Links Between The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings, Part 8
Appendices B–F
(avg. read time: 5–10 mins.)
Appendix B, “The Tale of Years,” has significant overlap with the last two sections of The Silmarillion, as it provides more precise chronological information on events noted in those sections. Those sections cover the history of Númenor, the events surrounding the forging of the Rings of Power (including the resulting War of the Elves and Sauron), and the War of the Last Alliance. Additionally, there are some connections made by the introductory matter for the chronology as a whole, for the Second Age, and for the Third Age.
In the introductory matter of the whole, the summary of the conclusion of the First Age makes many connections we have already noted, as well as one that we have not: “The First Age ended with the Great Battles [1], in which the Host of Valinor [2] broke Thangorodrim [3] and overthrew Morgoth [4]. The most of the Noldor [5] returned into the Far West [6] and dwelt in Eressëa [7] within sight of Valinor [8]; and many of the Sindar [9] went over Sea also.” The one extra connection here is the reference to the Sindar, which is a category that was not introduced in LOTR. The Sindar are those Elves of the Teleri (the third and largest of the three kindreds of Elves who made the journey west) who stopped short of making the voyage across the Sea to Aman, since they resided in Beleriand under the dominion of Elu Thingol. The stories of the Sindar, their realms, and their relationship with the Noldor when they returned to Middle-earth, are told in more detail in The Silmarillion.
There is also something said of the Fourth Age that is relevant to the connections we have noted previously, “In the Fourth Age the earlier ages were often called the Elder Days; but that name was properly given only to the days before the casting out of Morgoth.” This explains part of the statement Aragorn made on his deathbed, as his reference to the “Elder Days” made sense in light of most of his reign taking place in the Fourth Age. Also, it confirms that the Elder Days generally referred to the First Age, even before the emergence of the sun, although we have also seen here some variance in usage among the characters.
In the introductory matter for the Second Age, there are also many connections to note that only briefly summarize things referenced in The Silmarillion:
In the beginning of this age many of the High Elves [1] still remained. Most of these dwelt in Lindon west of the Ered Luin; but before the building of the Barad-dûr [2] many of the Sindar [3] passed eastward, and some established realms in the forests far away, where their people were mostly Silvan Elves. Thranduil, king in the north of Greenwood the Great, was one of these. In Lindon north of the Lune dwelt Gil-galad [4], last heir of the kings of the Noldor [1] in exile. He was acknowledged as High King of the Elves of the West [5]. In Lindon south of the Lune dwelt for a time Celeborn [6], kinsman of Thingol [7]; his wife was Galadriel [8], greatest of Elven women. She was sister of Finrod Felagund [9], Friend-of-Men, once king of Nargothrond [10], who gave his life to save Beren [11] son of Barahir [12].
Later some of the Noldor [1] went to Eregion [13], upon the west of the Misty Mountains, and near to the West-gate of Moria. This they did because they learned that mithril had been discovered in Moria. The Noldor [1] were great craftsmen [14] and less unfriendly to the Dwarves than the Sindar [3]; but the friendship that grew up between the people of Durin [15] and the Elven-smiths of Eregion [13] was the closest that there has ever been between the two races. Celebrimbor [16] was Lord of Eregion and the greatest of their craftsmen; he was descended from Fëanor [17].
The introductory matter of the Third Age is relevant because of its narration of the coming of the Istari. This is told in more detail in The Silmarillion as well as Unfinished Tales. Another aspect of the story shared between them is of Círdan giving his Ring, Narya, to Gandalf/Mithrandir because he could tell that Gandalf will make better use of it than he will. One other point of interest in the actual chronology of the Third Age is the reference to the Ring of Barahir, for it is said that Aragorn gave this Ring to Arwen in Lórien when they “plight their troth upon the hill of Cerin Amroth.” This is the explanation for what ultimately happened to this ancient heirloom.
Among the events of the Fourth Age, we have already noted that Gimli’s fate presents a connection with The Silmarillion in that he went with Legolas into the Uttermost West, where he was able to spend his final days upon the appeal of Galadriel. We also see from Appendix B that Sam made the journey into the West as well because of his status as a Ring-bearer. He made this trip after his wife Rose died. Before he departed, he passed on the Red Book of Westmarch, from which this story and its references to the people and events of The Silmarillion derive, to his daughter Elanor.
Since Appendix C consists of family trees of Hobbits, it features no connections to The Silmarillion as such (except most distantly to the last pages of the last section that brings the story right up to the “edge” of the events of LOTR). Appendix D, concerning calendars, tells us that the Shire Reckoning came from when the Hobbits “adopted the Kings’ Reckoning of the Dúnedain, which was ultimately of Eldarin origin; but the Hobbits of the Shire introduced several minor alterations.” This is then given further explanation in the subsequent paragraphs for what the Eldar and Númenóreans reckoned as years and their divisions.
