The Silmarillion

Written by J.R.R. Tolkien

Narrated by Andy Serkis

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 on the recording are several shorter works. The Ainulindalë is a myth of the Creation and in the Valaquenta 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.

This brand-new unabridged recording is read by the acclaimed actor, director and author, Andy Serkis.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jun 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9780008585884

J.R.R. Tolkien

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 sixty languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide.

Reviews for The Silmarillion

[Blacksquirrel 456 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Most imursive and delving into the world of J R R Tolkien, for those who want to learn more about the beginnings of middle earth, come on and dive right into the best fantasy world ever created.

[wanderlustlover_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book. Endstop. It's insane and amazing how much I loved this book. I went into it with ten years of friends voices and the conglomerate internet voice tell me this book would be hard, dry and like crossing a desert more than reading a book. But I was in love before I finished chapter one. I do not know how I listened for ten years, or how not one person ever informed me it was a mythic text. But it was gorgeous and golden and I loved it.

I listened to it driving to and from my job, to and from a camping weekend. It was everything filling up my head for a week and a half, and I felt both more victorious with every chapter crossed off and more full of deep regret that the end was coming for me. I loved learning about the background of so many things I've always loved. Gods, Goddess, Music, Holy Cities, The terrible falls and great aspirations. I did skip the nearly verbatim chapters of Hurin nd Turin from Children Of, but everything else had my undivided attention and love.

[currerbell-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

4**** for the work itself, but 3*** or at best 3½*** specifically for ISBN 0618391118, a rather expensive and oversized coffee-table book. I'm not that impressed with the originality of the edition's copious illustrations, which could have shown a bit more variety in style. It would also have helped if the captions accompanied each illustration at the bottom of the page rather than being limited to a table of illustrations at the beginning of the book.

[kcshankd · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Reads like the Bible, and not the good parts. Still, forward, glad to have finished ahead of the new Prime series. Hadn't attempted since about 14 after purchasing a long-lost paperback at a mall bookstore. Folio Society version was much nicer.

[benkaboo-51322 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary: An epic retelling of the Hobbit and LOTR and everything that went before. Epic (did I mention that already). Epic.

Things I liked:

Realness (if that's a word) even though it's set in a fantasy setting the it's written in the style and structure of an ancient history. Good guys don't always win (in fact they often get abruptly killed, go corrupt). As I was reading a lot of the stories reminded me of fairy tales or other stories I had read before; but all worked into the same big narrative. I was very impressed.

Touching: While a lot of the story is full of begats and transitions of hundreds of years at a time; the whole thing is peppered with little stories of people in love, or who love their family or who fill lost and afraid, or terribly hurt and angry. The contrast keeps it readable and creates lovely little mental anchors to the larger more impersonal stuff.


Things I thought could have been improved:

Hard to say, I know I ended up just letting a lot of the names flow past me (there's lots and they get confusing). I was reading an ebook version and it occured to me that names could have been hyperlinked back and forth to the index of names at the back of the book (I probably would have used this to keep track of who was who a bit more). That said if I'd been reading a paper book that would have been pretty easy as well. Similar story with the maps.

I wouldn't have minded a few more maps perhaps contrasting middle earth pre/post the vengence of the valar on numinor .

Highlight:

I think for me the highlight was right at the end. The epic retelling of all of the hobbit and lotr in about 5 pages and seeing it in the new context as the end of a larger tale of the Eldar gave me a lovely sense of peace and completion. I think I'll rewatch/reread LOTR now with a lot of satisfaction.

[nielspeterqm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was always ambiguous toward elves. Not so here. The elves of Tolkien's First Age are, by intent, of a vastly mightier calibre than his own later elves - hence even further incomparably superior to the derived, pallid modern High Fantasy trope. Far from unworldly, distant, or annoyingly "fey", they're fearsome figures: Physically strong, imposing, forceful... & robust. Tougher, indeed earthier, than men or even dwarves. Truly the world's First Children. The First Age - their apogee - is correspondingly vivid, radiant, luminous, & the strongest component in an overall perfect masterpiece.Perfect, because the later parts are spectacular too. At the author's personal insistence, this posthumous volume beautifully & grippingly ties the very earliest time, of the world's creation, with First Age, Second Age (rise & fall of Númenor & Sauron's forging of the rings), & a concise but evocative summary of The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings - the latter of which famously closes not only the Third Age, but the entire, mythic era when elves walked the physical earth.

