and an end was come.

[mood | satisfied]
[music | Baby It's You - JUNE (Bleach 9th ED)]

"Here ends The SILMARILLION. If it has passed from the high and the beautiful to darkness and ruin, that was of old the fate of Arda Marred; and if any change shall come and the Marring be amended, Manwë and Varda may know; but they have not revealed it, and it is not declared in the dooms of Mandos."

- the end of Quenta Silmarillion (The Silmarillion 2nd Edition, 2001)

i just finished reading The Silmarillion (i know, it's long overdue being such a fantasy fan), and i was like, blushing after i read it. it was magnificent, even with those long-winded English that Tolkien used, and very dramatic and poignant. even up to now while i'm writing this, i'm filled with the sense of child-like wonder that only the master, Tolkien himself, could impart to his readers.

to those who don't know, The Silmarillion is the backbone of the works that J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings) had written, but was not published in his lifetime for the lore and world of Middle-earth grew with him. The Silmarillion, according to Tolkien, is his most important work, and details the creation of the world, the birth of the Elves and Men afterwards, the first Great Enemy, and the creation of the Silmarils -- the three Jewels that were the centerpiece of the drama of the First Age, and the entire book.

according to the Silmarillion, the entire fate of the Elven race (or the Eldar, as they are known by the gods, or Quenya, as they refer to themselves) are intertwined with the Silmarils. these were jewels crafted by the master craftsman Fëanor, who in his pride desired to trap the light of the Two Trees of the Blessed Realm - Telperion and Laurelin. in the course of the story, the Silmarils were stolen by Melkor, a renegade god who was later known as Morgoth, the Great Enemy, of whom Sauron was only a vassal of. from then on the story told of the Elves' hopeless but valiant war against Morgoth to win back the Silmarils, until the arrival of Men with which, it was foretold long ago, that their greatest peril yet final redemption lied. among other stories, it also narrated the first union of mortal Man and immortal Elf, Beren and Luthien, of which the most noble race of Men and Elf were descended from, including Aragorn and Elrond.

the second edition of The Silmarillion i read came with several supplementary documents. first was the Ainulindalë, or the "Music of the Ainur", that said of the creation of the world and the supreme god, Iluvatar (or called Eru, "the One"). next was the Valaquenta, or the lore of the Elves concerning the creation of Arda, the name of the world, and the descent of the gods subject to Iluvatar to earth, the Valar, and their attendant spirits, the Maiar. then came the Silmarillion proper of the Quenta Silmarillion, after which is Akallabêth, the recollection of the fall of the favored Men, and The Rings of Power and the Third Age, the link to the Lord of the Rings.

it was published last 2001 by the Houghton-Mifflin Company and edited by Tolkien's son, Christopher Tolkien.

just as the Philadelphia Inquirer said, "It is beautiful... an enchanted tale of tragedy and triumph... The Silmarillion is magical in the grand old style."
i heartily agree.

~DD