Silmaril

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This article refers to fictional artifacts. The name Silmarils has also been adopted by a computer game company and a French rock group.

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Silmarils (Quenya Silmarilli) are three fictional sacred objects in the form of brilliant star-like jewels which contained the unmarred light of the Two Trees. The Silmarils were made out of the crystalline substance silima by Fëanor, a Noldorin Elf, in Valinor during the Years of the Trees.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Appearances

The Silmarils are not mere jewels which shine with a great light. The three Silmarils are in some sense both alive and sacred. How Fëanor, admittedly the greatest of the Eldar, was able to create these objects is not fully explained. Even the Valar, including Aulë, could not copy them. In fact, not even Fëanor could copy them as part of his essence went into their making. Their worth, in Tolkien's universe, was close to infinite, even to the Valar, as they were unique and irreplaceable.

After Fëanor was exiled to Formenos, the Silmarils were stored in a chamber of iron.

Together with Ungoliant, the rebellious Vala Melkor destroyed the Two Trees. The Silmarils now contained all the remaining unmarred light of them. Therefore the Valar entreated Fëanor to give them up so they could restore the Trees, but he refused. Then news came: Melkor had killed Fëanor's father Finwë, the High King of the Noldor, and stolen the Silmarils. After this deed Melkor fled from Valinor to his fortress Angband in the north of Middle-earth. Thereafter he wore the Silmarils in his crown.

Fëanor was furious at Melkor, whom he named Morgoth, "Dark Enemy of the World", and at the Valar's perceived desire to take the gems for their own purposes. Together with his sons he swore the Oath of Fëanor, which bound them to fight anyone who withheld the Silmarils from them. This terrible oath resulted in much future troubles including mass-murder and the war of Elf against Elf.

Fëanor led many of the Noldor back to Middle-earth. His flight, which began the First Age of Middle-earth, led to no end of grief for the Elves and eventually for the Men of Middle-earth. Five major battles were fought in Beleriand, but ultimately the Noldor and all the people who took the oath, failed in their attempt to regain the Silmarils from Morgoth.

One of the Silmarils was recovered by Beren and Lúthien through great peril and loss. It was later taken by Eärendil to the Valar in the West as a token of repentance. The Valar then set this Silmaril as a star in the sky. The other two gems remained in Morgoth's hands, and were taken from him at the end of the War of Wrath. However, soon afterwards, they were stolen by Fëanor's two sons, Maedhros and Maglor, as they tried to fullfill the oath they had sworn so many years ago. But the jewels burned their hands, in refusal of their rights of possession, as they had burned Morgoth's hands before. In agony, Maedhros threw himself and his Silmaril into a fiery pit, and Maglor threw his into the sea. Thus the Silmarils remained in all three elements — in the sky, earth and water.

According to a prophecy of Mandos following Melkor's final return and defeat in the Dagor Dagorath (Battle of Battles), the world will be changed and the Silmarils will be recovered by the Valar. Then Fëanor will be released from the Halls of Mandos and give Yavanna the Silmarils and she will break them and with their light she will revive the Two Trees, the Pelóri Mountains will be flattened and the light of the Two Trees will fill the world in eternal bliss.

[edit] Concept and creation

A literary parallel to the Silmarils can be found in the mythology which underlies The Ring of the Nibelung by Richard Wagner. In the Wagnerian mythology the Rhinemaidens guard the Rheingold, which is not merely gold, but special gold that can be made into a ring whose bearer will rule the world. The quest for the Rheingold drives both gods and men to terrible and heroic deeds. In the end, the Rheingold goes back to the Rhinemaidens, forever beyond the power of the gods or men.

Another, earlier - if less exact - literary parallel to the Silmarils is with the Holy Grail, an object which is unique, sacred, and of almost infinite worth. To find the Holy Grail is to find a state of Divine grace. The Quest for the Saint Graal is a key element in the Arthurian Legends.

A further parallel is found in the Finnish epic poem Kalevala. The Sampo is an object of power forged by the smith Ilmarinen at the urging of the wizard Väinämöinen, who requires it to win the hand of the daughter of Louhi, the hag of Pohjola. Although its exact nature is not known, the object is evidently capable of magically providing those who possess it with both the necessities and luxuries of life. The pursuit, theft, and recovery of the Sampo by various characters drives much of the Kalevala's action.