[JameRetief]

The Daily Tolkien articles by various authors	The Tolkien Virgin articles by Mark-Edmond
ARTICLES 1-10	1) Pre-amble and The Ainulindalë
ARTICLES 11-20	2) Ainulindalë/Valaquenta
ARTICLES 21-30	3) Of Aule and Yavanna
31) Model Languages: On Tolkien	4) Of The Coming of Elves and the Captivity of Melkor
32) Beyond The Movie: Author and History	5) Of Thingol and Melian
33) Beyond The Movie: Language and Culture	6) Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalie
34) Beyond The Movie: Myth and Storytelling	7) Of Feanor and the Unchaining of Melkor
35) Who were the real heroes of Middle-earth?	8) Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor
36) The Undefinable Shadowland
37) Strange as news from Bree...

[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!

[Stopislamnow]

The Silmarils are not evil, never were, never will be. They were hallowed by Varda so that they would never suffer the touch of evil.

They are not evil in nature. And their light was not an original creation of Feanor. Feanor captured the mingled light from The Two Trees. Preserving them imperishable in some crystal like substance.

The evil impact they cause is the Noldor's lust for revenge upon Melko and the recovery of the jewels. The Oath of Feanor and his sons, which was a terrible and almost blasphemous oath to begin with, follows him and his sons and all who come into contact with the Simarils or seek them.

The Oath of Feanor is what causes the evil, and the choices of the sons of Feanor who cannot deny the oath for fear of the breaking. Had Feanor loved not the silmarils overmuch, he could have and would have sought the aid of the Valar in thier return, to rekindle the trees.