All the (Silmarillion) Feels is an emotion- and story-focused summary of The Silmarillion. You’ll get facts, but that’s not the point here. Let’s talk themes, meaningful quotes, and moments that made us go “WHOA.” I started this project after falling in love with The Rings of Power television show, so expect me to focus on things to do with Galadriel and Sauron.

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Chapter 5: Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië

This chapter title likely reads as nonsense, though admittedly, nonsense made of very pretty words. Chapter 5 is about how the Elves settled into Valinor and who the major players are going to be moving forward.

The Magical Ship-Island

We left the Elves on the western shore of Middle-earth eager to move to Valinor. We learn that there is a land bridge of sorts to the north, but it is full of dangerous “grinding ice,” so instead Ulmo uproots an island and moves it to the shoreline so that everyone can hop aboard. This is quite possible the coolest thing, and it’s stuff like this that makes The Silmarillion feel properly mythic.

You’ll remember that at first, only two groups of Elves made the full journey to Middle-earth. The Vanyar and the Nolder take the island-ship to Valinor. The Elves loved the light of the Trees, but they missed the stars under which they’d lived in Middle-earth, so the Valar create a deep valley that leads to the eastern shore of Valinor with a mountain from which one can view both their new home and their old. Upon the mountain the Elves built their city Tirion, and Yavanna makes them a mini-Tree that’s just as beautiful as the ones lighting Valinor, but without any self-giving light. The White Tree of Númenor is a descendant of this tree!

Even though the Vanyar and Noldar are having a good time in Valinor, communing with the Valar and learning all sorts of skills and crafts, they miss their kin. So let’s pop back to Middle-earth and see what the Teleri have been up to, shall we?

The Teleri Tarry

You’ll remember that the leader of the Teleri found himself in a love trance with Melian, and his people anxiously hung out on the shore of Middle-earth waiting to see if he would ever show up again. Ossë, a Maiar who essentially works for Ulmo, befriends them, and the Teleri become known as “lovers of water” and “the fairest singers of all the Elves.”

The cries of the Elves in Valinor convince Ulmo to take the ship-island back to Middle-earth to see if any of the Teleri want to make the second journey. It is unclear why the island couldn’t just perpetually float back and forth like a ferry, but Tolkien does like to focus on adventures that demand a choice, and regular travel options don’t really fit with that aesthetic.

Weirdly, the island gets all the way to the Bay of Eldamar (chapter title!), Ossë convinces them to stop the island and just…live on the island. It’s a weird choice to me, since it seems like the worst of both worlds. They’re no longer in Middle-earth, but also not in Valinor with the other Elves! But they seem happy enough, especially when the problem is solved by Ossë teaching them how to build actual ships. They can now make their way to Valinor and back to the island as they wish. Even when they’re in the Undying Lands, however, they like to stick close to the water. They build their own city called Alqualondë on the shores, and they take the gems that the Noldor give them and strew them along the beaches so that they positively glitter. UM, COOL. Tell me you’re rich without telling me you’re rich: “My beaches are full of gemstones.”

The Teleri Who Stayed Behind

Some of the Teleri chose not to go on either of the two island-voyages because they wanted to see if their leader would ever return. And eventually he does! After a very long time, Thingol and Melian come out of their love-trance and find the waiting Teleri. Thingol is disappointed to have missed out on seeing Valinor, but only temporarily, because the light of Valinor shines in Melian’s face. Cute, right? His time spent with a Maiar has changed him, and we get this juicy tidbit about his future: “Fair and noble as he had been, now he appeared as if it were a lord of the Maiar, his hair as grey silver, tallest of all the Children of Ilúvatar; and a high doom was before him.” I’m sure that’ll be fine.

The Family Tree You’ve Got to Learn

Everyone is now fairly settled; most of the Elves are in Valinor, although Thingol and some of the Teleri stayed in Middle-earth with the Maiar Melian. With everyone in place, The Silmarillion tells us about the family around whom the rest of the book is going to revolve, and spoilers, Galadriel enters the story here!

