff (spoiling it for themselves, WHY??) so they can appear smart about it, but come off really......exasperating.
I like the end where you say "read the Silmarillion". ROFL. I found your excellent recap tough to get through,A few fun details to know in there but I'm so glad I didn't have to grind through the book. I also have zero ability to keep all those names straight whilst reading. I'd need to read with a spreadsheet and constantly reference and recap when it's already tragically long to get through. Thanks for making this!
This was simply great & well illustrated!
Thanks!
Great video, halariously done 👍
Thanks!
Ive read the Silmarillion and I still didn’t get it fully. This was a good visual to go over the main points, thanks!
Bro even with this brilliantly compacted and explained version of the book I got so damn confused by minute 8, that I put it away to repeat watch later lol
I've read the Silmarillion thrice and still found this video helpful. Thanks!
Aragorn and Arwen were cousins both 63 and 69 times removed, since Isildur's line, which ruled Arnor, and his brother Anarion's line, which ruled Gondor, rejoined when Arvedui (23 generations from Isildur) and Firiel (29 generations from Anarion) married and bore Aragorn's ancestor Aranarth.
Most people you meet on the street is likely to be closer relatives then that to you.
It’s funny to me that the Silmarillion is so tough and yet it was my first major novel to read as a kid. And it remains one of my ultimate favorites to this day. As long as Amazon doesn’t get the movie rights to the silmarillion it will make a fantastic movie/tv series one day!
Was that sarcasm? It's hard to tell. The Rings of Power are based on the last two books.
@@aderi31415 No they are not. They are not allowed to touch the Silmarilion unless the information is in the one Appendices that they gained the rights for. The one they bought the rights for is near the end of the Return of the King.
Best version ever!!
Really good presentation!
correction: only Thranduil was a Sindar. the other elves in Mirkwood were not Sindar but Silvan.
Orcs were elves that were given the covid vaccine.
Leaving out Turin Truambar's encoutner with the dragon is sacriledge. It's one of the best parts in the entire Tolkien universe. Also I think saying how Luthien sang Melkor to sleep after being captured from her cage is worth including. If you edit things? Amazing job tho.
Thanks for posting this video. It was a very good test of my brain because I read that book about 40 years ago. I award my memory a D- grade.
Super entertaining man! Very well done
Glad you enjoyed!
Love it! Thank you much for taking the time. This really helps me understand a few things better & in the end i feel enlightened😎 perhaps you can do the unfinished tales next...however your non commitment leads you😉
I think I might need to switch to some non-Tolkien for a change of pace. Maybe Lewis' Space Trilogy or something.
@@JPKloess lol try supernatural...theres 15 seasons to inspire you 😉😉
@@Franki3W yeah, but I hear only the first five are good
@@JPKloess i would argue up to the 10th its brilliant. The last 5 is still good but some storylines could have been skipped - imo. Still good to watch though😉 well maybe cause im a hard core fangirl😇