Publication of The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion is a collection of myths and legends by J. R. R. Tolkien, published in 1977, four years after his death. It was edited by his son Christopher Tolkien, with help from the writer Guy Gavriel Kay, from the many drafts that Tolkien had worked on for most of his life. The book tells the history of Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings: the creation of the world by the god Ilúvatar, the rebellion of the dark lord Morgoth and the quest of the Elves for the Silmarils, jewels that held the light of the Two Trees. It is darker and more mythic than Tolkien's earlier novels, and was a bestseller. Christopher Tolkien later published much more of his father's unfinished writings.

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