Silmarils

The Silmarils (<a href="/facts/Quenya/ahhAHBkb">Quenya</a> in-universe pl. Silmarilli [sil.maˈril.li], lit. 'radiance of pure light') are three fictional brilliant <a href="/facts/Gemstone/kHffmvE3">jewels</a> in <a href="/facts/J._R._R._Tolkien/41HPhk5C">J. R. R. Tolkien</a>'s <a href="/facts/Legendarium/eI1du5Ij">legendarium</a>, made by the <a href="/facts/Elves_in_Middle-earth/FccW53tg">Elf</a> <a href="/facts/F%25C3%25ABanor/ExfEnEj4">Fëanor</a>, capturing the pure light of the <a href="/facts/Two_Trees_of_Valinor/rBghD5Gp">Two Trees of Valinor</a>. The Silmarils play a central role in <a href="/facts/J._R._R._Tolkien/41HPhk5C">Tolkien's</a> book <a href="/facts/The_Silmarillion/v3g2SWpm">The Silmarillion</a>, which tells of the creation of <a href="/facts/E%25C3%25A4/QRNKH3DB">Eä</a> (the universe) and the beginning of <a href="/facts/Elves_(Middle-Earth)/FccW53tg">Elves</a>, <a href="/facts/Dwarf_(Middle-earth)/QPXzfen9">Dwarves</a> and <a href="/facts/Men_in_Middle-earth/6VfBb9T0">Men</a>.
Tolkien, a <a href="/facts/Philologist/5u0xzd5g">philologist</a>, derived the idea of Silmarils, jewels that actually contained light, from the <a href="/facts/Old_English/9rsmQG2a">Old English</a> word Siġelwara; he concluded that Siġel meant both sun and jewel. Scholars have remarked on their similarities to the <a href="/facts/Sampo/0J2wYrEf">Sampo</a> in the <a href="/facts/Kalevala/NanH6D3y">Kalevala</a> and to the <a href="/facts/Holy_Grail/c08z6kXS">Holy Grail</a> of Arthurian legend. They have described the Silmarils as embodying Elvish pride in their own creation, or a Biblical desire for <a href="/facts/Tree_of_knowledge_of_good_and_evil/fMqs2t1m">knowledge of good and evil</a> as in the <a href="/facts/Book_of_Genesis/uFEgtYrb">Genesis</a> story of <a href="/facts/Garden_of_Eden/G52p2uaP">Garden of Eden</a>. <a href="/facts/Verlyn_Flieger/BEQ38F43">Verlyn Flieger</a> analyzes The Silmarillion as a story of splintering of the created light, which in her view Tolkien equates with God. The light is embodied first in two great lamps atop tall pillars to light <a href="/facts/Middle-earth/HCQrvKQe">Middle-earth</a>. When these are destroyed, the light is held in the <a href="/facts/Two_Trees_of_Valinor/rBghD5Gp">Two Trees of Valinor</a>, and Fëanor crafts the Silmarils using their light. When the trees are killed, the last available splinters of the created light in Middle-earth are the Silmarils. When the Silmarils are scattered, to Earth, Sea, and Sky, the skyborne one becomes <a href="/facts/E%25C3%25A4rendil/A0yzeIJe">Eärendil</a>'s Star. The Elf-lady <a href="/facts/Galadriel/lEreyfEn">Galadriel</a> collects light from the star and captures a little of it in the <a href="/facts/Phial_of_Galadriel/u6unMEVe">Phial of Galadriel</a>, which enables the <a href="/facts/Hobbit/I8c6m2IE">Hobbit</a> protagonists of <a href="/facts/The_Lord_of_the_Rings/aS5RH7YT">The Lord of the Rings</a> to fulfil their quest.

Silmarils open-in-new

Silmarils