The Silmarillion

Tolkien, J. R. R.; Christopher Tolkien

ISBN 10: 0395257301 / ISBN 13: 9780395257302

Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1977

About this Item

23.5 x 15.5 cm. Octavo. 365pp. Green cloth in dust jacket. Stated first American Edition, First Printing with full number line ending in 1. With map still affixed in rear. Original price of $10.95 present on front flap. Some spotting to foredge and top edge. A couple of small closed tears to jacket and some light edge wear; a small pin hole to the front cover near the edge. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket.

Seller Inventory # 89218

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Silmarillion
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston
• Publication Date: 1977
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0395257301
• ISBN 13: 9780395257302
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First American Edition.
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • Science Fiction & Fantasy

About this title

Synopsis

The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R. Tolkien's other works, forms a comprehensive, yet incomplete, narrative that describes the universe of Middle-earth within which The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place. After the success of The Hobbit, and prior to the publication of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien's publisher requested a sequel to The Hobbit, and Tolkien sent them an early draft of The Silmarillion. But through a misunderstanding, the publisher rejected the draft without fully reading it, with the result that Tolkien began work on "A Long Expected Party", the first chapter of what he described at the time as "a new story about Hobbits", which became The Lord of the Rings. The Silmarillion comprises five parts.

Review

The Silmarillion is J.R.R. Tolkien's tragic, operatic history of the First Age of Middle-Earth, essential background material for serious readers of the classic Lord of the Rings saga. Tolkien's work sets the standard for fantasy, and this audio version of the "Bible of Middle-Earth" does The Silmarillion justice. Martin Shaw's reading is grave and resonant, conveying all the powerful events and emotions that shaped elven and human history long before Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf and all the rest embarked on their quests. Beginning with the Music of the Ainur, The Silmarillion tells a tale of the Elder Days, when Elves and Men became estranged by the Dark Lord Morgoth's lust for the Silmarils, pure and powerful magic jewels. Even the love between a human warrior and the daughter of the Elven king cannot defeat Morgoth, but the War of Wrath finally brings down the Dark Lord. Peace reigns until the evil Sauron recovers the Rings of Power and sets the stage for the events told in the Lord of the Rings. This is epic fantasy at its finest, thrillingly read and gloriously unabridged. (Running time: 14 hours, 6 CDs)