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)

Beautiful like a timeless jewel

Tolkien's great lore compendium is a must-read for anyone who is a fan of The Lord of the Rings. It is a majestic epic that's filled to the brim with the kinds of beautiful descriptions and wordcraft that could only come from a person like Tolkien. Every part of the Silmarillion is a great story unto itself, from the dawn of time to the latter days of the Lord of the Rings.

The reader does a fantastic job of lending great gravity, weight, and beauty to the writing, and feels perfect for the role. Every name is lovingly spoken, and every proclamation, beginning, ending, poem, song - is given a proper tone of respect.

It is a very dense work, and it may not help that every character has at least two names, if not three to five! My advice: just go with it. You can just let yourself be taken by the beauty of the writing and not worry too much about sorting out every single character in your head. The stories are much more important, and you'll likely pick up what you need to remember in due time.

One of my all-time favorites and I'm glad I chose this version.

Excellent performance!

This is Tolkien's chronicle of the history of the world, from the creation of the gods to the destruction of Sauron's ring by Frodo, narrated in greater depth in the Lord of the Rings. If you find the Lord of the Rings dry, don't both with this one. Even less than the Lord of the Rings, it is not a novel, but a history, and not even really a history, but a chronicle. It is the work Tolkien gave the most attention to and, arguably, the one he considered most important. In its own, highly idiosyncratic way, it is beautifully written and rich with the theological and philosophical insights of its author.

I don't know enough about Tolkien's languages to say whether Shaw pronounced everything right, but, in my view, he did an excellent job of making his pronunciation convincing. In my view, he delivers the narrative and dialogue perfectly. I would absolutely choose this version over the Andy Serkis one.

The book is divided into three ages with by far the most attention being paid to the First Age, when the world is formed and then populated sequentially by the gods, by the elves, and by the humans and dwarves, when the heavenly bodies and silmarils are fashioned, and when the war of the elves against the god, Morgoth/Melkor, over the silmarils takes place. The Second Age recounts the days of Numenor, the Island kingdom of men, who end up following the servant of Morgoth, Sauron, and rebelling against the good gods in the West. The Third Age, in which the events of the Lord of the Rings take place, is covered in a very brief manner.

definitely worth it

definitely worth the plunge into the Tolkien realm. I started with this book and plan on continuing. the story was phenomenal and the writing was excellent. the narrator could have done a little bit better with the voices.

Great Background!

Though lengthy, this book gives great insight to the history of the elves, dwarfs and men, and it sets up the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings to give greater understanding to the main characters. Loved it!

The Lord of fantasy

talk about a tale that takes you away into a land of Wonder, sadness and heroics of legend. #awesome