[ennuiprayer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After a month of reading The Silmarillion - yeah, I was that slow - I'm glad I finally finished it. There is little to say other than the Tolkien books are probably the only ones I'll ever read in this genre because most writers are hacks. JRR Tolkien brought something more to the table when created his creation-myth. The stories in this book carry on to books like Lord of the Rings, in which the heroes look back on the past. A few of the characters even appear in this book, stating their origins and their bloodline.

I say if you want the true Tolkien experience, one must start with this book and read them in their actual "order."

[kevn57-163679 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Thank Iluvator I actually found Tolkien's books in the order that they were published, if this was the first book I'd read I might never have read the Hobbit or LOTR.

This was a reread for me, so I opted for the audio book. The narrator Martin Shaw was very good and brought a storyteller like quality to the experience, which for me was perfect for this book. I'm going to give it a three star rating, I liked it but unlike the 5 stars I gave the Hobbit and LOTR, I didn't love it. When I first read this in 1977 I was sorely disappointed and hoped that a reread but a more mature fantasy fan would find more to like. While a few parts of the book were gripping the majority is not, it reminded me of the first book of the Black Company, tons of names tossed out and a story told about them by the narrator, but not much of the story was ever shown just told.
My favorite chapters were in the beginning, before the Elves and Men where the mythology of the Gods and "sub" Gods was told and the story of Beren and Luthien.

If you are a fan of the Hobbit or LOTR this is well worth a read, but I'd highly advise you read those first even though is is a prequel.

[mrslee_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I found the second time reading this easier than the first. Possibly because I let go of trying to keep track of names and kinds of folk and let the story flow. I still get confused with these older ages as to who is an elf and who a human. Nice little family trees at the back help if you want to keep track. Also a beautiful fold-out map of Beleriand at the back to help with the place names. For my part, I simply enjoyed the sad drama of it all. This has my favorite Creation story ever in the Ainulindalë.

[neil_luvs_books · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Great story, poorly written. Nobody’s fault - this is what happens when someone else fleshes out somebody else’s notes. But the world building in the book is amazing. It took me three times to get through this book because of the writing. On the 3rd attempt I purposely sped read. That made the difference so I could just let the history of the place wash over me without attending to how it was told.

[sarahlh-41506 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very interesting and beautifully written history of Middle-Earth; required reading for those who want to understand Lord of the Rings' many references to its own mythology and cultures. Although, yes, some parts dragged a bit, overall it was an entertaining read. It is very much the official history book of Tolkien's fictional world. I can only imagine what it would read like had Tolkien actually finished it in his lifetime.

[octoberdad · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A little dense, but a great set of "backstory" to the [book Lord of the Rings] that an true fan should find delightful.

[count_zero-837732 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's kind of weird listening to this book as an audiobook. Going from the sort of "Literary agent" structure that the Lord of the Rings was born from (J.R.R. Tolkien translating a book that he found in some archive somewhere), the Silmarillion feels like it should be structured in the form of something like Beowulf or the Odyssey - a legend originally told orally, transcribed into a more written form. Thus, this should be something that would be perfect for an audiobook.

However, rather than using any of the meters or rhyming verses that those earlier works (which clearly inspired Tolkien) used, instead the book is structured in a form that's probably closer to the Bible, particularly the King James version, with a mix of events told in the abstract, combined with individual moments told with more specific details, in a very floral style.

Having the book read as an audiobook does make it less dry, and easier to get through. However, there are moments where, as a reader, I have to basically stop the book after the book summarizes a big moment (such as an epic battle between two armies), and picture that battle in my mind's eye, before continuing with the book, whereas in the more specific moments, the story in the narration plays out at about the same pace that it does in my imagination.

I am glad I've finally read the Silmarillion, but it's not something I'm going to re-read again for a while, and even then, I'll probably stick to specific passages.

[comfypants · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The complete history/mythology of the universe of Middle Earth is told in summary.2/4 (Indifferent).This is not a novel, it's an extension of the Lord of the Rings' appendices. Some of the outlines of stories are promising, some are less so, but none of them had actually been written yet.

[hamburgerclan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This one was one of those classics that I felt obliged to read... one of these days. It gives the back story--the epic--back story of Middle Earth. One might call it a prequel to The Lord of the Rings. (With apologies to Professor Tolkien, whom, I read, considered The Silmarillion to be his magnum opus.) The book has interesting moments, but it failed to grab me and keep me turning pages.--J.

