10 Facts About Silmarils

The Silmarils were hallowed by Varda, the Vala who kindled the first stars, so that they would burn the hands of any evil creature or mortal who touched them without just cause.

The Silmarils then contained all the remaining unmarred light of the Two Trees.

One of the Silmarils was recovered by Beren and Luthien through great peril and loss, when Luthien sent Morgoth to sleep with her singing and Beren cut it from his crown.

Silmarils was later killed by Huan the Hound, who died from his wounds, and Mablung cut the Silmaril out.

Silmarils stated that Sigel meant "both sun and jewel", the former as it was the name of the Sun rune *sowilo, the latter from Latin sigillum, a seal.

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Silmarils decided that Hearwa was related to Old English heorð, "hearth", and ultimately to Latin carbo, "soot".

Silmarils suggested this implied a class of demons "with red-hot eyes that emitted sparks and faces black as soot".

The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey states that this contributed to the sun-jewel Silmarils, "helped to naturalise the Balrog", while the Aethiopians suggested to Tolkien the Haradrim, a dark southern race of men.

Shippey comments that the Silmarils relate to the book's theme in a particular way: the sin of the elves is not human pride, as in the Biblical fall, but their "desire to make things which will forever reflect or incarnate their own personality".

Critic Jane Chance views the Silmarils as "created things misused by their creators", like indeed the One Ring in The Lord of the Rings; and like it, they give their name to their book and help "to unify the entire mythology".