The Silmarillion: The #1 New York Times Bestseller – The Foundational Epic Fantasy of Middle-Earth's First Age

I must have read this book about summer 2000 for the first time. At that time, it had been so engrossing that I was reading it while in the army on quite moments when I could read. Whenever we had to wait or something, I would just read this book.Now, after almost 25 years, I have read it a second time. And I must say, I still really liked it a lot. I have read that people were disappointed when it was first published in 1977 because they had expected a second Lord of the Rings. It is not. Sometimes, I would describe it as a history book. It is not this either.J.R.R. Tolkien had had foremost an interest in creating legends and this is exactly what this book is. He had actually started to write parts of it in 1917 or so. At that time, he had had the idea of publishing a book called “The Lost Tales”, where some legendary stories would be told to an Anglo-Saxon castaway ship-wrecked on a Western Isle by an Elf he had encountered there. The three stories of Beren und Lúthien, of the Children of Húrin and of the Fall of Gondolin among others were slated to be in this book. Later, he had developed the idea of combining these stories into a whole legendarium, among others called the Silmarillion. Unfortunately, he never managed to finish this work.He would thus on and off work on this work, which would be, once finished, his magnum opus. He would finish short sketches of it, but never got around of finishing the whole thing. In the meanwhile, he had published other works, among others, “The Hobbit”. His publishers wanted a sequel to “The Hobbit”, and J.R.R. suggested the Silmarillion. The publishers politely declined. Consequently, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote “The Lord of the Rings”. Once that had been finished, 40 odd years had passed since J.R.R. Tolkien had started on these legends. I can imagine that he had now other things on his mind, still he apparently kept working on it on and off again up to his death.In the end, it was up to his son Christopher Tolkien to publish the work. To do that, he had to work as editor and, as not few would say, as author. The result of these labors is this book. Christopher Tolkien later on to counter these critiques published all the materials of his father concerning Middle-earth in a 12-volume set of books called “The History of Middle-earth”. As few people will probably read all these 12 books, Christopher Tolkien then also published three books just with the material for the three main stories. Incidentally, I have read to of these three books while reading this book. Today, I have now also finished this one.And, again, it is just astounding. In it, J.R.R. Tolkien thus developed legends, from the creation of the world, over the creation of three Silmarils by Fëanor, the exile of the Noldor, the siege of Angband, the three main stories of course and several battles until Melkor is overcome by the Valar. Not to stop there, we also have here the legend of Númenor, later also called Atalantë by the Elves, where the kings of Men and their people are allowed to live long lives in sight of Tol Eressëa. However, not contempt with being mortal, they eventually turn against the Valar. Spurned on by Sauron, they set out to conquer Valinor, only for their fleet and their island to be directly submerged under water by the Valar. Some few-remaining Elf-fiends have survived and they settle and found in Arnor in Eriador and Gondor further south. Eventually, they make an alliance with the Elves to fight Sauron and his men, which leads directly into the story of “The Lord of the Rings”. The last pages, before Index and Appendix, then indeed summarize “The Lord of the Rings”.I can thus only recommend this book to anybody who has read and loves “The Lord of the Rings” and wants to know more about this world. This book does indeed give the whole story of Middle-earth.

This is a review of the editions, with an image, not the text itself. If I'm wrong about anything let me know and I'll correct it.1998 edition:Cover: “Maglor casts a Silmaril …” (male throwing white gem against red background)18 illustrations by Ted NasmithReadable, nice, can be found around $20-$30 used. Crazy that this edition is almost 35 years old.Art:1. The Sea2. The Lamp of the Valar3. At Lake Cuiviénen4. The Light of Valinor on the Western Sea5. Fingolfin Leads the Host across the Helcaraxe6. The First Dawn of the Sun7. Maedhros's Rescue from Thangorodrim8. Eöl Welcomes Aredhel9. Felagund among Beor's Men10. By Moonlight in Neldoreth Forest11. Lúthien Escapes upon Huan12. Morgoth Punishes Húrin13. Túrin and his Band are Led