The Silmarillion
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4.5 • 839 Ratings
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- $29.99
Publisher Description
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.
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
About the author
J R R Tolkien (1892-1973) was a distinguished academic, though he is best known for writing The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, plus other stories and essays. His books have been translated into over 40 languages and have sold many millions of copies world wide.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
If you’ve ever been curious about the lore behind Lord of the Rings, you’re in luck. In this epic tome, J.R.R. Tolkien details the history of Middle Earth and the rest of the universe his fantastical land exists in. In grand, almost Biblical language that Martin Shaw’s stentorian narration captures perfectly, Tolkien tells us the story of the great creator Eru and his angelic beings singing the material world into existence, how they created earthly creatures like Elves and Men, and the ensuing battle between light and darkness that took many forms over thousands of years. There’s even a hugely illuminating index of character names and a detailed pronunciation guide. Though it was published after his death, Tolkien actually wrote this masterpiece of world-building as a sort of personal encyclopedia before he penned his famous epic. If you want to go deeper into his world, listen to The Silmarillion.
Customer Reviews
Excellent story, but we need chapter titles
I can’t believe there are no chapter titles!
Excellent
I’ve read the book 7 or 8 times and listened to this audio presentation countless times now. I waited and searched for this for a few years and was so pleased to see it available here on iTunes. Martin Shaw’s narration is fantastic and added depth to my understanding of this work as a whole. Creation, fantasy, imagination, adventure and sorrow abound in this great literary work. I highly recommend to any fan or to any first time readers. I can not express how amazingly deep and thorough this collection of tales is, and how gracefully it covers countless years and ages of time. This dwarfs LOTR & The Hobbit in my humble opinion.
Not sure what the one reviewer means that it is not a complete work. All this skips is the Foreword, the Preface to the edition, the Letter from Tolkien, the glossary and the “maps” etc. It begins at the beginning and I have followed along in the book while listening. It is complete as far as I can tell.
~Z
Difficult
This is a dense book with hundreds of characters. You can get through it if you are dedicated, but I would recommend for only the most serious LOTR fans