[darthdeverell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion tells the story of the first and second ages of Middle-earth, beginning with Ilúvatar’s creation of Eä, the World that Is. From there, Tolkien describes the Valar, the Maiar, and the fall of Morgoth before he moves onto the history of Númenor, the Two Trees, the Silmarils, and Melkor Morgoth’s war for the Silmarils. The Akallabêth chronicles the fall of Númenor and Sauron’s first rise to power as Morgoth’s lieutenant. The history is essential reading for fans of Tolkien’s Legendarium as these events influence the world during the time of Lord of the Rings, and the tragedies of Húrin’s children and Beren and Lúthien demonstrate the way archetypal narratives repeat themselves. This Folio Society edition comes with a slipcase and features illustrations by Francis Mosley at the beginning of every chapter as well as a fold-out map depicting Beleriand and the Lands to the North. Mosley’s illustrations evoke the style of J.R.R. Tolkien’s drawings, while having their own unique character fitting the epic scale of the narrative.

[mattries37315 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The creation of Middle-earth and its First Age is presented in both mythical and historical accounts that set the stage for The Lord of the Rings in the world’s Third Age. The Silmarillion is the posthumously published collection of J.R.R. Tolkien’s worldbuilding tales concerning the creation and history of Middle-earth focusing on the First Age but also delving into the relevant history leading to the War of the Ring.Middle-earth was created through song by the Ainur, though one of their number—Melkor—attempts to disrupt the tune three times but it overpowered by Eru (God). Eru then showed the Ainur a vision of the world and offered them the chance to enter it and rule, many took up the offer including Melkor. While many of the Ainur, the more powerful Valar and lesser Maiar, attempted to create a world for the Elves and Man, Melkor repeatedly destroyed their work and seduced some of the Maiar to his side, including Sauron. The book then shifts into the Tale of the Simarils, which were three jewels crafted by the Elf Feanor that glowed with the light of the Two Trees that were the only source of light before the Moon and Sun were created by the last remnants after their destruction by Melkor who then killed Feanor’s father and stole of the Simarils. Feanor long duped and corrupted by Melkor’s lies leads the Nordor Elves out of the West to Middle-earth to regain the jewels and do terrible things while Feanor and his sons make a dark oath to recover the jewels. Over the next 500 years, the various Elven groups in Middle-earth battle the now entitled Morgoth and his minions while later to be joined by Men. But the curse of Feanor devastates the Nordor and all that become related to them or allied to them or that touch the Simarils. Eventually a Elf-Man, Earendil arrives in The West to beg for help against Morgoth and the Valar with those Elves that hadn’t join the Nordor attack Morgoth and overpower him but the Simarils are lost in Space, the Sea, and the Earth until the End of the World. The book then gives an overview of the Second Age and the time of Numenor, their glory and fall by the lies of Sauron who’s defeat by the Last Alliance ends the Age and disperses his power for a time. And finally, the book ends with the overview of the creation of the rings of power and the Ring by Sauron then an overview of the lead up to and through the War of the Ring as seen in The Lord of the Rings.While Tolkien did have some wonderful worldbuilding ideas, the mix of mythical and historical tales were hit-and-miss with a lot of dryness poured on. While there is a somewhat narrative framework to the book, there is no narrative flow. Though some of this can be attributed to the intermixture of tales that bent towards the mythical or the historical, they weren’t meshed together very well and that is probably because of the posthumous nature of the book as Tolkien’s son Christopher put the book together and added sections using his father’s notes to bridges things within a large framework but there was a randomness to things.Overall The Silmarillion should be seen a collection of mythical and historical tales within a large framework, but one that doesn’t mesh well and at times is disjointed. This is a book for hardcore Tolkien fans not general readers who would be stratified with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

[jrg1316 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very in-depth history of Middle Earth. A must read for any Tolkien fan. My only gripe is there is almost too much info thrown at you. It's hard to keep track of all the characters.

[feeroberts64 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien is the story of how the creation of Tolkien's world came to be.It has been years since I have read this book, and it was such a delight to revisit Tolkien's world from the beginning of the First Age. It is exciting and sorrowful, and I loved spending time with all the characters and visiting the places they traveled. This is a great read for lovers of Tolkien's work.

[karlstar_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

While this is more a collection of stories and notes than a full novel, this just might be the definitive J. R. R. Tolkien work, as well as a very useful Tolkien reference. Found in this book we have the very creation of Middle-Earth by the gods and the stories of the gods themselves. The various kindreds of the Elves appear, as well as the first Men. The old stories of the wise and powerful (and vengeful) Noldor are told in their war against Morkoth, Sauron's mighty patron. It also has a brief summary of the background of the Hobbit and a summary of LoTR. The stories of the Silmarils, Beren and Luthien, the tale of the Numenoreans, all of these are must reads for any Tolkien fan, they are the bedrock on which his novels are based. Fantastic stuff.

