There was Eru, Prime ...

Before the release long awaited by many fans of the first episode of the trilogy Lord of the Rings in December, I wanted to offer me a little trip into the imaginary world created by this great man, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Having already read the Lord of the Rings, I intend to reread later, it was natural that I turned to the Silmarillion to start this literary epic.
The Silmarillion was published four years after the death of the author. This work was shaped by his son, Christopher Tolkien. This is actually a collection of texts, arranged by the latter to establish a coherent sequence. The Silmarillion and has five texts:
Ainulindalë is a beautiful short text that recounts the creation of the world by Eru (Ilúvatar) and the Ainur, the Blessed.
Valaquenta also very short, describes the Valar (the Ainur that descended upon Arda, the Kingdom of the Earth) and the Maiar (the subjects of the Valar, their aides and servants) from the accounts of the Eldar (the People of the Stars, that is to say the Elves)
Quenta Silmarillion is the heart of the collection and the longest of all these texts: it recounts the birth of the Firstborn, Elves, their stay in Valinor, the land of the Valar, also called the Blessed Realm. The center of the story is the story of the Silmarils, jewels created by Fëanor, one of the first Elves, of immense power, because they contained the Light of Valinor. Tolkien and recounts the struggle between the Elves and Melkor for the possession of these gems and mastery of Middle-earth. Melkor, later named Morgoth, is a Valar who had turned to evil.
Akallabêth is the story of the fall of Númenor, a land created by the Valar for Human after the fall of Morgoth. It recalls nothing so much the legend of Atlantis. Akallabêth (the Sunken) expressed elsewhere Atalantë Quenya elven language.
The Rings of Power and the Third Age concludes this collection recounting the creation of the Rings of Power by the Elves and by Sauron One Ring, a Maiar and the most devoted servant of Morgoth, who carried the darkness after the fall his master. The end of the story marks the end of the Third Age, which corresponds to the end of the reign of the Elves and the beginning of the Humans in Middle-earth.
The Silmarillion is thus an extremely rich work in which one discovers the full extent of Tolkien's work in creating the world of Middle-earth. Its wealth is based on three aspects:
Religious: the parallel between the Ainulindalë and Genesis as found in the Bible is more than tempting. Eru would be God and the Ainur, the Angels. Valinor became the Garden of Eden. Number of comparisons are offered as well.
History: Quenta especially in the Silmarillion. Tolkien evokes the great elven families, wars, kingdoms, etc. in a rigorous way in the manner of a history book. A chapter is also devoted to detailed geographical description of Middle-earth.
Mythological: this aspect is at the junction of the two previous. Some great stories somewhat apart in the sequence of events punctuate the text.
This richness makes it extremely dense text. It becomes easy to get lost in the genealogies of the various large families of Elves, often dual place names as translated into Elvish language, etc. And this despite the presence of a card, family trees, an index of names and some language Elvish elements provided by Christopher Tolkien in the appendices. These annexes would even tend to disrupt the player if it begins to refer to it throughout his reading.

The style does not facilitate access. The styles should I say. As found in the Silmarillion changes relatively abrupt tone. The whole part about history can appear very daunting by its heavy and "academic" style. Most fictionalized passages are more accessible and offer some sort of rest to the reader, after the many information that was given.
A question often arises about the Silmarillion: should read the Silmarillion before Lord of the Rings? To which I would answer without hesitation not. Although the Silmarillion tells much earlier events in the War of the Ring, it is better to have read the Lord of the Rings before. First, because the Silmarillion, its scale is much more difficult to access, especially for someone who discovers the world of Tolkien. Do not know the Silmarillion is not annoying at all to get into the Lord of the Rings; the references which may be made are generally explained in sufficient detail so that the reader found there. The final text of the Silmarillion includes a brief summary of the Lord of the Rings that could spoil the pleasure of reading by revealing too late elements of the story.
Despite his style and scale, the Silmarillion remains an exciting work, which brings many elements that might seem obscure to those who already know the Lord of the Rings. However, and to my regret, it seems only one reading is not sufficient to grasp all its richness.