Books by J.R.R.Tolkien - The Silmarillion

Short Description:

The Silmarillion
is actually Tolkien's first book and also his last. In origin it precedes even The Hobbit, and is the story of the First Age of Tolkien's Middle Earth. It shows us the ancient history to which characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, talk, rhyme and sing about. Tolkien worked on it, changed it, and enlarged it throughout his entire life. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien, with the assistance of fantasy fiction writer Guy Gavriel Kay to reconstruct some major parts.


The Silmarillion combines five parts:
1. The Ainulindalë - the creation of Eä, Tolkien's universe.
2. The Valaquenta - a description of the Valar and Maiar
3. The Quenta Silmarillion - the history of the events before and during the First Age
4. The Akallabêth - the history of the Second Age
5. Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
These five parts, in origin separate works, were put together as this is how J.R.R.Tolkien would hav liked it.
Cchapters in the book that i like a lot:
- "Of Beren and Lúthien"
- "The Narn i Chîn Húrin" - The Tale of the Children of Húrin
- "The Fall of Gondolin" - which is my all time favourite

Editions:
Originally published by Oxford University Press in 1937 (2nd ed. 1958, 3rd ed. 1969) and by Folcort Press in 1969, Norwood Editions in 1975, R.West in 1977 and Arden Library in 1978.
The essay is included in a lot of books, f.e. in The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays.

Review:
Read more on Collecting The Silmarillion