Size of the Silmaril
 

Does anyone know what was the size of the Silmaril? Could they have had just the size of a pea or smaller?

This seems to be a silly question, but for me, you know, it is very, very important. All I can say is that it has to do with the book I am writing. (The truth about the Ring War, told by a Nazgûl.)

Ghâshgûl

The Silmarillion says

That alone would lead me to believe they were larger than peas, but at the same time they had to be small enough for a man to close his fist over them, as Beren did. I don't recall any text saying how large they actually were, however. Maybe somewhere in HOME?

Well, remeber that Morgoth placed the Silmarili in his iron crown after stealing them; and that Beren and Luthien stole one of them. So, I would assume they are no bigger than a bread box.

A bread box??? Thats one large hand Beren must have had [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I always imagined them about the size of a marble; one of the big marbles, not one of the regular ones.

The Silmarilli are described as "great gems". I have always viewed this as meaning about egg sized or slightly larger. This is in keeping with other oversized precious stones described by JRRT such as the Arkenstone (which was probably about twice the size of the Silmarils)and the pearl Nimphelos which was also described as "great" and was about the size of an egg.

Well, if the Arkenstone of Thrain was twice as large, then the Silmarills would probably be larger than an average chicken egg. I would think that a Hobbit fist would be slightly smaller than an egg. But I am just being trivial.

That was a reference to the old saying: "Bigger than a mouse, smaller than a bread box." vagueity.

The fact that a Silmaril was put into the Nauglamír and later worn by Earendil 'on his brow' support the egg-sized theory, although I guess they were rather flat.

I may be wrong but if I recall, the silmarils are described somewhere in HoME as "cabochons". Cabochons are typically oval shaped, somewhat flat on one side and rounded on the other, either faceted or not. However, in Flight of the Noldoli (Lays of Beleriand), they are described as globes. Hard to set in a piece of jewelry.

They would probably look like big opals then, isn't that how they are normally?

Thanx, folks! You helped me a lot.

Ghâshgûl