The Silmarillion

Why not? I just finished reading it again, so here we go. An excellent tale, and how everything is entwined with the fate of these three holy jewels makes it quite intresting, and fluent. If you ask me, the Silmarils, being three, and given the fact they are named Blessed, and have captured in them the light of the two Trees of Valinor unsullied, and light usually being the ultimate subject of 'Good' and practicly the giver of life, I'd say are equivalent (to some extent, not saying that they in fact are an allegorical equality) to the Holy Trinity (being God, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit).
And another intresting thing I have noticed quite evidently throughout The Silmarillion, is the number 7! Here's all the things that are 7 in The Silmarillion (The Book, and not just Silmarillion proper) that I can think of right away:

Seven

Sons of Feanor
Gates guarding Gondolin
Swans Tuor saw flying to Vinyamar
Ships Turgon sent to Aman
Rivers that made up the land of Ossiriand
Wounds Fingolfin gave Morgoth afore he hewed his foot from under him
Cries of anguish Morgoth let loose as the above was dealt
Days did Ar-Pharazon march upon M.E. until he set his pavilion on a hill, whence he sent messengers to bring forth Sauron
Fathers of Dwarves were there in the beginning made by Aule the Vala

Some more there were but this is all I can think off, I find it odd that 7 should be such a relevant number, when numbers are indeed brought up. Perhaps it was a number Tolkien chose out of thin air, or because to him was relevant in some way and used it throughout, or a coincedence, though to me it hardly seems so. I think it was inspired by the Bible, as the Silmarillion, if not whole, mirrors the Christian religion in many aspects, as indeed I believe Tolkien admited to. For in the Revelation, even as John saw the vision of the end, there was a lamb with seven horns and seven eyes, which are the Seven Spirits of God, and He whom John saw held Seven Stars in his right hand, and about him Seven Lamps. And the book which God held had seven seals. Not to mention the seven days in which creation took place (well, six, and the last being a day of rest), in Genesis.

Anyway the book was excellent, and I ask anyone else who has read it (and preferably enjoyed, though thou who have rants, I'd like to hear from thee to), please come forth and share with us your questions, concerns, so on so forth!

I haven't read it yet but I do own a copy of it and I do intend to read it some time within the next year...

*sigh* I've been trying to get through Tolkien forever, but so far I've only read "The Hobbit."

Ahaha! My my, was I really like that back then?
I assure you worthy fellows of YWS I've removed myself from the Christian yoke, and have matured greatly since that time. That 7 and 3 are only repeated in the Bible which was in turn used as a primary source of inspiration for the Silmarillion was a narrow-minded and biased opinion ^_^;;

And you should at least give the Lord of the Rings a go!

As for the whole "seven" thing--Tolkien was greatly influenced by fairy tales, as well, wasn't he? And the mythology from which those fairy tales sprung? Seven is one of the magic numbers in Western European mythology--think seven dwarves, The Seven Swans, etc. That could be an influence, non?

And I loved the Silmarillion. It wasn't easy reading--Tolkien rarely is, his style is so dry--but the stories were absolutely gorgeous! It really does read like a book of fairy tales.

I read it after Lord of the Rings, because I'd reached another obsession, of course. ONe of those ones where my parents end up spending hundred because the library here sucks and I NEED all of the author's work. And guess what? I was in no way dissapointed!

Tough read, but once you're into it, you just can't pull away. Sort of like a positive maelstrom.