Appendix E, “Writing and Spelling,” has several connections insofar as there are references to words in Quenya (the language of the High Elves) or Sindarin (the main language of the Elves of Middle-earth as developed in Beleriand), or examples drawn from entities given more detail in The Silmarillion (Noldo, Ar-Pharazôn, Nargothrond, Gondolin, and Beleriand) There is also relevance in the reference to “Fëanorian” letters, as well as the Cirth developed by Daeron, a Sindarin Elf of Doriath who was Thingol’s lore-master and minstrel. But as the references in general contain no new information, I will skip over further specifics here.
Finally, Appendix F concerns the languages and peoples of Middle-earth. Tolkien here explains what he will talk about in much more detail in the works that contributed to The Silmarillion in terms of the divisions of the Elves and how they gave rise to the major two forms of Eldarin tongue in Quenya and Sindarin. Quenya was the tongue of Eldamar, which was the first to be put in writing, “It was no longer a birth-tongue, but had become, as it were, an ‘Elven-latin’, still used for ceremony, and for high matters of lore and song, by the High Elves, who had returned in exile to Middle-earth at the end of the First Age.” Sindarin became the chief language of all Elves when some of the Eldar returned to Middle-earth (he notes that even one as noble as Galadriel, whose familial relations are given here, used the language in everyday speech). The section “Of Men” also deals with many aspects of connections to The Silmarillion that have already been noted, such as the Three Houses of the Edain and Númenor. What is more clearly noted here is the Dúnedain spoke Sindarin and their men of wisdom even learned Quenya, in which also the names of the old Númenórean kings were formed. Another additional detail is that Westron, the Common Speech of the West represented in this book as English, ultimately came from the Edain in the First Age, and the Dúnedain adopted this language again upon returning to Middle-earth.
He also writes of the Orcs and their language. As already noted, Tolkien writes of the Orcs being bred “by the Dark Power of the north in the Elder Days.” At this time, they did not have their own language, but corrupted what they gathered of other tongues. Even by the Third Age, Orcs mostly used a corruption of Westron/Common Speech. But it is noteworthy that Sauron devised the Black Speech for his servants to use, but it was never completely implemented. For those besides the Nazgûl and the captains of Mordor, it mainly survived in certain terms that we see the Orcs utter in LOTR. Likewise, inasmuch as the Trolls of Mordor (specifically, the Olog-Hai) spoke, they used the Black Speech.
Of the Dwarves, Tolkien directly says that The Silmarillion tells of their origin, but he does add some more detail elsewhere in the appendix. He says the Dwarves of the Third Age were “descendants of the Naugrim of the Elder Days, in whose hearts still burns the ancient fire of Aulë the Smith,” that is, the Craftsman of the Valar who made the Dwarves. This is the only part of the book in which Aulë is named, but he was also originally the Vala to whom Sauron (when he was Mairon) was attached, and he is the one the Noldor also were most attached to in the many crafts they learned from him. This deep history goes some way in explaining why there was typically more understanding between the Noldor and the Dwarves than between the Sindar and the Dwarves. Likewise, we are told that the Dwarves call themselves “Khazâd,” since that is the name Aulë gave to them at their making. He it was also who taught them how to speak and from whom they derive their propensity for crafting.
In closing this series, I will quote the last paragraph on the Elves in full, as it too features many connections to The Silmarillion:
Elves has been used to translate both Quendi, “the speakers”, the High-elven name of all their kind, and Eldar, the name of the Three Kindreds that sought for the Undying Realm and came there at the beginning of Days (save the Sindar only). This old word was indeed the only one available, and was once fitted to apply to such memories of this people as Men preserved, or to the makings of Men’s minds not wholly dissimilar. But it has been diminished, and to many it may now suggest fancies either pretty or silly, as unlike to the Quendi of old as are butterflies to the swift falcon – not that any of the Quendi ever possessed wings of the body, as unnatural to them as to Men. They were a race high and beautiful, the older Children of the world, and among them the Elder were as kings, who now are gone: the People of the Great Journey, the People of the Stars. They were tall, fair of skin and grey-eyed, though their locks were dark, save in the golden house of Finarfin; and their voices had more melodies than any mortal voice that now is heard. They were valiant, but the history of those that returned to Middle-earth in exile was grievous; and though it was in far-off days crossed by the fate of the Fathers, their fate is not that of Men. Their dominion passed long ago, and they dwell now beyond the circles of the world, and do not return.