The SilmarillionThe #1 New York Times Bestseller 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. This mythopoetic masterpiece is a must-read before you watch The Lord of the Rings on Amazon. “Majestic! ... Readers of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings will find in The Silmarillion a cosmology to call their own, medieval romances, fierce fairy tales, and fiercer wars that ring with heraldic fury... It overwhelms the reader.”—Time 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 Fëanor, 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 Fëanor 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. “A creation of singular beauty ... magnificent in its best moments.”—The Washington Post “Heart-lifting ... a work of power, eloquence and noble vision... Superb!”—The Wall Street Journal |
Contents
Ainulindalë Ainulindalë | |
Valaquenta Valaquenta | |
Quenta Silmarillion | |
of the Beginning of Days | |
of Aulë and Yavanna | |
of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor | |
of | |
of the Return of the Noldor | |
of Beleriand and Its Realms | |
of the Noldor in Beleriand | |
of Maeglin | |
of the Coming of Men into the West | |
of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin | |
of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor | |
of Thingol and Melian | |
of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië | |
of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor | |
of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor | |
of the Darkening of Valinor | |
of the Flight of the Noldor | |
of the Sindar | |
of Beren and Lúthien | |
of the Fifth Battle Nirnaeth Arnoediad | |
of the Ruin of Doriath | |
of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath | |
Of the Rings of Power and the Third | |
Note on Pronunciation | |
Appendix | |