A breakdown of Tolkien’s Ainulindalë, the first chapter of The Silmarillion. I share a mini summary, some personal thoughts, ten tidbits and five fav quotes!

The Ainulindalë, as the first chapter of The Silmarillion, starts literally at the very very beginning – with the creation of Tolkien’s world before the count of time even began. This chapter names some of the big players who you’ll want to keep track of throughout the rest of the story, starting with Eru Ilúvatar, the Father of All. He is the maker and conductor of the music. We meet Melkor, the main antagonist at this point in the story. He wants to make his own music, and so creates discord. Some of the Ainor become Valar and Maiar, and Eru introduces a theme showing the coming of the Children of Ilúvatar, elves and men.

Some Personal Thoughts

This is one of my fav chapters in all of Tolkien’s writings. It’s probably the chapter I’ve read the most in The Silmarillion. I keep coming back to it when I just want to read something beautiful. It never disappoints. I love how it feels like Genesis from the Bible, and there definitely are parallels (i.e. Melkor and Lucifer). As a musician, I also really appreciate the important role music plays in the creation of Tolkien’s world. There are some absolutely gorgeous passages, and I highly recommend listening to it and/or reading it outloud. The language rolls right off the tongue and is so musical to listen to.

Ten Tidbits About the Ainulindalë

1. TRANSLATION: Ainulindalë is Quenya (elvish) for ‘Music of the Ainor’. The Ainor refers to holy beings created by Eru Ilúvatar, including both the Valar and Maiar.
2. COSMOGONY (tolkien’s description, not mine!) is a theory of the origin of the universe. That’s basically what’s happening here in the Ainulindalë.
3. PLACE: This chapters describes the creation of Ea, the whole created universe. Within that there is Arda. And in Arda there exist individual continents, including Valinor and Middle Earth.
4. PERSPECTIVE: The Silmarillion is told from the elvish perspective. When you have that in mind, you can really tell as you read.
5. PEOPLE: Eru Ilúvatar and Melkor are the big players in this chapter. It also mentions the Children of Iluvatar, who we’ll learn more about later. The chapter defines the Ainor, Valar, and Maia, though we get into many more specific characters in the following chapter.
6. MUSIC is a huge part of the creation of this universe. Improvisation and harmony fashions the world, while discord (here’s looking at you, Melkor) in the music leads to destruction. The descriptions are so vivid, and the contrasts between the different themes and discordant music is as well.
7. LOTR LINK: The Flame Imperishable – yes, this is the same flame that Gandalf mentions when fighting the Balrog in Moria!
8. WORD CHOICES: A couple of particular phrases really stuck out to me in this chapter: ‘innumerable stars’, and ‘immeasurable sorrow‘. They give such feelings of vastness and epicness. Which feels appropriate, we are dealing with the creation of the world after all.
9. NEW THINGS TO COME: ‘And in every age there come forth things that are new and have no foretelling, for they do not proceed from the past.’ I still remember listening to the PPP podcast and Alan pulling out this quote He said he thought this could even refer to Hobbits. Hobbits are not in the Silmarillion, so we don’t know where they came from. But Tolkien didn’t need to give us everything, because this quote could fill in that gap – so clever.
10. RE-WRITING: Tolkien rewrote this creation myth many times, with nine different manuscripts mentioned in ‘The History of Middle-earth’. For The Silmarillion, Christopher used the last and most complete version.

Five Fav Quotes

These are a bit long, but I couldn’t help myself – they’re just so lovely to read! I bolded the parts of each quotes that really have my heart. I included a bit more to give each quote some more context.

1. ‘And it came to pass that Ilúvatar called together all the Ainur and declared to them a mighty theme, unfolding to them things greater and more wonderful than he had yet revealed; and the glory of its beginning and the splendour of its end amazed the Ainur, so that they bowed before Ilúvatar and were silent.’
2. ‘Then the voices of the Ainur, like unto harps and lutes, and pipes and trumpets, and viols and organs, and like unto countless choirs singing with words, began to fashion the theme of Ilúvatar to a great music; and a sound arose of endless interchanging melodies woven in harmony that passed beyond hearing into the depths and into the heights, and the places of the dwelling of Ilúvatar were filled to overflowing, and the music and the echo of the music went out into the Void, and it was not void.‘
3. ‘And it seemed at last that there were two musics progressing at one time before the seat of Ilúvatar, and they were utterly at variance. The one was deep and wide and beautiful, but slow and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from which its beauty chiefly came. The other had now achieved a unity of its own; but it was loud, and vain, and endlessly repeated; and it had little harmony, but rather a clamorous unison as of many trumpets braying upon a few notes.‘
4. ‘And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined.‘
5. ‘..and all things were in hue and shape other than the Valar had at first intended, slowly nonetheless the Earth was fashioned and made firm. And thus was the habitation of the Children of Ilúvatar established at the last in the Deeps of Time and amidst the innumerable stars.‘