num_pages: 370
description: J.R.R. Tolkien's epic legendary precursor to The Lord of the Rings.The Silmarilli were three perfect jewels, fashioned by Fëanor, most gifted of the Elves, and within them was imprisoned the last Light of the Two Trees of Valinor. When the first Dark Lord, Morgoth, stole the jewels and set them within an iron crown in the impenetrable fortress of Angband, Fëanor and his kindred took up arms against the great Enemy and waged a long and terrible war to recover them.The Silmarillion tells the story of the rebellion by Fëanor's allies against the gods, their exile from Valinor and return to Middle-earth. It is the history of the heroic First Age in Tolkien's world, the ancient drama long before the time of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.This new edition of The Silmarillion includes by way of introduction a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1951 which provides a brilliant exposition of his conception of the earlier Ages.The cover of this edition of The Silmarillion J.R.R. Tolkien's own painting from July 1928, Halls of Manwë on the Mountains of the World above Faerie. The painting shows the mountain Taniquetil, highest of the mountains that guarded Valinor against Melkor, in the time after the destruction of the Two Trees: for the slopes on one side of Taniquetil are bathed in sunlight, while those on the other side shine more coldly in the light of a crescent moon. On the height of the mountain, Manwë and his spouse Varda dwelt in a house of white and blue marble upon a field of snow, and their halls are depicted in a glow of light at the summit. At the foot of the mountain is one of the towns of the seafaring Elves, the Teleri, and two of their ships are visible, each with a carved prow like the upheld neck of a swan.
language: English
title: The Silmarillion
titlecomplete: The Silmarillion
characters: Fingolfin, Fëanor, Tuor, Galadriel, Niënor, Finwë, Elrond Half-elven, Gandalf, Saruman, Celebrian, Beren, Lúthien, Túrin Turambar, Húrin Thalion, Morgoth, Bregor, Glaurung
genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, High Fantasy, Mythology, Epic Fantasy, Classics, Novels, Fiction, Literature, Adventure
ratings_count: 279263
awards: awardedAt: 252489600000
name: Locus Award
category: Best Fantasy Novel, awardedAt: 252489600000
name: Ditmar Award
category: Best International Long Fiction, awardedAt: 252489600000
name: Gandalf Award
publisher: HarperCollins Publishers