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The Silmarillion tells of the Elder Days, of the First Age of Tolkien's World, when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle Earth, and the High Elves made war upon them for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor. It is to this ancient drama that the characters in The Lord of the Rings so often look back to.
Sit at the feet of the most beloved storyteller of the 20th century and hear how the world came to be. The Silmarillion is told here in a brilliantly faceted audio production, with all the glory of the First Age itself. Dazzlingly performed by Martin Shaw, it sparkles with the magic of the dawn of time—when Elves and Men roamed a world set spinning through space by the haunting music of supernatural choirs. Slip through the shadows and you, too, may catch the whisper of harp-song on the winds of the high air above the mists of the world.
This exclusive audio boxed set of Tolkien's elegant masterpiece is one that will delight fans young and old. It is an extraordinary keepsake to be treasured and listened to again and again.
His mother died when he was only twelve and both he and his brother were made wards of the local priest and sent to King Edward's School, Birmingham, where Tolkien shine in his classical work. After completing a First in English Language and Literature at Oxford, Tolkien married Edith Bratt. He was also commissioned in the Lancashire Fusiliers and fought in the battle of the Somme. After the war, he obtained a post on the New English Dictionary and began to write the mythological and legendary cycle which he originally called "The Book of Lost Tales" but which eventually became known as The Silmarillion.
In 1920 Tolkien was appointed Reader in English Language at the University of Leeds which was the beginning of a distinguished academic career culminating with his election as Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. Meanwhile Tolkien wrote for his children and told them the story of The Hobbit. It was his publisher, Stanley Unwin, who asked for a sequel to The Hobbit and gradually Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, a huge story that took twelve years to complete and which was not published until Tolkien was approaching retirement. After retirement Tolkien and his wife lived near Oxford, but then moved to Bournemouth. Tolkien returned to Oxford after his wife's death in 1971. He died on 2 September 1973 leaving The Silmarillion to be edited for publication by his son, Christopher.
Author biography courtesy of HarperCollins (UK).
What can you say about a book that literally creates an entire world starting with God and the Void, the creation of the angels, the dawn of life and ending thousands of years later after covering the foundation stories for nearly all Anglo-German myths? You'd have to say it was the work of the world's premiere literary genius. Then when you read it, you'd find that the language matches the material the way harmony complements melody. This is simply one of the most amazing and beautiful books in English literature. The stories and the poetry will stay with you forever. Its sweep is so enormous, it makes Tolkien's own "Lord of the Rings" seem like a campfire story. If you love fantasy, you must read it.
28 out of 28 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 6, 2011
More than just back-story for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion stands on its own, with many fantastic and, yes, tragic, stories from the mind of J.R.R. Tolkien.
This has been a favorite of mine for many years, and I recently downloaded the Nook version. My biggest disappointment with this version is the omission of the map. It seems to me that the ebook format has much more potential for hyperlinking than what is currently offered. For example, when a geographical reference is made in the text, hyperlink it to the map!
15 out of 15 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 15, 2007
I finally finished this book, after picking it up and putting it down a couple times. Thats the trick, if you can make it through the first 50-80 pages then you will really like the book after finishing it. Those first few chapters are a little hard to read because of all the different names and places etc. But the majority of the book is easy to read and very informative into the background of the LOTR world, before the 3rd Age. It is basically a history of the world Tolkein created for the LOTR series. But there is some action in it, with some great stories of characters more amazing than those of LOTR. It really helped me understand the movies. I plan on reading The Hobbit and then the LOTR series. I recomend this book to anyone who appreciates and enjoys the amazing imagination of JRR Tolkein.
12 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.No lies saying this is the Bible of Middle-Earth. If you are a Tolkien fan, than this book is definitely for you. The first page had me extremely intrigued about the beginning of Tolkien's brilliant world.
It tells of many stories, beginnings, and ends that are captivating for fantasy-loving readers. It is one of my favorite books and I recommend it to anyone interested in adventure and knowledge of Middle-Earth.
8 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Lord of the Rings fans will fall in love with the Silmarillion. This book takes the reader back to the beginning of time, before Middle Earth as we know it, and gives a whole new depth to the original Lord of the Rings story. There are a lot of new characters as well as new parts of Middle Earth to remember, but the tales will keep you engrossed.
I can't say enough about this book! This isn't just for Tolkien fans either, all fantasy fans will love this book. I CAN guarantee this will become a favorite part of your library collection!
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 12, 2007
The book is highly interesting for major Tolkien fans, such as myself. I would definitely recommend it if you noticed the reference's to a past history in The Lord of the Rings. But if you are a casual reader who is looking for another book like The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit then this book is not for you. I began reading this book a long time ago, but had to put it down. I had only read the Lord of the rings once, and was not that interested in the history. But a few months later after I had reread the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit I picked the book up again and read it. Some of the reviewers here have called this a fantastic novel, it is not. Fantastic it is but I cannot call it a 'novel' as a novel imply s a singular plot with character development. This book does not have almost an character development. To some it may even seem boring. Some the story reads much like a history book, but a oddly interesting and majestic history book at that! If you have read the History of Middle-Earth and haven't had a chance to read this book, buy it. Now.
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged."And they lie ye that say that we of our part do not honour the valor of foes".
