The Silmarillion

Tolkien, J. R. R.

ISBN 10: 0395257301 / ISBN 13: 9780395257302

Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1977

About this Item

Edited by Christopher Tolkien. Foldout map of map of Beleriand and the Lands to the North in rear of book. Jacket drawing by J. R. R. Tolkien. 304 pp. plus: Family Trees, Note on pronunciation, Index of Names Appendix. Book features green boards, gilt decorations, silver text, top edge dyed red. Top front corner has small scuff mark. Unclipped DJ ($10.95) (0977) is edge worn and has brown edge soiling. Fold-out rep map has some top left corner damage. Has ' Farmer ' not Father. Bookseller's Inventory # 071388.

Seller Inventory # 001388

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Silmarillion
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston
• Publication Date: 1977
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0395257301
• ISBN 13: 9780395257302
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: Stated First American Edition
• Printing: 12th Printing
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Fiction

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)