Welcome to the r/bookclub discussion of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion! This week we're discussing Chapter 19 Of Beren and Lúthien & Chapter 20 Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad. Next Wednesday, u/NightAngelRogue will lead us through Chapter 21 of Turin Turambar. For more information about these discussions, see the schedule or our public calendar.

SPOILERS:

There will be both Tolkien loremasters and first-time readers in these discussions, so I want to take a moment to emphasize the strict no spoiler policy here at r/bookclub. What do we consider a spoiler? A spoiler is any information that is not contained within the chapters under discussion or earlier chapters. Spoilers include hints about what is to come, such as:

• “Just wait till you see what happens next.”

• “This won't be the last time you meet this character.”

• “Your prediction is correct/incorrect.”

• “You will look back at this theory.”

• “Here is an Easter Egg...”

• “You don't know enough to answer that question yet."

Spoilers also include information from other books, such as Lord of the Rings (LotR) or The Hobbit and unpublished or alternative drafts of The Silmarillion.

The proper way to post a spoiler is to note where the information comes from and then enclose the relevant text with the > ! and ! < characters (with no space in-between). For example: In LotR this becomes important because Merry and Pippin do a little dance in the mines of Moria.

CHAPTERS

Each of these chapters is very rich and could be their own discussion.

Chapter 19: Of Beren and Lúthien - We return to the jewels and get lots of action in this epic love story between a woman of Elf and Maia heritage and a Man. Summary

Chapter 20: Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad – We have an epic battle. A group of Men are traitors. Morgoth and his crew kill a few more of our key characters, take over additional real estate and imprison Húrin. Summary

I got us started with some questions below, but please add your own questions and thoughts below too.