First a few words: I am delighted that so many people seem to be interested in taking part! I very much look forward to your thoughts and insights. As I mentioned before, I am no scholar. I won't be coming up with any arcana about the derivation of languages. It was my thought and hope that we could read this vital piece of Tolkien's legendarium together as "general readers" and simply share the experience. (Not that I object to scholarly insights! I just won't be providing any myself.
)
Okay, here's a proposed reading schedule. I would really appreciate feedback on this. Is it too fast? Too slow? Should we take, for instance, a whole week for Ainulindalë even though it's only 11 pages? Have I chosen any particularly awkward chapter breaks? For instance, I have included the last 2 chapters of Quenta Silmarillion with Akallabeth... should Akallabeth have its own week?
Once we've agreed to a schedule, I will copy it to the first post and later add a link to the beginning discussion. Basically, I tried to split the book into (more or less) 50 page increments, spread over 8 weeks. (I will be reading the Random House paperback edition - my page counts come from it.)
Here goes!
Discussion beginning Sunday, March 6 (49 pages)
Ainulindalë (11 pages)
Valaquenta (10 pages)
Quenta Silmarillion:
1. Of the Beginning of Days (11 pages)
2. Of Aulë and Yavanna (6 pages)
3. Of the coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor (11 pages)
Discussion beginning Sunday, March 13 (46 pages)
Quenta Silmarillion:
4. Of Thingol and Melian (2 pages)
5. Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië (8 pages)
6. Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor (5 pages)
7. Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor (8 pages)
8. Of the Darkening of Valinor (6 pages)
9. Of the Flight of the Noldor (17 pages)
Discussion beginning Sunday, March 20 (53 pages)
Quenta Silmarillion:
10. Of the Sindar (9 pages)
11. Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor (7 pages)
12. Of Men (4 pages)
13. Of the Return of the Noldor (16 pages)
14. Of Beleriand and Its Realms (10 pages)
15. Of the Noldor in Beleriand (7 pages)
Discussion beginning Sunday, March 27 (39 pages)
Quenta Silmarillion:
16. Of Maeglin (11 pages)
17. Of the Coming of Men into the West (13 pages)
18. Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin (15 pages)
Discussion beginning Sunday, April 3 (47 pages)
Quenta Silmarillion:
19. Of Beren and Lúthien (34 pages)
20. Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad (13 pages)
Discussion beginning Sunday, April 10 (52 pages)
Quenta Silmarillion:
21. Of Túrin Turambar (38 pages)
22. Of the Ruin of Doriath (14 pages)
Discussion beginning Sunday, April 17 (54 pages)
Quenta Silmarillion:
23. Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin (10 pages)
24. Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath (13 pages)
Akallabeth (31 pages)
Discussion beginning Sunday, April 24 (26 pages plus "wrap up")
Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age (26 pages)
Overall discussion of the work
Your thoughts greatly appreciated!
Oh, and just for fun, here is Christopher Tolkien's map of Beleriand: