10 'Silmarillion' References in 'The Lord of the Rings'
‘The Lord of the Rings’ montage poster (LotR Wiki)
Last month, the boys and I rewatched Peter Jackson’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, and, aside from, once again, totally enjoying the films, I was also, once again, impressed with the number of ‘Silmarillion’ references that had been included, emphasising the weight of history JRR Tolkien had infused in his story.
It doesn’t matter if you’re not familiar with the events in ‘The Silmarillion’ for the references are framed in a way that don’t require prior knowledge.
If anything, they probably arouse a curiosity to find out more… in my opinion, anyway.
For this list, I’ve picked 10 of my favourite ‘Silmarillion’ references, all from the First Age, and not including the obvious ones, namely Galadriel, Sauron, and Elrond.
So, here they are, as we see them in Peter Jackson’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ films, listed in order of appearance.
1. The Palantír.
The palantír at Isengard
First seen when Gandalf goes to Isengard to meet with Saruman.
The palantír was one of Seven Stones, also known as the Seven Seeing-stones, used for communication and to gather information.
They were made in Aman, the home of the Valar, possibly by Fëanor, the greatest Elven craftsman who also made the Silmarils.
The Elves gave them to the Faithful Númenóreans.
At the Fall of Númenor, which occurred during the late Second Age, Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anárion, rescued the stones and brought them to Middle-earth, setting them in Towers throughout their realms.
2. The Song of Beren and Lúthien.
Aragorn singing the lay of Lúthien
During their journey to Rivendell, Aragorn keeps watch while the four hobbits sleep, and he sings a song in Elvish.
Frodo wakes and asks him who the woman is he’s singing of, and he replies, “it is the lay of Lúthien, an Elf-maid who gave her love to Beren, a mortal.”
Lúthien was the daughter of Elu Thingol, the first King of the Elves who remained in Middle-earth in the First Age, and his wife, Melian the Maia.
The Maiar were spirits who had been created to help the Valar shape the world and, while they lived in Aman with the Valar, Melian preferred to spend her time in Middle-earth. When she met and fell in love with Thingol, she remained in Middle-earth.
Lúthien fell in love with Beren, a mortal.
Beren asked Thingol for Lúthien’s hand.
Although hostile to Beren’s request, Thingol agreed and set the price – a Silmaril from the crown of the Dark Lord, Morgoth, a price all believed to be impossible and doomed to fail.
But Beren set out to fulfil the task, aided by Lúthien who was prepared to risk everything, even her life, for him.
Through all kinds of horrors, they eventually succeeded in getting a Silmaril and Beren won Thingol’s respect, and the couple were married.
Although their actions resulted in their deaths, their deeds won them the chance of life again in Middle-earth, but Lúthien had to give up her immortality, which she willingly did.
3. The Secret Fire + Flame of Udûn.
Gandalf and the Balrog
These two are from the same scene, when Gandalf faces the Balrog in Moria - “I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow!”
The Secret Fire is mentioned once, early in ‘The Silmarillion’ – ‘Therefore Ilúvatar gave to [the Valar’s] vision Being, and set it amid the Void, and the Secret Fire was sent to burn at the heart of the World; and it was called Eä.’
The Secret Fire, or Flame Imperishable, is thought to be of the essence of Ilúvatar, the God in Tolkien’s Legendarium, so when Gandalf refers to himself as a ‘servant of the Secret Fire’, I take it to mean his declaration that he serves God and the side of Light.
Gandalf calls the Balrog ‘Flame of Udûn’, and this is in reference to Udûn, which was also known as Utumno, the name of Morgoth’s oldest fortress, which he’d raised far in the north of Middle-earth, before the First Age.
4. A Balrog of Morgoth.
The Balrog
When the Fellowship arrives in Lothlorien and are taken before Celeborn and Galadriel, Celeborn asks where Gandalf is, and Legolas replies he fell in Moria to “a Balrog of Morgoth.”
Balrogs were fiery Maiar who, in ancient times, were influenced by Melkor’s might and decided to join him.
Their first dwelling in Middle-earth was, as already mentioned, in Utumno.
5. The Light of Eärendil.
Galadriel gives Frodo the glass phial containing the light of Eärendil
Before the Fellowship leaves Lothlórien, Galadriel gives them gifts.
To Frodo, she gives a glass phial which seems to have a light in it, and says, “I give you the light of Eärendil, our most beloved star. May it be a light for you in dark places when all other lights go out.”
Eärendil was the Half-elf son of a mortal, Tuor, and an elf, Idril.
He married Elwing, the granddaughter of Beren and Lúthien, who was then in possession of the Silmaril they’d taken from Morgoth.
Their children were Elrond and Elros.
Eventually, Eärendil and Elwing, guided by the Silmaril, found their way to Valinor where Eärendil pleaded with the Valar to aid Elves and Men in Middle-earth in their war against Morgoth, and the Valar agreed.
Eärendil fought in the last war, the War of Wrath, but he and Elwing did not return to Middle-earth and stayed in Valinor.
‘The Door of Night’ by John Howe - Vingilot, Eärendil’s ship
The Valar set Vingilot, Eärendil’s ship, in the heavens and he sails across the sky with the Silmaril on his brow shining as the morning star.