[snotbottom-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It was good to get the background stories from the foundation of Middle Earth, but most of it read just like a history book... rather dry and slow reading. Not at all in the same style of The Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings trilogy. With that said, there were areas where it was almost a narrative, but the attempt was rather poorly pulled off.

[ainevethe-773847 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Perhaps it was because I was primarily reading this while on the Toronto subway (with some GOTrain mixed in for good measure) but I found the reading of this book to be best described in one simple word: arduous. I will try again one day.

[egrant5329 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What a slow read! I wanted to give it a 2 star, but found I couldn't. It wasn't as bad as reading The book of Numbers in the Bible, but close. I'll give the book credit for having an interesting creation story and it does contain a lot of insightful details that connect to the other books. I am glad I read it, but ....

[dbhart42 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I will admit that this is a very hard book to read unless you are really into middle earth, Old English mythology, and have the brainpower for it - it is not light reading like the hobbit. I like it, but just saying.

[kristelh_15 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've had this book on my shelf for quite sometime. In a way I wished I had read it first before Hobbit and Lord of the Rings but this was good time too as I read it right after. It is published posthumorously by Tolkien's son and that begs the question of whether this really is Tolkien's writings or his son's with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay and the publisher. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it a lot. It is reportedly, Tolkien's world building exercises that led to the foundation for The Hobbit and LOTR. I read this as a chapter a day with other's on Litsy and that made it special. From wikipedia; The Silmarillion comprises five parts. The first part, Ainulindalë, tells of the creation of Eä, the "world that is". Valaquenta, the second part, gives a description of the Valar and Maiar, the supernatural powers in Eä. The next section, Quenta Silmarillion, which forms the bulk of the collection, chronicles the history of the events before and during the First Age, including the wars over the Silmarils that gave the book its title. The fourth part, Akallabêth, relates the history of the Downfall of Númenor and its people, which takes place in the Second Age. The final part, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, is a brief account of the circumstances which led to and were presented in The Lord of the Rings.The five parts were initially separate works, but it was the elder Tolkien's express wish that they be published together. Because J. R. R. Tolkien died before he finished revising the various legends, Christopher gathered material from his father's older writings to fill out the book. In a few cases, this meant that he had to devise completely new material in order to resolve gaps and inconsistencies in the narrative.Rating: 3.88

[banoczi_henrietta · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

20/1/2016
it was so much better than i expected and i loved it so so much even though there were some parts that i found boring but that was probably because i wasn't in the mood for it or something like that. i liked the first half a bit better than the rest because i just loved finding out about how all the inhabitants of arda came to be, though i do wish there would've been more about the dwarves because i love them a lot.
i actually expected it to be so complicated and hard to understand but for me it wasn't. i just think you need to be in a specific mindset and mood to be able to enjoy it, so i would absolutely say that it's better to read this after reading the lord of the rings, but yeah. it's a great book.

[renardkitsune · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Vast in scope, this is the most "Epic" of the Lord of the Ring's books. The first section, the Ainulindale, especially, can be difficult to get through. It is the creation myth, and thus is a little obscure. After the first section, it reads more like the Lord of the Rings. The most enjoyable part of reading this book was learning the significance of things mentioned in the Lord of the Rings series--The Ring of Barahir, the white tree of Gondor, while Galadriel is so revered, etc. I love that we get insight into the larger mythology that is hinted at in the Lord of the Rings. Also, the story of Feanor, and of Beren and Luthien are great stories in their own right. This book, however, is not for people who want characterization and insights into what characters are thinking and feeling every step of the way. As an epic, we are removed from the characters, and watching the world move and events happen that are beyond their control. Very good book.

[viragoreads · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book would basically be the bible of Middle Earth. It's not an easy read if you aren't obsessed with the source material. But if you are, it's well worth your time.

[threadnsong · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Re-read it for about the fourth time, and I still think that the best way to read it is quickly and all at once. The names can be confusing and the actions and locations can lose all relevance to one another if one picks it up and puts it back down.

That said, it is a tragedy. There are moments of glory and great beauty, but at the end, it is sadness and death and endings. Which is part of its genius: it sets the stage for mythology and a backstory for what became The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

[eire2011 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wonderful tale that gives insight into some questions about the LOTR and how Middle Earth came to be. The tales appeared to start out slow and confusing but soon I found myself wanting to read more though tried to delay finishing for as long as I could. Very much well worth the read and leaves you wanting to go back over LOTR.