Book Bearings
The Silmarillion
- 424 pages · about 7 hours
- First published 1977
- 156 editions
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1 About this book
The Silmarillion is J. R. R. Tolkien's history of the world in which The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set, edited by his son Christopher and published in 1977, after the author's death. It has five parts. Two short ones tell of the creation of the world and of the powers who shape it. The long central part, the Quenta Silmarillion, is the story of the First Age: the making of the jewels called the Silmarils, their theft, and the long, ruinous wars fought in Beleriand to recover them. The last two parts tell of the island kingdom of Númenor and, briefly, of the Rings of Power and the Third Age.
- Fantasy
- Fantasy, epic
- Fairy tales, folk tales
- Short stories
- Middle Earth
- Elves
- Bilbo Baggins
2 What to expect
The mythology and early history behind The Lord of the Rings, told as a collection of legends, not a novel. It runs from the creation of the world through the wars of the Elves against the first dark lord, in a high, archaic style close to scripture or saga, with a great many names and no hobbits to guide the way. It is dense and often tragic, and the maps, index and family trees are needed.
Good for readers who want: Tolkien's mythology, the deep history of Middle-earth, and a grand, saga-like read.
3 About J.R.R. Tolkien
Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
4 More by J.R.R. Tolkien
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