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The Silmarillion [Illustrated Edition]: Illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien
For the first time ever, a very special edition of the forerunner to The Lord of the Rings, illustrated throughout in color by J.R.R. Tolkien himself and with the complete text printed in two colors. The Silmarillion fills in the background which lies behind the more popular work, and gives the earlier history of Middle-earth, introducing some of the key characters.
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. But the first Dark Lord, Morgoth, stole the jewels and set them within his iron crown, guarded in the impenetrable 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 all the heroism, against the great Enemy. 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 book also includes several shorter works: the Ainulindalë, a myth of the Creation, and the Valaquenta, in which 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, as narrated in The Lord of the Rings.
Tolkien could not publish The Silmarillion in his lifetime, as it grew with him, so he would leave it to his son, Christopher Tolkien, to edit the work from many manuscripts and bring his father's great vision to publishable form, so completing the literary achievement of a lifetime. This special edition presents anew this seminal first step towards mapping out the posthumous publishing of Middle-earth, and the beginning of an illustrious forty years and more than twenty books celebrating his father's legacy.
This definitive new edition includes, by way of an introduction, a letter written by Tolkien in 1951 which provides a brilliant exposition of the earlier Ages, and for the first time in its history is presented with Tolkien's own paintings and drawings, which reveal the breathtaking grandeur and beauty of his vision of the First Age of Middle-earth.
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. But the first Dark Lord, Morgoth, stole the jewels and set them within his iron crown, guarded in the impenetrable 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 all the heroism, against the great Enemy. 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 book also includes several shorter works: the Ainulindalë, a myth of the Creation, and the Valaquenta, in which 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, as narrated in The Lord of the Rings.
Tolkien could not publish The Silmarillion in his lifetime, as it grew with him, so he would leave it to his son, Christopher Tolkien, to edit the work from many manuscripts and bring his father's great vision to publishable form, so completing the literary achievement of a lifetime. This special edition presents anew this seminal first step towards mapping out the posthumous publishing of Middle-earth, and the beginning of an illustrious forty years and more than twenty books celebrating his father's legacy.
This definitive new edition includes, by way of an introduction, a letter written by Tolkien in 1951 which provides a brilliant exposition of the earlier Ages, and for the first time in its history is presented with Tolkien's own paintings and drawings, which reveal the breathtaking grandeur and beauty of his vision of the First Age of Middle-earth.
Editorial Reviews
"How, given little over half a century of work, did one man become the creative equivalent of a people?" - The Guardian
"Demanding to be compared with English mythologies…at times rises to the greatness of true myth." - Financial Times
"A creation of singular beauty…magnificent in its best moments." - Washington Post
"A grim, tragic, brooding and beautiful book, shot through with heroism and hope…its power is almost that of mysticism." - Toronto Globe and Mail
"Demanding to be compared with English mythologies…at times rises to the greatness of true myth." - Financial Times
"A creation of singular beauty…magnificent in its best moments." - Washington Post
"A grim, tragic, brooding and beautiful book, shot through with heroism and hope…its power is almost that of mysticism." - Toronto Globe and Mail
Readers Top Reviews
david casimiro
Não consigo nem explicar a beleza dessa edição cheia de ornamentos, heráldicas e um design editorial único. É tudo o que um amante de O Silmarillion esperaria. Fiquei surpreso com a rapidez da disponibilidade dela em solo brasileiro simultaneamente ao lançamento gringo.
D.S.david casimir
The book itself is very high quality. The pages are smyth sewn binding instead of just cheap glue binding. The slipcover is a thick matte paper which I find much more appealing than glossy slipcovers. Each chapter has a little design colored above, and there are several illustrations throughout on matte paper instead of gloss. It has light cream colored pages and the paper is acid free so it will be resistant to yellowing. I love the green guiding as well. The book underneath the dust jacket is also stunning and one could happily display it either way. 2 gorgeous maps included and several colored pencil or watercolor illustrations throughout the book that were really amazing. I highly recommend this book. I do wish Amazon would inspect the book before packaging it to make sure the copy isn't already damaged (mine had smashed marks on the spine) and I wish they would package the books more carefully instead of in a big empty box to bounce around and get dinged up in.
JMazzD.S.david ca
I picked this up as a companion to the similar LOTR One Volume recently released. Folks, this book is beautiful. So well produced. The colors, the quality of the pages and type - wow. I've heard some people worry if the pages were Bible-thin - and no, they are good thickness. I've begun copying some of my notes from my 2001 Houghton Mifflin edition to this one. It sits beautifully with my LOTR One Volume, my 75th Anniversary Hobbit, and the Fall of Gondolin, Children of Hurin, and Beren and Luthien. Also - very important - the illustrations in this are on regular paper! In the LOTR, they're printed on bright white pages and it's a bit of an eye sore. This was corrected here!
Lizardbreath23JMa
Tolkien is a family staple for me. I grew up saturated in the books and lore, it heavily influenced my brothers as they taught my dad how to play this new game called "Dungeons & Dragons," I watched the animated film of The Hobbit so far back in my early memory I cannot recall how old I was. Knives in our house were named for the heroic blades: Sting, the Goblin Cleaver, and so on. Then the films came out, each one right around my birthday. Having a birthday right next to Christmas was always a drag, but those films have me something to look forward to. At last, I could nerd out in public and people might actually know what on earth I was talking about! My husband, reticent at first to embrace the story (there's a lot to tell there), finally sat for the extended versions and became suddenly hooked. So when the TV series came out, he was excited to watch it - to finally learn some of the copious lore and backstory I loved all my life. But there was one thing that tugged at my heart: it could never capture the entire story, from the world when it was first sung. And I lacked my own personal copy, the old dog-eared novel I grew up with still lives with my aging parents. So of course, when I saw this pop up on my feed, I KNEW I had to pre-order it immediately. It finally came, and there was nothing to leave me disappointed: the crisply pressed, rough pages; the brilliant illustrations and maps; the delicate script spanning the fore edge; the letter written by Tolkien himself explaining this or that aspect of the book... it was all there. Everything I wanted in my very own volume. Having it in my hands, I asked my husband if he would like me to read it to him aloud, the stories of Beren and Luthien, of dragons and balrogs, of the Two Trees, of Thranduil (his favorite character) and Galadriel (his other favorite character). He smiled that laughing smile of his when he sees me truly excited about something, and said he'd like that. I couldn't be happier with this purchase if it came with a Silmaril itself.
