The Silmarillion

Overview

A number-one New York Times bestseller when it was originally published, The Silmarillion is the core of J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginative writing, a work whose origins stretch back to a time long before The Hobbit.

Tolkien considered The Silmarillion his most important work, and, though it was published last and posthumously, this great collection of tales and legends clearly sets the stage for all his other writing. The story of the creation of the world and of the First Age, this is the ancient drama to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back and in whose events some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part. The three Silmarils were jewels created by Feanor, most gifted of the Elves. Within them was imprisoned the Light of the Two Trees of Valinor before the Trees themselves were destroyed by Morgoth, the first Dark Lord. Thereafter, the unsullied Light of Valinor lived on only in the Silmarils, but they were seized by Morgoth and set in his crown, which was guarded in the impenetrable fortress of Angband in the north of Middle-earth. The Silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of Feanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from Valinor and return to Middle-earth, and their war, hopeless despite all their heroism, against the great Enemy.

This second edition features a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien describing his intentions for the book, which serves as a brilliant exposition of his conception of the carlier Ages of Middle-earth.

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Author Information

Bio of J.R.R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, at Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State of South Africa; but at the age of 4, he and his brother were taken back to England by their mother. After his father's death, the family moved to Sarehole, on the southeastern edge of Birmingham. Tolkien spent a happy childhood in the countryside, and his sensibility to the rural landscape can clearly be seen in his writing and his pictures. His mother died when he was only 12, and both he and his brother were made wards of the local priest and sent to King Edward's School in Birmingham, where Tolkien shone in his classical work. After completing a First in English at the University of Oxford, Tolkien married Edith Bratt. He was also commissioned in the Lancashire Fusiliers and fought in the Battle of the Somme in World War I. After the war, he obtained a post on the New English Dictionary and began to write the mythological and legendary cycle which he originally called The Book of Lost Tales, but which eventually became known as The Silmarillion. In 1920 Tolkien was appointed Reader in English Language at the University of Leeds, and this was the beginning of a distinguished academic career, which culminated in his election as Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. Meanwhile Tolkien wrote for his children and told them the story of The Hobbit. It was his publisher, Stanley Unwin, who asked for a sequel to The Hobbit, and gradually Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, a huge story that took 12 years to complete and which was not published until Tolkien was approaching retirement. After retirement, Tolkien and his wife lived near Oxford, but then moved to Bournemouth. Tolkien returned to Oxford after his wife's death in 1971. He died on September 2, 1973, leaving The Silmarillion to be edited for publication by his son, Christopher.

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Additional Info

Imprint

HarperCollins

Filesize

2.93 MB

Number of Pages

384

eBook ISBN

9780061927591

Awards

• Locus Awards