Finwë is the King of the Noldor, the Elves who befriended Aulë and loved to make things. His first son is born to his first wife Miriel, and this son is HELLA IMPORTANT. Fëanor, don’t forget his name. Miriel dies and Finwë marries Indis, and together they have two more sons, Fingolfin and Finarfin. Yes, there are a lot of “F”s this family.

We will go into a ton more depth with these characters as the story progresses, but take note! Finarfin’s youngest child is Galadriel, making her Fëanor’s niece and therefore tied up in all the ish that’s about to hit the fan.

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Chapter 5 sets the stage for all the drama that’s about to unfold, and we’ll learn more about the main dramatist, Fëanor, in chapter 6!

All the (Silmarillion) Feels is an emotion- and story-focused summary of The Silmarillion. You’ll get facts, but that’s not the point here. Let’s talk themes, meaningful quotes, and moments that made us go “WHOA.” I started this project after falling in love with The Rings of Power television show, so expect me to focus on things to do with Galadriel and Sauron.

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Chapter 4: Of Thingol and Melian

Short but Sweet

This chapter is a mere two pages long, but a lot of romance is packed within these pages. In fact, alongside Aragorn/Arwen and Beren/Luthien, I would say that Thingol/Melian is one of the most romantic pairings in all of Middle-earth. They’re all also about otherworldly women singing in glades while being beautiful, so clearly both Tolkien and I have a type!

Melian

Our first lovebird is Melian, who is unique in Middle-earth for being a female Maia. The Maiar are higher beings like the Valar, though one step down in the power hierarchy. For reference, both Gandalf and Sauron are Maiar. Like them, she chooses to spend her time in Middle-earth rather than Valinor, though when she was in the land of the gods, her preferred haunt was hanging with Lórien, the Valar of dreams and visions. She is similarly magical, though her enchantments involve singing and drawing nightingales to her side; she’s very much a Disney princess.

Elwë/Thingol

Our second lovebird is Elwë, the leader of the Teleri, the third group of Elves to journey across Middle-earth toward Valinor. During the journey, he leaves the group and is captured by the song of nightingales. Literally! Hearing Melian’s voice, “it filled all his heart with wonder and desire” to the point that he forgets about all of his friends, family, and duty. Meeting Melian the Maia is so powerful that he changes his name to Elu Thingol and never rejoins his clan. Instead, his brother Olwë becomes the leader of the Teleri.

A Magical Love

Elwë is lovestruck by the sound of Melian’s voice, and when she sees him for the first time, she is just as entranced. In fact, having laid eyes upon each other, “they stood thus while long years were measured by the wheeling stars above them; and the trees of Nan Elmoth grew tall and dark before they spoke any word.”

Guys, Tolkien was a capital R romantic. He loved love, and he wasn’t afraid to write about the wonder and desire that is so utterly captivating that you could spend literal years staring into your beloved’s eyes. Is it silly? Yes. Is it a little weird that all of his romantic leading ladies are chivalric queens to be adored and worshipped? Yes. But I love it!

Anyway, Elwë becomes Thingol, and he and Melian make a home called Menegroth. They rule together for a very long time, and we will get to see them again in later chapters. They are also the ancestors of some of Middle-earth’s greatest; their daughter Luthien is the grandmother of Elrond and therefore great-grandmother of Arwen, wife of Aragorn. Of course, these are the generations of immortals, so from great-great-grandmother Melian to Arwen is thousands of years.

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Chapter 4 was a nice little snapshot of individual characters, but chapter 5 will take us back to the Elves who are crossing Middle-earth in an attempt to enter Valinor!

All the (Silmarillion) Feels is an emotion- and story-focused summary of The Silmarillion. You’ll get facts, but that’s not the point here. Let’s talk themes, meaningful quotes, and moments that made us go “WHOA.” I started this project after falling in love with The Rings of Power television show, so expect me to focus on things to do with Galadriel and Sauron.

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Chapter 3: Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor

Darkness Grows

As the chapter opens, the Valar are hanging out in Valinor, “dwel[ling] in bliss” like they do, while Melkor has free rein of Middle-earth, creating balrogs and giving strongholds to his lieutenant Sauron. The Valar are basically playing The Sims and getting distracted by a shiny new house and family after forgetting all about that first family you made whose kitchen is on fire.

