Everyone in the Silmarillion dies, except for Galadriel, and Sauron (sort of), and maybe Maglor, but nobody knows.
Here I present to you my guide to the characters, storylines, and other tidbits you probably forgot about because the Silm is so packe...
Where we left off, I was bitching and complaining about this chapter.
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Ahem. Right.
Where did we leave off again?
Nargothrond.
It's a fresh day, my eyes and hands are rested, and I'm determined to finish this tonight.
"Thus the realm of Finrod was the greatest by far, though he was the youngest of the great lords of the Noldor, Fingolfin, Fingon, and Maedhros, and Finrod Felagund. But Fingolfin was held overlord of all the Noldor, and Fingon after him, though their own realm was but the northern land of Hithlum; yet their people were the most hardy and valiant, most feared by the Orcs and most hated by Morgoth."
Thank you, Mr. Tolkien! Finally! Credit where credit is due!
I fucking love Finrod, ok? It'll get even better in a few chapters, but he's in my top 5 for favorites in this book. Absolute fucking icon.
Anyway.
Moving on from Finrod, back up toward Dorthonion/Door-Onion we get this area called the Mountains of Terror. They must be a...lovely vacation spot.
Honestly, like, I respect the naming of this place the most so far. It's not confusing, they don't have like eight different names depending on the language you're speaking, and it's not like fucking Utumno where it's like you're rolling the dice on "is this place inhabited by Noldor or fucking Melkor?"
It's straight and to the point. The Mountains of Terror. The name tells you everything you need to know, they're mountains and bad shit probably happens in them. There's no confusion over whether or not it's a good place or a bad place, they're the Mountains of Terror, obviously, it's not somewhere you want to go. You're not gonna accidentally go to the Mountains of Terror on vacation thinking it's a good place to be.
Ok fine, they're also called Ered Gorgoroth. Which means Mountains of Terror. So it's all good.
If you wanna place that on the map, it's between the label for Dorthonion and Thingol's big fucking stupid name.
"Thither, as was earlier told, Ungoliant had fled from the whips of the Balrogs, and there she dwelt a while, filling the ravines with her deadly gloom, and there still, when she had passed away, her foul offspring lurked and wove their evil nets; and the thin waters that spilled from Ered Gorgoroth were defiled, and perilous to drink, for the hearts of those that tasted them were filled with shadows of madness and despair."
Mmmmmmm I love a good cup of madness and despair in the morning. I dunno about y'all but that's what I put in my coffee every day.
Did anyone else notice where he said Ungoliant, "passed away?"
Like, understatement of the fucking year right there. Ungoliant literally ate herself (that's how she died if you recall) which is a bit more than just simply dying.
You said she ate herself, Tolkien. Own it.
Anyway just like. Mountains of Terror. Don't go there.
Trust me, Tolkien said the Noldor had the same idea.
Under that, we have Doriath which is where Thingol lives, and his big-ass fucking dumb name is smack in the middle of that map so you can look at it yourself because I refuse to talk about Thingol in this chapter.
There's a hill there and it's called Amon Ereb, and apparently, some elven dude named Denethor died tragically there so that's very nice. We love dying tragically. That's what this entire book is about.
Some Dark Elves wandered there, but nobody else really did, and as the Sindar guessed, they were not using their manners.
Probably.
Tolkien didn't say.
I'm just assuming.
We have the Green Elves in Ossiriland. Now, if you remember from Elves 101, they're super mysterious to the Noldor and pretty much keep to themselves. It's also notable that they're mysterious to me too, because Tolkien never really elaborates on them.
East of Dorthonion (wow we're using that as a place to go off of a ton, huh) are the "Marches of Maedhros" which are basically some open plains that are super prone to attack. That makes sense, because it's a lot easier to fight on a field than it is to fight in a forest or on a mountain peak.
Most of the Sons of Feanor are kind of concentrated around that area, and they did a pretty good job with pest control (Orc murder) although the Marches were still super dangerous.
Right next to the Marches of Maedhros is Maglor's Gap. It's not surprising they're in the same area considering that Maedhros and Maglor tended to stick together. We then get a lot of geography about which son did what where in that area, though I don't see it monumental enough to go through.
Tolkien finally ends the chapter by saying that the Sons of Feanor ruled most of the east, and he gives another shoutout to Finrod who apparently just wandered wherever he fucking pleased, including into the realm of the Green-Elves.
