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The Silmarillion Read Through - Week 2
Apr. 25th, 2025 08:39 pmThe group read Chapter 3 - 6
• Chapter 3 - Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor.
The chapter opens with a description of the Valar dwelling in Aman through long ages. So I am thinking; Why are they not doing their job of making Middle Earth ready for the Firstborn? Melkor is building his strength in Utumno and Angband. Only Yavanna, Oromë, and Ulmo seem to be caring for Middle Earth while everyone is building things in Aman and waiting for the Firstborn to awaken. So finally Yavanna brings this up to the Council of the Valar. Then, Varda makes brighter stars. That’s all. I noted that the description of the stars resemble the constellations of Orion and the Big Dipper (the Plow). When the Firstborn awaken by the Mere of Cuiviénen, the stars are what they notice and thus revere Varda (Elbereth) above the other Valar. Since this area was on the other side of the world from Aman, the Valar are unaware that the long awaited Firstborn have arrived until Oromë stumbled across them. I thought is was odd that Ilúvatar, or even Ulmo, did not give Manwë a heads up. Even Melkor knew and all he did was low key harassment and abduction. The creation of Orcs as a corruption of the Elves starts here shortly after the Awakening. Note that Orcs aren’t necessarily evil. They serve Melkor out of fear. It makes me wonder if Orcs had families like Rings of Power seems to portray, or if they were bred like livestock.
• Oromë informs the Valar, then goes back to the Quendi (Elvish) settlement to live with them. The Valar consult Ilúvatar, (I’m imagining the consult beginning with, Hey, Lord, when were you going to mention to us that your Firstborn had awakened.) They go to war against Melkor, defeat him, Imprison him for three eras, and the world had peace for a long age. See, Valar, that wasn’t so hard once you decide to stop piddling around in Valinor.
• Eventually, the Valar decided to summon the Quendi to Valinor rather than leave them in the twilight of Middle Earth. There is foreshadowing that this is not a good idea. The sundering of the Firstborn began as some did not choose to journey across the unknown world and the group split along the way. It took many years to walk to the shore where they would encounter the next problem. The Quendi that arrive at the shore because three kindred, each with a king: Vanyar, Noldor, and Teleri. My questions: 1) How was a year measured since there was no sun? 2) Since Yavanna suspended growing things, what did the elves eat? 3) General journey logistics; families; provisions, etc 4) If Ilúvatar had wanted the Quendi to live in Valinor, he might have had them awaken closer.
• Chapter 4 - Of Thingol and Melian. This is the story of the establishment of the Sindar line of Elves from the marriage of the Teleri king, Elwë, and the Maia, Melian. It is a strange meet-cute that would only happen in a fairy story. Beware when walking through the woods, you may hear birds singing and fall into a trance for many years. Your friends will search for you and miss the boat to the Blessed Realm. The passage of years is described as the stars wheeling overhead. I’m still trying to figure out the cosmology of Eä. Earth is not round or rotating, there is yet no sun. Are the stars moving? I know Time itself is counted by the waxing and waning of the Two Trees. Questions: Melian has a lot going for her. What did she see in Elwë that she would be willing to wed him and bear children. How would that even work since she is a Power? I expect she put on a physical form. Why would she want to do that? Maybe she was bored hanging around in Valinor. Can I assume the Sindar elves are heavily inbred? Though, later it seems they rejoin some of the Teleri who stayed behind. Think back to earlier chapters, the Valar and Maiar did love the idea of the Children of Ilúvatar that they saw in the Great Music, so maybe she is choosing Elwë based on that.
• Chapter 5 - Of Eldamar and The Princes of the Eldalië. We learn of Cirdan the Shipwright, another LotR tie in. Does he ever see the Two Trees or does he spend his life building ships for others to go Valinor? Another subset of Teleri travel to Aman and settle on an island in the Bay of Eldamar. They don’t go to live in Valinor under Two Trees because they still prefer starlight. Why bother moving then? They even speak a different language than the other Eldar families by now. The Valar cut through the mountain range so the light would reach the island, and the Eldar then built a hill to block the light from the island. Why? Some of the Eldar move out of Valmar to live in a city on that hill. By this point I needed a map. https://www.glyphweb.com/arda/maps/aman.png So we now have the three kindred living together again. We learn the origin of the swan motif in the Elven boats and ships. It sounds like swans were used to tow the ships, rather than sails.
• Chapter 6 – Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor. Very sad story of the first death of an Eldar. Míriel, passes away due to the strain of bearing and giving birth to Fëanor. The great love between Finwë and Míriel shows that the Eldar partnerships are based on emotion. Her death foretells the power contained in Fëanor’s will and intellect. Galadriel is the granddaughter of Finwë and his second wife, Indis, from whom she gets her famous golden hair. Thus Galadriel has ancestry from both Noldor and Vanyar lines. Melkor completed his sentence. He asked for pardon and promised to heal the damage he did. Nienna supported him. Maybe she thought his time of captivity caused him to reconsider his actions and he should be given a chance to redeem himself. Of course Melkor is still full of hate and envy. Manwë believes him because he is so good that he can’t imagine deceit. Melkor is released, but he must stay in Valmar to guarantee good behavior. We can all guess what happens when prideful Fëanor and vengeful Melkor get together.
