Tea with Tolkien

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm9

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm8

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm7

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm6

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm5

This book club will run through the end of May and then we’ll begin a new book club in the fall. If you have any suggestions for our fall book club, keeping in mind that it should be something written by Tolkien or at least someone Tolkien-adjacent, you can find me on instagram or twitter @teawithtolkien.

If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here.

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm4

If you’re following along with our Tea with Tolkien book club, this is week two of our The Silmarillion read-along! We are only on week two out of twenty, and we haven’t covered too much ground already so if you’d like to jump in there’s still time!

This book club will run through the end of May and then we’ll begin a new book club in the fall. If you have any suggestions for our fall book club, keeping in mind that it should be something written by Tolkien or at least someone Tolkien-adjacent, you can find me on instagram or twitter @teawithtolkien.

If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here.

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm3

If you’re following along with our Tea with Tolkien book club, this is week two of our The Silmarillion read-along! We are only on week two out of twenty, and we haven’t covered too much ground already so if you’d like to jump in there’s still time!

This book club will run through the end of May and then we’ll begin a new book club in the fall. If you have any suggestions for our fall book club, keeping in mind that it should be something written by Tolkien or at least someone Tolkien-adjacent, you can find me on instagram or twitter @teawithtolkien.

If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here.

So this week we’re discussing the first part of The Silmarillion, "Ainulindalë: The Music of the Ainur" as well as Valaquenta. These two chapters are separate from the Quenta Silmarillion, or the Silmarillion proper as it’s often referred, which we are beginning next week.

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm2

If you’re following along with our Tea with Tolkien book club, this week we are beginning with our The Silmarillion read-along! If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here.

Before we dive into the The Silmarillion next week, I thought it would be helpful to spend a bit of time reading and discussing The Waldman Letter.

The Waldman letter is a letter written to Milton Waldman, an editor and advisor to publishers in London, who had expressed and interest in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion after the widespread success of The Hobbit. For context, The Hobbit was published in 1937, this letter was written in 1951, and The Fellowship of the Ring would not be published until 1954.

Tolkien had hoped to published LOTR and The Silmarillion together and this letter reflects his belief that the two were interdependent.

The letter can be read in a few places:

In part, on the Tolkien Estate Website (there is a large chunk missing in the middle in which Tolkien writes about the creation of his world and its history through the Second Age)

The Letters of JRR Tolkien, Letter 131

In the preface to The Silmarillion (second edition only)

This letter is important because it pieces together all of Tolkien’s stories concerning Middle-Earth, showing how they are all a part of the same great tale.

What’s in the Waldman Letter?

“My dear Milton, You asked for a brief sketch of my stuff that is connected with my imaginary world…”

Tolkien writes that he can’t remember when he wasn’t building his imaginary world or its languages, noting that almost all the names in his world are derived from these languages. This gives his works a specific kind of consistency which others may not have.

Tolkien has always been passionate about myth, desiring a myth that could be uniquely English.

Tolkien addresses that three major themes of his works are Fall, Mortality, and Machine.

He then goes on to write about the Magic of the Elves as Art versus the enemy’s use of Machine

After that, he launches into a summary of his world’s history, from its creation all the way through its third age, which I will not attempt to summarize myself for the sake of brevity and in hopes of simply encouraging you to read this letter for yourself.