Description
Book SynopsisIncluding brand-new paintings, this is a fully illustrated new edition of the forerunner to The Lord of the Rings, telling the earlier history of Middle-earth, recounting the events of the First and Second Ages, and introducing some of the key characters, such as Galadriel, Elrond, Elendil and the Dark Lord, Sauron.The Silmarillion is the core of J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginative writing, a collection of narratives ranging in time from the Elder Days of Middle-earth, through the Second Age and the rise of Sauron, to the end of the War of the Ring.They are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the Elves made war upon him in his impenetrable fortress in Angband for the recovery of the Silmarils, three jewels containing the last remaining pure light of Valinor, seized by Morgoth and set in his iron crown.Accompanying these tales are several shorter works. The Ainulindalë is a myth of the Creation and in the Valaquenta the nature and powers of the gods is d
Trade Review‘How, given little over half a century of work, did one man become the creative equivalent of a people?’
The Guardian
‘Demanding to be compared with English mythologies… at times rises to the greatness of true myth’
Financial Times
‘A creation of singular beauty… magnificent in its best moments’
Washington Post
‘A grim, tragic, brooding and beautiful book, shot through with heroism and hope… its power is almost that of mysticism’
Toronto Globe & Mail
