AP psychology and world history teacher Sean Hickey recently read “The Silmarillion” by J.R.R Tolkien.
“It explains the cosmology, or world-building of Middle Earth, Tolkien’s universe,” Hickey said.
An exploration of the world from “The Hobbit,” “The Silmarillion” is essentially a creation story of Tolkien’s fictional universe from “The Lord of the Rings” series. The book explains how this world was created and what events led up to “The Hobbit.”
“I chose to read this book to enrich my understanding of the series that I’ve loved since I was a child,” Hickey said.
Tolkien’s success can be mainly attributed to this fictional world he created and the stories surrounding it. As an author and professor of English literature, he created his books to explore language in literature, using his fabricated language of Elvish as the foundation for his most popular series, “The Lord of the Rings.” Some of Tolkien’s other works include, “The Children of Hurin” and “Farmer Giles of Ham.”
“I would recommend this book to anyone who loves ‘The Hobbit’, who loves ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ and wants to expand their understanding of this world,” Hickey said.
“The Silmarillion” presents an overarching theme of wonder as it lays out the main principles of Middle Earth, including concepts from Greek and Finnish mythology to thoroughly explain the history of Tolkien’s world.