#157

This week, Scott and Karl begin their discussion of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion, a collection of mythopoeic stories that form a complete history of Middle Earth. Until 1977, these manuscripts were unpublished until his son, Christopher Tolkien, edited them posthumously.
Producer Brett warns, "If you don't know what The Silmarillion is, you might be stepping into a rabbit hole... but you'll be better for it."
The Silmarillion is actually Tolkien's first book and also his last. It shows us the ancient history to which characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, talk, rhyme, and sing about. Tolkien worked on it, changed it, and enlarged it throughout his entire life. Tune in for Part One of the duo's conversation, brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com.

[@JerryBanks572]

Tolkien may have written his books as if he was discovering facts that had already happened but he made it all fit together by retcon. And he was a master at it.
Galadriel didn't exist until the fellowship got to Lorien, then she was created and the Silmarillion had to be edited to fit her in. The One Ring was just Bilbo's magic ring until Gandalf, no change Gandalf to a black rider. Wait not a black rider, a Black Rider and he's after Bilbo's ring. Why? Lets make his ring really powerful and dangerous and the Riders in wraiths. And so after many rewrites and many years the LOTR changed from a treasure hunt to small hands doing what the mighty couldn't.
Some times I wish he would have lived long enough to finish the Silmarillion, cause I need to know where orcs came from. :) But I think he would have just kept rewriting and never finished.