to Amon Radh14. Finduilas is Led past Túrin at the Sack of Nargothrond15. Ulmo Appears before Tor16. Eärendil the Mariner17. The Eagles of Manwe18. The Ships of the FaithfulFront over: Maglor Casts a Silmaril into the SeaBack cover: Beren and Luthien are carried to Safety2004 edition:Cover: “White Ships of Valinor” (white boats sailing in fair weather, island in background)45 illustrations by Ted NasmithGlossy paper, which can be a positive or negative I guessCan be found around $25 new, which is a DEAL. This is mine for reading without fear of damaging a collector’s item.Art:1. The Sea2. The Lamp of the Valar3. Aule Prepares to Destroy His Children4. At Lake Cuiviénen5. The Light of Valinor on the Western Sea6. The Ships of the Teleri Drawn by Swans7. The Kinslaying at Alqualonde8. Fingolfin Leads the Host across the Helcaraxe9. The First Dawn of the Sun10. The Burning of the Ships11. Maedhros' Rescue from Thangorodrim12. The Gates of Sirion13. Eöl Welcomes Aredhel14. Eöl is Led to the Walls15. Felagund among Beor's Men16. Fingolfin's Wrath17. The Orc-Host is Ambushed in Brethil18. Tarn Aeluin19. By Moonlight in Neldoreth Forest20. Lúthien Escapes upon Huan21. Transformed22. Beren and Lúthien are Carried to Safety23. Huan's Leap24. Morgoth Punishes Húrin25. The Hill of Slain26. Saeros' Fatal Leap27. Túrin and his Band are Led to Amon Rûdh28. Beleg is Slain29. Túrin Bears Gwindor to Safety30. Finduilas is Led past Túrin at the Sack of Nargothrond31. Túrin Reaches the Abandoned Homestead32. Up the Rainy Stair33. Húrin Finds Morwen34. Tuor Follows the Swans to Vinyamar35. Ulmo Appears before Tuor36. Tuor and Voronwe see Turin at the Pools of Ivrin37. The Escape from Gondolin38. Maglor Casts a Silmaril into the Sea39. Earendil the Mariner40. White Ships from Valinor41. The Eagles of Manwe42. Tar-Miriel and the Great Wave43. The Ships of the Faithful44. The Forging of the One45. The White Tree2021 edition:Cover: “Ships of the Faithful” ship sailing amidst storm/red sky49 illustrations by Ted NasmithCan be found closer to $40Regular flat paper, not glossy. More standard book-shaped, whereas the 2004 version is more square, like a coffee table book. Mine was used and did NOT include a fold-out map, but the colorized Christopher Tolkien Beleriand map is in the front plate and endplate (inside the cover, both ends).Art:1. The Sea2. The Lamp of the Valar3. Aule Prepares to Destroy His Children4. At Lake Cuiviénen5. The Light of Valinor on the Western Sea6. The Ships of the Teleri Drawn by Swans7. The Kinslaying at Alqualonde8. Fingolfin Leads the Host across the Helcaraxe9. The First Dawn of the Sun10. The Burning of the Ships11. Maedhros' Rescue from Thangorodrim12. The Gates of Sirion13. Eöl Welcomes Aredhel14. Eöl is Led to the Walls15. Felagund among Beor's Men16. Fingolfin's Wrath17. Turgon at Fingolfin's Cairn18. The Orc-Host is Ambushed in Brethil19. At Tarn Aeluin20. By Moonlight in Neldoreth Forest21. Lúthien Escapes upon Huan22. Transformed23. Beren and Lúthien are Carried to Safety24. Huan's Leap25. Lúthien at Tol Galen26. Morgoth Punishes Húrin27. The Hill of Slain28. Saeros' Fatal Leap29. Túrin and his Band are Led to Amon Rûdh30. Beleg is Slain31. Túrin Bears Gwindor to Safety32. Finduilas is Led past Túrin at the Sack of Nargothrond33. Túrin Reaches the Abandoned Homestead34. Up the Rainy Stair35. The Slaying of Glaurung36. Húrin Finds Morwen37. Tuor Follows the Swans to Vinyamar38. Ulmo Appears before Tuor39. Tuor and Voronwe see Türin at the Pools of Ivrin40. The Escape from Gondolin41. Eärendil Searches Tirion42. Maglor Casts a Silmaril into the Sea43. Eärendil the Mariner44. White Ships from Valinor45. The Eagles of Manwe46. Tar-Miriel and the Great Wave47. The Ships of the Faithful48. The Forging of the One49. The White Tree2022 edition:Blue cover with circular design59 illustrations by Tolkien himself – BUT more than half of these are “devices,” neat little square symbols at the start of a chapter and so on—not big full color paintings or drawings.Around $40. Be aware, Tolkien’s artwork consists more of drawings and sketches with limited color. They are not the epic Ted Nasmith paintings you see in others. If you value his quaint older sketches, these are great. Personally, Nasmith’s objectively better work is more inspiring and helps me engage in the story. Tolkien is a GREAT writer, and a pretty good artist. Nasmith is a GREAT artist.I like them all. If I was only going to get one, I’d get the 2004 version because you get a ton of great Nasmith artwork for an insanely cheap twenty-five bucks (today). Tolkien’s own art is neat, but if you want to be encouraged through a dense book, Nasmith’s art helps pull you in and pull you along.