The Silmarillion (Silmarillion) (Pre-Lord of the Rings) (Lord of the Rings)

by J. R. R. Tolkien

Christopher Tolkien (Editor)

A new hardback edition with a cover design by Tolkien himself, to complement the popular The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings hardbacks. Includes a new Preface by J.R.R. Tolkien unique to this edition.

The Silmarillion is an account of the Elder Days, of the First Age of Tolkien’s World. It 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 tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor.

Included in the book are several shorter works. The Ainulindale is a myth of the Creation and in the Valaquenta the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. The Akallabeth recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age and Of the Rings of Power tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age, as narrated in The Lord of the Rings.

• ISBN13: 9780261102422
• Publish Date: 6 January 1992 (first published 1 October 1977)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 12 March 2014
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperCollins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[Ailyn Henbane]

I have a special place in my heart for Tolkien's works. With R.O.P out, I dove back in to one of the books that never fails to give me a headache. This Silmarillion has been with me for 15 years, and is obviously much older than that. It's got my favorite old book smell and is well preserved for the amount of times I've cracked it open. Which is mostly due to the fact that the legends hard to digest in one sitting. I've always had to come back and re-read my favorites to remember small details and even to make sure I'm thinking of the right elf when the Valinor vs Arda name issue comes into play. This is one of my favorite books and my most cherished first edition that has a place of pride/honor on my shelf.

[inlibrisveritas]

I have no words to describe how I feel about this one. It's a tough read, but it's beautiful and worth the effort. We get so much history and lore in a book less than 400 pages and at times my head was reeling from all of it, but I honestly look forward to the day I reread it.

[adamfortuna]

As a standalone book, I don't know why anyone would want to read this. Now, I love Tolkien's world -- I've read LOR multiple times, same with the hobbit. Seen the movies more times than I can count, including midnight releases for each of them. But even armed with this background, and other information gleaned from videos, Tolkien encyclopedias and other sources I couldn't get into this. It's amazing in what it is -- a reference about the world -- but it is not a compelling story. I think of this more as a glossary that goes at the end of LOR to help give background to the world.