Silmarillion [sil-muh-ril-ee-un]
noun
1.
Literature. A collection of the mythopoeic works of J.R.R. Tolkein posthumously collected, edited, and published by his son Christopher Tolkein with the assistance of Guy Gavriel Kay in 1977. It serves as a origin story of the setting, including the genesis of Ea and creation of the various factions/races, that
The Hobbit and
The Lord of the Rings take place.
mythopoeia [mith-uh-pee-uh]
noun
1. The creation of myth.
2. A modern genre of literature and film where a fictional mythology is created by the fiction.
EX. This guy's work made me want to complete the
mythopoeia of my own fantasy world, The Wold, which involves old gods, new gods, clay people, each race having a counter to their creation, crazy geographical shifts and a lot of nonsensical stuff that fit into any creation story. The fascinating thing about origin stories is that they tell you a lot about the world but even more about the people, since their world view is often shaped by their myths.
Aaron Diaz, author of
Dresden Codak, has taken to illustrating a cover for each chapter of J. R. R. Tolkein's
Silmarillion on tumblr and each work is a beautifully rendered illustration that encapsulates each era of Middle Earth's ancient past. My favorite work comes in the way he depicts the Valar and Melkor (pictured at the top), the gods of Middle Earth, and imbues them each with their aspects and a personality. I also love the way he draws his monsters.
I mean... just look at the stylized glory of these cartoonishly but impressively rendered creatures of Middle Earth reminiscent of the Jim Henson studios films inspired by the works of Brian Froud, such as
The Dark Crystal and
Labyrinth.
