== Modtagelse ==
Ved tiden omkring udgivelsen af ''Silmarillion'', var anmeldelserne generelt blandede til negative. ''Silmarillion'' blev kritiseret for at være for alvorlig, fordi den manglede de munter øjeblikke som ''Ringenes Herre'' og ''Hobbitten'' indeholdt.<ref name="TIME">{{Citation
| last = Foote
| first = Timothy
| title = Middle-earth Genesis
| journal = TIME
| volume = 110
| page = 121
| date = 24. oktober 1977
| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,915707,00.html
| access-date =  1. januar 2021
| archive-date = 23. august 2013
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130823005118/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,915707,00.html
|url-status=live
}}</ref><ref name="NYTBR">{{Citation
| last = Gardner
| first = John
| title = The World of Tolkien
| journal = [[The New York Times Book Review]]
| date = 23. oktober 1977
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/23/books/tolkien-silmarillion.html
| access-date =  1. januar 2021
| archive-date = 10. november 2015
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151110041252/http://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/23/books/tolkien-silmarillion.html
|url-status=live
}}</ref><ref name="SLJ">{{Citation
| last = Hurwitz
| first = K. Sue
| journal=[[School Library Journal]]
| title=The Silmarillion (Book Review)
| volume = 24
| issue = 4
| page = 66
|date=december 1977}}</ref> [[Time Magazine|''TIME'']] beklagede, "at der ikke var en eneste samlende søgen efter noget, og vigtigst af alt ingen broderskabsbånd for læsere at identificere sig med".<ref name="TIME" /> Andre kritiker påpegede det arkaiske sprog, som vanskeligt at læse,<ref name="NYRB">{{Citation
| last = Adams
| first = Robert M.
| title = The Hobbit Habit
| journal=[[The New York Review of Books]]
| volume = 24
| issue = 19
| page = 22
| date=  24. november 1977
| url = http://www.nybooks.com/articles/8321}}</ref><ref>{{Citation
| last = Brookhiser
| first = Richard
| title = Kicking the Hobbit
| journal=[[National Review]]
| volume = 29
| issue = 48
| pages = 1439–1440
| date=  9. december 1977}}</ref><ref>{{Citation
| last = Jefferson
| first = Margo
| title = Fool's Gold
| journal=[[Newsweek]]
| volume = 90
| page = 114
| date=  24. oktober 1977}}</ref> og mange vanskelige navne, og navne der er svære at huske.<ref name="NYRB" /><ref>{{Citation
| last = Yamamoto
| first = Judith T.
| journal=[[Library Journal]]
| title=The Silmarillion (Book)
| volume = 102
| issue = 14
| page = 1680
| date=  1. august 1977
| issn = 0363-0277}}</ref>
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