h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

An excellent piece of writing...just started reading the book atm...will take me a little while to get through it I think!

Pitty you didn't get your own blob for it though.

A good summary.

The Silmarillion remains one of my absolute favourite books. The language and scale of the epic are almost 'biblical'.

I never could get through this one though I've read the trilogy and the hobbit several times. I'm going to have to save my pennies and get it on audio. My car is a great place to hear a story.

I agree. I listened to the whole of James Joyce's Ulysses, a work which is very difficult to read, in the car.

Gnomon,

I know you had to select material, but I can't help feeling that you missed the opportunity to link the Silmarillion to LOTR for the benefit of those who have only read that book. Specific examples are:

1. Elrond's parents are Earendil and Elwing. His family was permitted to choose between mortality and immortality, so his brother Elros is also the ancestor of Aragorn (in a purely mortal line) and first king of Numenor.

2. As I alluded to in 1, there's an opportunity to link Aragorn to Numenor.

3. Shelob is a daughter of Ungoliant.

4. Gandalf is a Maiar.

5. The light captured in the phial given to Frodo by Galadriel is the light of a Silmaril (the morning and evening star, bound to Earendil's brow).

There are coutless others, but I think you should have selscted a few of these to illustrate the links between the stories.

I'll have to think about that, manolan. I hadn't considered a section linking the two, as I would feel that should go the "Lord of the Rings" entry, but you're right - everybody reads Lord of the Rings first, and then the Silmarillion, so something here linking back to what they know might be worth doing. I'll consider putting in an update with an extra (small) section, but not for the next month or two as I am going away on holidays at the end of the week. In the meantime, feel free to point out any more connections.

Honestly, I would recommend a different entry altogether for the links. It sounds like you could go on at reasonable length, meaning it would be a prohibitive addition to any existing entry.

Oh yes, I think it definitely merits another separate entry.
Because then we can do another one linking (and unlinking) the Hobbit to Lord of the Rings.

But this is excellent, thanks Gnomon.

I've been pushing through this for a few months now, and yet again I've got bogged down in the detail. This has given me a new impetus to have (yet) another stab.

I love that book. Read it again a few months ago, along with the Hobbit and LOTR. Never get tired of the whole she-bang.
Good article. I agree tho, a whole other article could easily be made of the links.

absolutely a very interesting article like the immortal elves themselves

IMHO, one of the greatest joys of Lord of the Rings is the depth of the history; The fact that much of this "mythology" had been written (or at least sketched) means that when the elves sit down and sing about Varda, or when Aragorn sails past the Pillars of the Argonath, Tolkein gives us a real sense of antiquity.

Well, it does for me, anyway.

I know what you mean. Tolkien's structure seems to have been undeniably influenced by his Catholic faith, something which he never denied although he makes clear that allegory was never his intention. The SIlmarillion really is a creation of great myth.