Yavanna continues to be the standout Valar by demanding the group stop thinking only of themselves, saying:

“Yet be sure of this: the hour approaches, and within this age our hope shall be revealed, and the Children shall awake. Shall we then leave the lands of their dwelling desolate and full of evil? Shall they walk in darkness while we have light? Shall they call Melkor lord while Manwë sits upon Taniquetil?”

The Silmarillion, page 44

There is intense ambivalence among the Valar, and they mostly decide to keep waiting around, although Varda does create more stars so that the Children will have better lighting when they awaken. Which they do, almost immediately.

The Elves Awaken

Naming themselves Quendi, the Elves begin their existence in Cuiviénen, and because the Valar put in the bare minimum in preparing the world for their coming, life is terrifying! Melkor “sent shadows and evil spirits to spy on them and waylay them” for YEARS before Oromë stumbles upon them. In the meantime, Melkor is also kidnapping some of them and creating his own race – of Orcs.

“…all those of the Quendi who came into the hands of Melkor, ere Utumno was broken, were put there in prison, and by slow arts of cruelty were corrupted and enslaved; and thus did Melkor breed the hideous race of the Orcs in envy and mockery of the Elves, of whom they were afterwards the bitterest foes.”

The Silmarillion, page 47

Yes, this is what Adar was talking about in The Rings of Power when he claimed to be the Father of Orcs!

The Valar Finally Do Something Helpful

Because their early years were full of terror, the Elves in Cuiviénen initially think Oromë is also going to hurt them, but some find the courage to engage with him and realize he’s a good guy. He returns to Valinor to urge the Valar to help the Elves, but as per usual, “they debated long” and Manwë “sat long in thought.” These are not the people to go to in an emergency!

After taking their sweet time, the Valar finally decide to go to war and defeat Melkor’s reign of terror in Middle-earth. Very slightly making up for their late arrival, they set up a guard around the Elves to ensure that they do not experience the effects of war.

Gods battling upon the land reshapes Middle-earth, creating bays and mountain ranges, and in the end, the Valar are successful. Utumno’s gates are broken, Melkor is captured, and he is “cast into prison in the fastness of Mandos, whence none can escape.”

Just when the Valar are looking pretty good, they get lazy again.

“Nonetheless the Valar did not discover all the mighty vaults and caverns hidden with deceit far under the fortresses of Angband and Utumno. Many evil things still lingered there, and others were dispersed and fled into the dark and roamed in the waste places of the world, awaiting a more evil hour; and Sauron they did not find.”

The Silmarillion, page 49

I’m sure that won’t lead to any problems.

The Great Elf Migration

One of my favorite things about The Silmarillion is that we get to see different kinds of Elves with different priorities and beliefs. They get to be diverse rather than the monolithically Strong, Wise, and Slow Elves that we see depicted in The Lord of the Rings movies.

After the Valar make Middle-earth safe for the Elves, they promptly invite them to leave and journey to their cooler, better digs aka Valinor. It is at this point that we get multiple Elf groups, and even though I’m salty about the Valar’s preference for Valinor over Middle-earth, there is very much the implication that the Elves that go to Valinor are better than the ones that stay behind. We have:

• The Vanyar, led by Ingwë. The smallest group, but the first to set forth. They hecking love Valinor and the Valar, and they never wanna leave.
• The Noldor, led by Finwë. Beloved of Aulë, this group is renowned in song for their labours, and they are going to be the focus of a LOT of future stories in The Silmarillion.
• The Teleri, led by Elwë and Olwë. The largest and slowest group, they loved water and kept stopping on their journey to enjoy the beautiful landscape.

These three groups are all called the Calaquendi, or Elves of the Light, because they went to Valinor and lived under the light of the Trees. In contrast, the Moriquendi, or Elves of the Darkness, stayed in Middle-earth and lived only by starlight. These were the Avari, who refused the initial journey and stayed in Cuiviénen, as well as anyone who set out but stopped along the way like the Nandor.

I’m a huge dork who enjoys all these details, but what you need to know is this:

THE SUMMARY

1. The Elves have arrived!
2. Melkor terrorized the Elves, and the Valar captured and imprisoned him.
3. The Valar invited the Elves to Valinor, and the story pretty much only cares about the ones who went.

