[ Daily Tolkien ] Of Beleriand and its Realms

Tolkien Online ^ | 2-17-2003 | Mark-Edmond

[JameRetief]

A Tolkien Virgin: Of Beleriand and its Realms
by Mark-Edmond

The Journey Continues

Zzzzzz...huh? what? oh sorry, I must've dozed off their for a minute. Okay, so how many times did you have to read this chapter to get any real idea of how everything was layed out and who was where? I've read it 4 or 5 times, and I'm still not totally clear on where everyone is situated and all the names of the territories and rivers and marshes and forests and plains and hills and on and on and on...and I even have a map to help me out! (God help those of you who are listening to the Silmarillion on CD and have no map to reference!) Whenever something happens, I find myself refering back to the map in this chapter and the one at the beginning of the book, which is a big help. In all honesty, after reading this chapter as many times as I have, I do have a pretty good idea of how it's all layed out, but I don't have it all committed to memory.

This is a very necessary chapter, but not the most gripping. Tolkien effectively sets the stage for whatever happens next in this epic history (legends and myths and all). And, God love him for keeping things realistically complicated. But that complication is bound to lead to some confusion. Something he was aware of I'm sure.

Something I'm a little curious of is how Thingol feels about the Noldor carving up what he had considered his land. Hithlum, Dorthonian, and the regions east of Doriath, Thingol had given leave to the Noldor to dwell, but not in the West where Finrod makes himself lord. I can't help but feel that this might be the basis for plot complications later on.

And one more thing: who the heck is Cirdan? He rules the remnant of the Teleri in the Falas, sure, but where did he come from? He's not mentioned as having been one of the princes of the Teleri, he just kinda pops up way back Chapter 5 and here he is again, with the death of Denethor in ages past, he's now the only ruler of Beleriand not clearly descended from one of the original lords of the Eldar. I wonder what role he'll play later.

Author: Mark-Edmond
Published on: December 14, 1999

The next Tolkien Virgin article continues with The Silmarillion: Of the Noldor in Beleriand

[JameRetief]

The Daily Tolkien articles by various authors	The Tolkien Virgin articles by Mark-Edmond
ARTICLES 01-10
ARTICLES 11-20
ARTICLES 21-30	ARTICLES 01-10
ARTICLES 31-40	11) Of the Sindar
41) Love in the Trees	12) Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor
42) The Philosophical Etymology Of Hobbit	13) Of Men
43) Exploring Tolkien's Fourth Age	14) Of the Return of the Noldor
44) Origin and History of the Ents	15) Of Beleriand and its Realms
45) It's all in the family: The Elweans and Ingweans
46) It's all in the family: The Finweans

[JameRetief]

Your Tolkien Virgin Ping!

Read along with a Tolkien Virgin as he discovers and comments on the history of Middle Earth as he reads it for the first time.  These articles start with The Silmarillion, journeys through The Hobbit, and finishes with the epic Lord Of The Rings.  At the pace of 2 articles per week (Mondays and Fridays) the articles will wrap up about the same time that the final movie of the Lord Of The Rings story is released. 

If anyone would like for me to ping them directly when I post the Tolkien Virgin articles or my Daily Tolkien articles let me know. I hope that you enjoy them!

[HairOfTheDog]

It isn't the first time he will doze off!

He never should have started LoTR with Silmarillion!

[Vast Buffalo Wing Conspiracy]

Absolutely right. Tolkien's creation is something better absorbed gradually, rather than trying to study as though cramming for an exam. Read LOTR and The Hobbit, and you've got a lot of the background material that will make you go "ah ha, so that's where that comes from" or whatever, when reading The Silmarillion. Coming to The Silmarillion without this backgound familiarity with Middle Earth is just going to make for a very, very dry reading.

[ecurbh]

Ring Ping!!