6. Lembas.
Legolas with lembas
Another gift from Galadriel to the Fellowship is lembas, and we see Legolas explaining what it is to Merry and Pippin.
Also called Elven bread or Waybread, it was a food made by the Elves to sustain travellers on a long journey.
Lembas was first made by Yavanna, one of the Queens of the Valar, who was responsible for all things that grew in the earth, and she made it from special corn that grew in Aman.
It became an Elven custom that only women should make lembas, and only an Elven queen should keep and distribute it.
Very rarely was it given to non-Elves as it was believed mortals who ate it would weary of their mortality, desiring instead to live among the Elves.
The knowledge of the making of lembas in Middle-earth was held by Melian the Maia who passed the recipe to Galadriel when the latter spent time with Melian learning her arts.
7. The Ring of Barahir.
We see a brief glimpse of the ring near the end of ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ when Aragorn makes the decision to let Frodo go as Saruman’s orcs are about to attack.
The ring also features in ‘The Two Towers’ when Grima Wormtongue tells Saruman of Aragorn and goes on to describe the ring he wears.
A drawing of the Ring of Barahir at Isengard
The ring of Barahir, forged in Valinor, was given to Finrod, Galadriel’s oldest brother, by their father, Finarfin, who remained in Valinor and did not follow them to Middle-earth.
The ring was designed as two intertwined serpents, with eyes of green jewels, beneath a crown of golden flowers that one upheld and the other devoured.
During the fourth Great Battle against Morgoth, Finrod and his warriors were ambushed by a greater number of the enemy and would have perished but for a sudden counter-attack by a force of Men led by Barahir.
Despite a great many losses, Barahir rescued Finrod and the Elf gave his ring to Barahir as a sign of eternal friendship between both their houses, also pledging to aid Barahir and his kin if ever they had need.
Later, when Barahir was killed, his son, Beren, took the ring, which he used when he sought Finrod’s aid in his quest for the Silmaril.
8. Gothmog.
Gothmog at the Pelennor Fields
We see Gothmog, the lieutenant of the Witch-king, at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in ‘The Return of the King’.
Was he named after the Lord of Balrogs himself?
During the First Age, Gothmog, the Lord of Balrogs, also High-captain of Angband, was one of Morgoth’s most important servants.
The first Noldorian Elves to arrive in Middle-earth from Valinor to retake the Silmarils stolen by Morgoth were led by Fëanor and his sons.
In their first battle against Morgoth’s forces, Fëanor, far ahead of the others, faced Gothmog and was killed by the Balrog.
9. Grond + Carcharoth, the Wolf of Angband.
Grond, the Wolf’s Head
With Grond, the battering ram that’s used to break down the gates of the White City in ‘The Return of the King’, we get a ‘two-for-one’ reference.
The 100-foot battering ram was also known as the Wolf’s Head because its head was in the shape of a vicious wolf.
Grond was named in memory of Morgoth’s weapon, the Hammer of the Underworld, which was only seen once, in Morgoth’s battle against the High King of the Noldor, Fingolfin.
The battering ram was created in the likeness of Carcharoth, Morgoth’s great wolf that guarded the entrance of his fortress, Angband.
Carcharoth was lulled to sleep by Lúthien when she and Beren stole into Angband to wrest a Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown.
But he awoke as they were escaping and bit off Beren’s hand, which held the Silmaril, and swallowed it, causing him to go on a maddened rampage.
He was eventually killed at great cost to Elves and Men, and the Silmaril was retrieved.
10. Gandalf’s sword, Glamdring.
Gandalf wielding Glamdring at the Battle of the Black Gate in ‘The Return of the King’
This was first seen in ‘The Hobbit’ after Gandalf rescued Bilbo and the dwarves from the trolls and they found, among other things, swords in the troll cave.
While Gandalf recognised it as a sword of Gondolin, the hidden Elven city in the First Age, it was Elrond who identified it by name when the travellers were in Rivendell.
Elrond holding Glamdring as he tells Gandalf about the sword in ‘The Hobbit’.
He called it Glamdring, the Foe-hammer, sword of Turgon, the Elven King who ruled in Gondolin and who became High King after the deaths of his father, Fingolfin, and brother, Fingon.
Turgon most likely wielded it in the Fall of Gondolin after which it must have been salvaged and obviously survived the last war, the War of Wrath, in which Morgoth was defeated, and which heralded the end of the First Age.
Turgon was Galadriel’s cousin and the maternal grandfather of Eärendil, making him Elrond’s great-grandfather.
I thought it was very gracious of Elrond to allow Gandalf to keep Glamdring when, by rights, he had full claim to it.
The sword was missing for over 6000 years and somehow ended up in a troll’s cave where Gandalf found it.
Unlike the familiar Elvish curved swords, Glamdring’s blade is straight, probably because it was made in the First Age when sword design was different.
We see Gandalf use it in ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ in his fight against the Balrog, and again in ‘The Return of the King’ where Gandalf wields it at the Battle of the Black Gate.
Personally, I would love to know how this great sword was salvaged after the Fall of Gondolin, how it survived the War of Wrath, the largest battle and the last of the First Age, to then ‘fall off the radar’ as it were to eventually end up in a troll’s cave.
That’s what I love about Tolkien’s work – so much to discover and wonder about as not everything that’s mentioned is fully explained.