Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel)
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 earlier Ages of Middle-earth.