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The Silmarillion

By J.R.R. Tolkien

(515)

| Paperback | 9780261102736

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Book Description

The Silmarillion tells of the Elder Days, of the First Age of Tolkien's World, when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle Earth, and the High Elves made war upon them for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor.  It is to this ancient drama that the characters in The Lord of the Rings so often look back to.

Before the world began, the startling beauty of the Holy Ones awakened into song.  The sound, like countless choirs, became an ever-changing melody.  It was the music of the Ainur that set the world spinning within the endless habitation of space.  Music filled the earth with air and fire and water; stone and silver and gold; vast halls and spaces.  And Music it was that caused the Children of Invatar, Men and Elves, to be born.

Of the Elven races, it was the Noldor, the most skilled of Elves in Earthlore, who first achieved the power of making gems.  And it was the great Elf FÙanor who made the Silmarils, the fairest of all gems, long since lost.  Kept within the Silmarils was the glory of the light of the Two Trees of Valinor, long after the Trees themselves were poisoned by the greed of the first Dark Lord Morgoth.  These three great living jewels were hallowed so no mortal flesh nor anything evil may touch them.  But deep within His fortress underground, the Dark Lord lusted after them.  The peaceful days of Valinor were numbered, and despite the revolt of the Elves, the Dark Lord triumphed.  As was His wish, Elves and Men became estranged.  Those of the Elven race waned and faded and men usurped the sunlight....

The Silmarillion, considered to be Tolkien's most important work, is the story of the creation of the world and the happenings of the First Age, clearly setting the stage for all his other works. With a superb performance by Martin Shaw, this first installment of three volumes will thrill and delight Tolkien fans of all ages, and listeners will treasure this extraordinary presentation for years to come.

Critics

The Hobbit Habit

Readers who have already been involved with Hobbitry, Middle Earth, and the fantastic adventure-romances of J.R.R. Tolkien will doubtless recall from the four volumes previously published passing allusions to epic cycles antedating those tales of the ... (read full critics)

nybooks published on Tue, 24 Aug 2010

12 Reviews

2 people find this helpful

It's the best ever, better than LOTR even. I love this book, I do, I do.

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Sourcreamandonions said on Jul 26, 2007 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

Definately not a book for everyone, but fans of Tolkien who'd like to know about the origins of Middle Earth, I found it hard to read as it can be dry or skip around a bit, but I'm glad I as I know of the history of Middle Earth.

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Cindy said on Dec 12, 2007 | Add your feedback

the only nasty about that book is that it contains too many names to remember! a great book in general of course.I would recommend that to anyone.

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Paranoia said on Nov 12, 2011 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

This is going to be a very long and hard reading...

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Loky said on Oct 12, 2011 | Add your feedback

Fantastic story, to be read in English!!

I read almost all the book by Tolkien, but it is the first time I read one of them in English. I was a bit scared, but everything was right. That's fantastic, I liked this book much in Italian, I love more it in English. I believe that the last chapters of the Quenta are maybe too fast with respect ... (continue)

I read almost all the book by Tolkien, but it is the first time I read one of them in English. I was a bit scared, but everything was right. That's fantastic, I liked this book much in Italian, I love more it in English. I believe that the last chapters of the Quenta are maybe too fast with respect to the other ones, but the whole story is really fantastic ... an epic story written by a great person!!!

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Albi Olorin said on Jun 26, 2011 | Add your feedback