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This was a long chapter, but never fear, chapter 4 is only two pages long! Two really good pages, because in it is one of the great love stories of The Silmarillion.

All the (Silmarillion) Feels is an emotion- and story-focused summary of The Silmarillion. You’ll get facts, but that’s not the point here. Let’s talk themes, meaningful quotes, and moments that made us go “WHOA.” I started this project after falling in love with The Rings of Power television show, so expect me to focus on things to do with Galadriel and Sauron.

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Chapter 2: Of Aulë and Yavanna

The Creation of the Dwarves

This chapter is short (just six pages) but so sweet! Until now, the focus has been on the Valar with little hints of the coming of Elves and Men. You might have noticed one race conspicuously missing from this list: Dwarves! (If you thought I was going to say Hobbits, I’m so sorry, but I don’t think they’re anywhere in The Silmarillion.)

As you may remember from previous chapters, Aulë is the Valar that is all about crafting, building, and creation. He reminds me of Hephaestus. So in the midst of all the Lamp/Tree drama that went down, Aulë decides that Middle-earth needs a race that is “stone-hard, stubborn, fast in friendship and in enmity” to resist Melkor’s evil. In secret, he forms the Seven Fathers of Dwarves, one of whom is Durin, “father of that kindred most friendly to the Elves, whose mansions were at Khazad-dûm.”

The only problem? Dwarves were not in Ilúvatar’s creation song, so Aulë is acting beyond the creator’s will…much like Melkor. When Ilúvatar confronts him, however, Aulë is contrite, insisting that rather than create something of his own in order to dominate it, he “desired things other than I am, to love and to teach them, so that they too might perceive the beauty of Eä, which thou hast caused to be.”

In shame over his actions, Aulë takes up his hammer to destroy the Dwarves, and they cower in terror. Ilúvatar stops the killing blow and points out that he has blessed the Valor’s work, giving them true life as they recoiled from Aulë. But! Dwarves cannot be created before Elves and Men, since they are not the foretold Firstborn, so Ilúvatar puts them to sleep until a more appropriate time.

I had remembered this story as mirroring the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac, as one of sacrifice, near death, and last-minute salvation. However, there is a key difference between the stories. In The Silmarillion, Ilúvatar does not ask Aulë to kill his son/creation. Aulë moves to do this on his own. Here, Ilúvatar only shows mercy, preventing death and offering life instead.

The Creation of the Ents

When Aulë goes home to Yavanna and tells her what went down at work, she is happy for him, but sad for herself and the things that she loves most: plants. She foresees that “thy children will have little love for the things of my love… They will delve in the earth, and the things that grow and live upon the earth they will not heed. Many a tree shall feel the bite of their iron without pity.”

They have a conversation about ethical consumption, and although Yavanna admits that all the Children of Ilúvatar will use and eat her creations, she can’t help but feel the sting of powerlessness. “Shall nothing that I have devised be free from the dominion of others?” This cry is so relatable, especially coming from a woman. It’s one of the reasons why I find it such a pity Tolkien didn’t write more female characters into his works, because he really does nail some aspects of the feminine experience.

Anyway, Yavanna realizes that she’s primarily concerned for the trees. After all, animals at least have a chance to escape capture or defend themselves, but trees grow slowly and have no defense against destruction. Having learned from the results of Aulë’s secrecy, Yavanna goes to Manwë and asks if she can create something to defend the forests. In the end, they agree that “in the forests shall walk the Shepherds of the Trees.” That’s right: ENTS!

Happy in her success, Yavanna returns to Aulë to tell him that his creations will no longer be able to take from the forests indiscriminately. The chapter ends on a comedic note that feels a little out of context, much like the presence of Tom Bombadil. “Nevertheless, they will have need of wood,” Aulë comments as he continues to work. Ba dum tss!

Alright, dude. Let her have her moment, please.

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The Dwarves have been made and subsequently put to sleep, so it’s probably time to get a move on with the Firstborn, huh? Good things Chapter 3 is titled, “Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor.”