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THE SILMARILLION
BY
J.R.R. TOLKIEN
Edited by Christopher Tolkien
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
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First published in Great Britain by George Allen & Unwin 1977
Copyright © The J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust and C.R. Tolkien 1977
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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Source ISBN: 9780261102422
Ebook Edition © FEBRUARY 2011 ISBN: 9780007322565 Version: 2017-11-21
The Silmarillion is an account of the Elder Days, or the First Age of Tolkien’s World. It 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 tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils.
The three Silmarils were jewels created by Fëanor, most gifted of the Elves. Within them were imprisoned the Light of the Two Trees of Valinor before the Trees themselves were destroyed by Morgoth. Thereafter the unsullied Light of Valinor lived on only in the Silmarils; but they were seized by Morgoth and set in his crown, guarded in the 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 their heroism, against the great Enemy. Included in the book are several shorter works. The Ainulindalë is a myth of the Creation and in the Valaquenta the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. The Akallabêth recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age and Of the Rings of Power tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age, which are narrated in The Lord of the Rings.
Contents
FROM A LETTER BY J.R.R. TOLKIEN TO MILTON WALDMAN, 1951
CHAPTER 1: OF THE BEGINNING OF DAYS
CHAPTER 2: OF AULË AND YAVANNA
CHAPTER 3: OF THE COMING OF THE ELVES AND THE CAPTIVITY OF MELKOR
CHAPTER 4: OF THINGOL AND MELIAN
CHAPTER 5: OF ELDAMAR AND THE PRINCES OF THE ELDALIË
CHAPTER 6: OF FËANOR AND THE UNCHAINING OF MELKOR
CHAPTER 7: OF THE SILMARILS AND THE UNREST OF THE NOLDOR
CHAPTER 8: OF THE DARKENING OF VALINOR
CHAPTER 9: OF THE FLIGHT OF THE NOLDOR
CHAPTER 11: OF THE SUN AND MOON AND THE HIDING OF VALINOR
CHAPTER 13: OF THE RETURN OF THE NOLDOR
CHAPTER 14: OF BELERIAND AND ITS REALMS