• Chapter 3 - Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor.
The chapter opens with a description of the Valar dwelling in Aman through long ages. So I am thinking; Why are they not doing their job of making Middle Earth ready for the Firstborn? Melkor is building his strength in Utumno and Angband. Only Yavanna, Oromë, and Ulmo seem to be caring for Middle Earth while everyone is building things in Aman and waiting for the Firstborn to awaken. So finally Yavanna brings this up to the Council of the Valar. Then, Varda makes brighter stars. That’s all. I noted that the description of the stars resemble the constellations of Orion and the Big Dipper (the Plow). When the Firstborn awaken by the Mere of Cuiviénen, the stars are what they notice and thus revere Varda (Elbereth) above the other Valar. Since this area was on the other side of the world from Aman, the Valar are unaware that the long awaited Firstborn have arrived until Oromë stumbled across them. I thought is was odd that Ilúvatar, or even Ulmo, did not give Manwë a heads up. Even Melkor knew and all he did was low key harassment and abduction. The creation of Orcs as a corruption of the Elves starts here shortly after the Awakening. Note that Orcs aren’t necessarily evil. They serve Melkor out of fear. It makes me wonder if Orcs had families like Rings of Power seems to portray, or if they were bred like livestock.
• Oromë informs the Valar, then goes back to the Quendi (Elvish) settlement to live with them. The Valar consult Ilúvatar, (I’m imagining the consult beginning with, Hey, Lord, when were you going to mention to us that your Firstborn had awakened.) They go to war against Melkor, defeat him, Imprison him for three eras, and the world had peace for a long age. See, Valar, that wasn’t so hard once you decide to stop piddling around in Valinor.
• Eventually, the Valar decided to summon the Quendi to Valinor rather than leave them in the twilight of Middle Earth. There is foreshadowing that this is not a good idea. The sundering of the Firstborn began as some did not choose to journey across the unknown world and the group split along the way. It took many years to walk to the shore where they would encounter the next problem. The Quendi that arrive at the shore because three kindred, each with a king: Vanyar, Noldor, and Teleri. My questions: 1) How was a year measured since there was no sun? 2) Since Yavanna suspended growing things, what did the elves eat? 3) General journey logistics; families; provisions, etc 4) If Ilúvatar had wanted the Quendi to live in Valinor, he might have had them awaken closer.
• Chapter 4 - Of Thingol and Melian. This is the story of the establishment of the Sindar line of Elves from the marriage of the Teleri king, Elwë, and the Maia, Melian. It is a strange meet-cute that would only happen in a fairy story. Beware when walking through the woods, you may hear birds singing and fall into a trance for many years. Your friends will search for you and miss the boat to the Blessed Realm. The passage of years is described as the stars wheeling overhead. I’m still trying to figure out the cosmology of Eä. Earth is not round or rotating, there is yet no sun. Are the stars moving? I know Time itself is counted by the waxing and waning of the Two Trees. Questions: Melian has a lot going for her. What did she see in Elwë that she would be willing to wed him and bear children. How would that even work since she is a Power? I expect she put on a physical form. Why would she want to do that? Maybe she was bored hanging around in Valinor. Can I assume the Sindar elves are heavily inbred? Though, later it seems they rejoin some of the Teleri who stayed behind. Think back to earlier chapters, the Valar and Maiar did love the idea of the Children of Ilúvatar that they saw in the Great Music, so maybe she is choosing Elwë based on that.
• Chapter 5 - Of Eldamar and The Princes of the Eldalië. We learn of Cirdan the Shipwright, another LotR tie in. Does he ever see the Two Trees or does he spend his life building ships for others to go Valinor? Another subset of Teleri travel to Aman and settle on an island in the Bay of Eldamar. They don’t go to live in Valinor under Two Trees because they still prefer starlight. Why bother moving then? They even speak a different language than the other Eldar families by now. The Valar cut through the mountain range so the light would reach the island, and the Eldar then built a hill to block the light from the island. Why? Some of the Eldar move out of Valmar to live in a city on that hill. By this point I needed a map. https://www.glyphweb.com/arda/maps/aman.png So we now have the three kindred living together again. We learn the origin of the swan motif in the Elven boats and ships. It sounds like swans were used to tow the ships, rather than sails.
• Chapter 6 – Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor. Very sad story of the first death of an Eldar. Míriel, passes away due to the strain of bearing and giving birth to Fëanor. The great love between Finwë and Míriel shows that the Eldar partnerships are based on emotion. Her death foretells the power contained in Fëanor’s will and intellect. Galadriel is the granddaughter of Finwë and his second wife, Indis, from whom she gets her famous golden hair. Thus Galadriel has ancestry from both Noldor and Vanyar lines. Melkor completed his sentence. He asked for pardon and promised to heal the damage he did. Nienna supported him. Maybe she thought his time of captivity caused him to reconsider his actions and he should be given a chance to redeem himself. Of course Melkor is still full of hate and envy. Manwë believes him because he is so good that he can’t imagine deceit. Melkor is released, but he must stay in Valmar to guarantee good behavior. We can all guess what happens when prideful Fëanor and vengeful Melkor get together.
