• Phrodo_00@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    36
    ·
    1 year ago

    What? No. First was the story of Arda in a prototype version of the Silmarillon and Unfinished Tales.

    • Knightfox@lemmy.one
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      1 year ago

      Huh, interesting, I didn’t realize Tolkien had started writing portions of the Silmarillion in 1914. I had to do some looking based on your response and learned something.

      • MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        1 year ago

        From what I know, he never really wrote “for” the silmsrillion either. He wrote stories for him to flesh out the history of the world but not with the intention of publishing such stories. Some of them were even just notes about what happened in the world and some weren’t finished.

        Someone correct me if I’m wrong

        • Two9A@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          According to the Tolkien Professor (during his YouTube streams on the History of Middle Earth series) there was always the intent to publish the Quenta Silmarillion (the central tale of the Silmarils) as a First-Age story of the Elves, but it kept getting revised and rewritten and never reached a publishable form.

          Until Tolkien’s son wanted to complete that piece of the legacy, and found multiple (sometimes contradictory) sets of notes and mostly-finished stories, and Editorial Decisions had to be made.

      • Phrodo_00@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        I’d need to look up the dates, but he might’ve started creating the languages even earlier than that