Not quite right, there, libkitty. There were 3 silmarils that were forged by Feanor, capturing the light of the Two Trees before they were destroyed by Melkor aka Morgoth. After the Trees were destroyed, Melkor stole the Silmarils from Feanor's house, at which time Feanor named him Morgoth and swore the Oath of Feanor, which meant that he and his sons would pursue anybody who had the jewels, no matter who, and take them from them by any means necessary.
Because of that oath, the Elves went to war against Morgoth (there's obviously a whole lot more involved with this story), established kingdoms in Beleriand in Middle Earth, and eventually were defeated to utter ruin. Only through the pleading of Earendil and Elwing (representing the Children of Ea (Elves and Men) did the Valar arrive and defeat Morgoth. (Boy, that is summing up about a million words).
Anyway, the Elessar mentioned in Unfinished Tales was not as great an accomplishment as the Silmarils, since it didn't have the light of the Two Trees. In the published Silmarillion, mention of the Elessar was dropped, and any healing properties associated with it in the Tales were attributed to the presence of the Silmarils itself.
Most of this is from memory, with some help from the Encyclopedia of Arda. I'll update when I get to the source material.
(I think I may have broken the geek-meter with these posts).
ETA - Answering some of the questions in the libkitty's post:
The three Silmarils were taken by Morgoth and placed into the Iron Crown that he wore on his head, even though the purity of the jewels caused him great pain. When Beren and Luthien sneaked into his lair and Luthien's song bewitched Morgoth, Beren cut one of the jewels from his crown (he needed a jewel as the price that Thingol set for allowing him to wed Luthien). Beren tried to steal the other gems, but his sword broke when he tried to cut them out. The gem that he did capture was later set into a necklace called the Nauglamir, forged by Dwarves. After Beren and Luthien died (for the second time (another story)), the Necklace passed on to Dior, and then to Elwing. The Silmaril from this necklace was used by Earendil and Elwing to light the way to Valimar, so they could plead their case to the Valar. The other 2 jewels were eventually captured by the remaining Sons of Feanor (I don't remember the details), but they were so corrupted by the bloodshed by that time that they couldn't hold the jewels without great pain, so one dived into a chasm in the earth, and the other cast himself into the sea. Elwing and Earendil became a constellation in the sky.
I think I may have broken the geek-meter with these posts
Perfectly geeky enough for me. I'd be right there with ya if I had my copy of the Silmarillion to hand (and I'm out tonight, so I look forward to the cites.)
For Boston-area LotR fans -- make note of this:
News for Jun. 02, 2004
Boston Museum LOTR Exhibit Special Promotion
6/01/04, 11:58 pm EST - weetanya
The Boston Museum of Science is doing a special promotion, Ringer Anduinite writes: Sunday, August 1, from 12:01 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.: A Lord of the Rings ticket is $5.00 this one time ONLY. Visitors are encouraged to come dressed in costume, no weaponry please. Find out about the exhibit here.
I saw that exhibit in London, and it was fabulous.
(I have a ticket for October.) (I got it in April.)
Last night was the first rehearsal for the Lord of the Rings concert thing we're doing.
SO GODDAMN COOL.
It's the creepy music that plays whenever the Black Riders chase people! Oooh, now it's the Shire theme! Hey, we just said "Osgiliath!" (The words are generally written phonetically -- I think we're singing a combination of Elvish and Black Speech. Which is a kind of Elvish? Others more knowledgeable can correct me.) Big long section where the men grunt -- must be Moria. Oh, no, now Gandalf's dead.
Seriously. I spent three hours doing that. The ethereal "we are the elves, and everything sings when we walk by" music? We're singing it. The songs that run over the end credits of FoTR and RoTK? Sung by a soloist, backed up by the chorus. The song that Aragorn sings when he's crowned? Baritone solo from the chorus. The Elvish lament for Gandalf that Legolas can't translate because "for me, the grief is still too near"? We sing it. And I have a translation. And the whole bit ends with a reiteration of the Shire theme, then segues into the Grey Havens and "Into the West."
I am so freaking excited. I'm also going to end up in tears on stage, but I probably won't be the only one, since I spent last night geeking out with my friends in the chorus about just how damn cool this was.
I had the easiest time pinging on the music from FoTR and RoTK, and the recurring themes obviously. I suddenly feel the need to rewatch TTT and familiarize myself with stuff I didn't recognize. And possibly, I should go out and buy the RoTK soundtrack, because I think Howard Shore might be conducting these performances.
How cool is this?
Last night was the first rehearsal for the Lord of the Rings concert thing we're doing.
That is SO cool. We have tickets for the performance here in Seattle that Howard Shore is conducting, and I can't wait.
Dana, will there be a recording? Will there be video?
Damn, I am so jealous I can barely type! How fantastic an opportunity this is. Singing in well-trained, demanding chorus was always a huge ride for me. And this music...well, enjoy the hell out of it twice--once for me!
(I have a ticket for October.) (I got it in April.)
(Geek.) (But at least we have time to think up costumes.)
(I have a ticket for October.) (I got it in April.)
And you decided not to tell anyone else about this until just now?
