TTRT: The Silmarillion – Chapter Twenty-Three

The Third of the Great Tales

We’ve come to the climax of the ‘Quenta Silmarillion’ story. ‘Of the Ruin of Doriath’ started the ball rolling which led to the events in this coming chapter.

However, the seed had long been planted way back in ‘Of Maeglin’, the elf who was one of the causes of this disaster.

Through its vast geography, politics and characters, Tolkien manages to fuse one seemingly unrelated event a 100 pages earlier and expand on the consequences of that occurrence later on.

‘Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin’ marks the continuing tremendous decline of the Free Peoples in Beleriand.

TTRT: The Silmarillion – Chapters Sixteen and Seventeen

Not all Elves are Nice…

From this point onward, the narrative of The Silmarillion shifts into personal stories and specific events: of which their outcomes will somehow or other affect the whole balance of the story.

This is one of the alluring beauties of the book: Tolkien’s ability to shift between the grand-scale cosmological narratives to the intricate human (and elf) stories – weaved together as one interlocking tapestry.

Middle-earth’s Best Mums

Celebrating Mother’s Day!

It’s Mother’s Day in this part of the world (and in many other parts), so it’s only natural to dedicate a nice post on the subject.

There are many strong female characters in the histories of Middle-earth who have given birth and raised equally important characters.

In honour of Mother’s Day, we will take a look at the finest examples of motherhood in Tolkien’s fantasy world (books only).

At the same time, I take this opportunity to wish all real-world mothers out there my best wishes and thumbs up for the awesome job you do 😉

Oh and now’s the time to put a -Spoiler Alert!- If you haven’t yet read The Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales (The Lord of the Rings seems to lack in mothers) proceed with extra caution…