The Old Testament of Middle-earth - now illustrated by Tolkien himself. The Silmarillion tells the tales of the gods and heroes of Middle-earth, from the creation of the world to the beginning of the Third Age, in which the Hobbits live. The Silmarillion recounts the events of the First Age - that distant epoch of Middle-earth which the heroes of The Lord of the Rings look back on with reverence. Some of them, like Elrond and Galadriel, as well as Sauron, have experienced it. It is the time of the Elves, the Long-lived, who love things so much that they give everything a name. Humanity is just emerging from the wilderness of the East.

Although The Silmarillion was published long after the author's death by his son, it was created earlier than The Lord of the Rings. The stories of Middle-earth had developed into a tradition for Tolkien over more than fifty years, to which he ultimately approached more as a philologist or historian than as an inventor. And so the Hobbits and their companions in The Lord of the Rings entered this already completed world, the solid ground of legend beneath their feet.

Special features:

• Single-volume edition in a linen binding with a linen slipcase
• Printed in four colors, with numerous illustrations by the author
• With a die-cut dust jacket and two-color embossing
• Two ribbon bookmarks
• All-around colored edges
• Thread binding
• Embossed slipcase
• Map and index.