The Silmarillion

By: J. R. R. Tolkien

Narrated by: Martin Shaw

The forerunner to The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion tells the earlier history of Middle-earth, recounting the events of the First and Second Ages, and introducing some of the key characters, such as Galadriel, Elrond, Elendil and the Dark Lord, Sauron.

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 jewels containing the pure light of Valinor.

Included in the book are several shorter works. The Ainulindale is a myth of the Creation and in the Valaquenta the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. The Akallabeth 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.

©1977 The Tolkien Estate Limited and C.R. Tolkien (P)1977 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic 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 & Mail)

The father of true high-fantasy lore

An unparalleled classic book of lore and literature. Tolkien is the father of modern day fantasy and Martin Shaw truly delivered on the narrating. The combination of the authors masterpiece with the skill of the narrators voice made this truly a book of art. I’ve read it three times!

much easier to listen to than read.

when I fried to read it years before, I struggled and then stopped. glad I made it through this time. definitely rounded out my understanding.

You don't know what you don't know

I never really understood how dense the worlds he created actually were. I see that there is much to learn, and many pages to turn.

I'm so glad that I listened to this book!

The ages and everything about the people were broken down. I was told that I should have read this first before watching any of the movies. Now I can watch them with renewed insight and understanding!

hear

listening to it being read to you is like sitting at a camp fire at night in faraway middle earth much easier then reading this book I'll listen to it again and I think this one day will me actually pick the book and read myself