Having accomplished the errand of his master Glaurung went about laying waste and denying the Orcs their plunder.
I was going to say something profound but in the face of this work I am reduced to mere plagirism.
Nothing further.
5 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 4, 2004
I haven't finished this book yet, but what I've read has been fabulous. It's a fun challenge, like I said before. If you're looking for an easy-to-read Elvish love story, then just rent it from the library and read the chapter on Luthien and Beren. But if you're serious about understanding the details of Tolkien's imaginary world and love detail - like me, then you'll love this. It has been so much fun and now the hinted-at ancient tales in Lord of the Rings are finally making sense - which is so exciting.
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 15, 2012
The Silmarillion is an amazing story, though not for the literary lightweight.
But this particular edition is beautiful. It reads well, with large print and fabulous illustrations. It fits with the large, illustrated trilogy and Hobbit editions and they make a lovely set.
If you like collected beautiful books, then this is a great one to add to your collection.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 28, 2012
Best book EVER
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 29, 2003
This book is very hard to get into. It might be better is it is actually read, but to listen to it...very confusing and boring. I didn't even finish it. I love his other books, but this one...too much. It was more like a history book or a documentary.
3 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 19, 2013
If you are a LOTR fan, I highly suggest this book. It can get confusing though so I would suggest a physical book over the nook book so that it is easier to flip back to the index and family trees because it is needed!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 7, 2012
By Lifthrasir; Bookmaster
I am an extreme fan of Tolkien, so im going to be a little biast. But, turn away my biast, and youll see that even though its thick, it is truly awesome. Here, we see more allegory: God, cration of angels, heaven, and the earth; also, the rebellion of Satan and his angels. But, even if you arent a religious person like I am; if you love the classics (by classics, i mean Homers Iliad and Odyssey) and if you love fantasy and if you love Tolkien, this book is for you.
Buy it. Its a great book.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 16, 2011
This book is so wonderfully written and the struggles in the book are so wonderfully thought out and portrayed. This is probably my favorite fiction book of all time, I recently just read it a second time and I think I loved it more than the first. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes to read.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 16, 2011
This is probably my favorite fiction book that I have ever read. If someone described it though it might not sound too interesting, there isn't really any singular central character throughout the book since it takes place over a very large span of years. It is the history of the world which Tolkien created right from the shaping of the earth. It is wonderfully written and contains one of the greatest tragedy stories I have ever written. I highly recommend picking up this book. The only trouble is there are a lot of names so it can be difficult remembering who is who but the glossary at the back helps a ton with this. I recently read it a second time and I think I loved it more than the first.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.You CAN enjoy Tolkien's later writings without this, but with it you will have a much better understanding of everything that was to come after it. Even though it wasn't published until long after the big hits (The Hobbit, and The Lord of The Rings), it is the "Genesis" of it all! Tolkien's son Christopher has compiled and edited a bulk of JRR's old writings to give us a window into the past. This book has tied up all the loose ends in my mind and given me a much fuller perspective on the later writings.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 5, 2007
The Silmarillion, written by J.R.R. Tolkien, is an excellent novel. The book makes the world of The Lord of the Rings so much more life-like when it accounts the history of Middle-Earth, or Arda, and when you realize that many figures in that history are mentioned in other books that take place in the world of Arda. I love how it explains how Sauron came to be and how it mentions elven characters from The Lord of the Rings, which truly makes them feel ageless. In addition, Tolkien put two appendixes in the back of the book. One of them features names and events in the book, and offers page numbers for reference and gives translation of any foreign names. The second appendix has elvish words and parts of names with their translation, possibly so you can go through the book and translate names yourself, or even make your own elvish names. Any true Tolkien fan should own this book.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 4, 2004
You see, I made the mistake of not reading this before I read Hobbit and the LOTR. So when I read those, I got a bit confused. Anyway, some of the stories are really cool, like Beren and Luthien, and some are really sad(and a bit gross),like Turin Turambar and Niniel. the part that I was most familiar with was of the account of the events with Isildur and the beginning of the third age. Anyway, a great thing to read if you want to get into Tolkien and LOTR.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 5, 2004
This work covers the first age of middle earth. If you have read the triology but have not read this you are missing out. It is a prequel covering the background back to the first age which covers the rings history; and how we got to the great confilicts of the third age. The trilogy of the Lord of the Rings covers the third age of middle earth only. This work fills it all in a good read
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 18, 2003
I enjoyed learning about the world of Middle-earth, don't get me wrong. I learned a great deal and loved being swept away with Morgoth's reign of terror and lies. I loved how the elves, men, orcs, and dwarves were created. I love how Tolkein created his own little world using only a void and song. However, I do not love how many names are in the book. I believe it to be tedious when I have to stop and pronounce the name every few lines, if not words. Frankly, it just takes too much time to read. However, I do recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about Middle-earth and how everything came to be. It's interesting nonetheless. Just.....long.
2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Overview
The Silmarillion tells of the Elder Days, of the First Age of Tolkien's World, when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle Earth, and the High Elves made war upon them for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor. It is to this ancient drama that the characters in The Lord of the Rings so often look back to.
Sit at the feet of the most beloved storyteller of the 20th century and hear how the world came to be. The...