Valaquenta

The sections of Valaquenta:

Summary of Ainulindalë

Of the Valar

Of the Maiar

Of the Enemies

Valaquenta begins with a quick recap of the events from Ainulindalë, and it might be beneficial for slower readers to begin with that, then read Ainulindalë. 

I was rather busy when I was first reading the Music of the Ainur, so too much time passed between readings and I got terribly confused. The summary in Valaquenta is only two paragraphs, and is a good way to get the story into your mind in a couple minutes, before indulging in the beauty and depth of Ainulindalë.

Next we are given an introduction to the Valar themselves. Once again, this might be worth reading before Ainulindalë. I don't like reading things out of order, but sometimes it helps. I am not saying that you should read this instead. No. Bad. Don't do that. I'm merely saying that it might help clarify a little bit and allow you to indulge in the loveliness of Ainulindalë without getting all distracted by trying to learn all the names. I also strongly recommend having  a pronunciation guide nearby, because the longer you read without the correct pronunciation, the harder it will be to get it right in the end. There is a quick one in the back of most editions of Silmarillion, and a whole section on it in the Appendices in all copies of Return of the King. I have typed up the one from Silmarillion HERE so if that sounds preferable to flipping back and forth in the book you are welcome to it. After all, it isn't mine.

After "Of the Valar" there is a brief section on the Maiar, explaining what they are, and introducing you to a few of the more important ones. 

This is followed by "Of the Enemies" which holds a quick recap on Melkor, and establishes him under the name Morgoth. It also speaks of the origins of the Balrogs (hint: they are Maiar) and gives us our first glimpse of Sauron (also a Maia).

Tip on making it through Silmarillion with minimal confusion: 

I advise a note taking approach to familial relations. There is one part in particular where a bunch of relationships between a bunch of people with really similar names are listed off in half a page. There are family trees in the back, but I think that the information will get into your head better if you make your own family trees based off the book, then go check them in the back to make sure you don't have errors. There are a lot of different relations between a lot of different people, and if you can keep all that in your head throughout the book, I admire you. 

Do not discount the appendix in the back. Don't wait until you finish the book to read it. It has maps, family trees, and a glossary of people, places, and pretty much all the elvish words used in the book. In alphabetical order. The Appendix is your best friend. 

Do not ever be discouraged. Ever. This book seems really hard, and I'm not going to pretend it was easy. But it was so worth it. And not in the "I got to the end and was glad I had done it" sort of way. More like, every paragraph makes you really glad you didn't give up on that last one. The appendix in the back is very helpful. Taking notes will make everything easier. And I hope that this little series on the Silmarillion will be mildly helpful. I'm going to try to keep my happy rants about how pretty it is in posts of their own, and put slightly more concise information in others. I don't know if these will be more beneficial read before or after you go to that section in the book. I don't know if they will be helpful at all. 

I just want to share with you my journey through Silmarillion. My notes, struggles, favorite moments, etc. 

I am, of course, documenting my second reading of Silmarillion, but I have no part in my brain where all this is held in my memory. I still have to go back to it before I would trust myself to volunteer information. 

I am going to be breaking it into manageable sections, and spacing over what I consider to be enough time to read them. Ainulindalë and Valaquenta are already in small sections that can be taken separately, so it's been easy so far, but when I get into Quenta Silmarillion I hope you will forgive me a little trial and error. 

If any of you think of something in particular you want me to do, I would love to hear your ideas. 

Now for some confusion of my own. I am being responsible and writing these posts several months before you will be reading them. Which means that there might be a few inconsistencies. 

It's like time travel. Because you are probably wearing warm clothing right now, and have your heaters on, whereas I am sitting in an air-conditioned house, noticing that my plants need to be watered again because it's SO HOT.