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Foreword

The Silmarillion, now published four years after the death of its author, is an account of the Elder Days, or the First Age of the World In The Lord of the Rings were narrated the great events at the end of the Third Age; but the tales of The Sil frooth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils

Not only, however, does The Silmarillion relate the events of a far earlier tis; it is also, in all the essentials of its conception, far the earlier work Indeed, although it was not then called The Silo; and in battered notebooks extending back to 1917 can still be read the earliest versions, often hastily pencilled, of the central stories of the h soleaned fro life he never abandoned it, nor ceased even in his last years to work on it In all that tie narrative structure, underwent relatively little radical change; it becas But it was far indeed froed even in certain funda the nature of the world it portrays; while the saer and shorter fores and variants, both in detail and in larger perspectives, became so complex, so pervasive, and so many-layered that a final and definitive version seeends ('old' now not only in their derivation froe, but also in terms of my father's life) became the vehicle and depository of his profoundest reflections In h is later writing ical and philosophical preoccupations: from which arose incompatibilities of tone

Onthe work into publishable form It became clear to le book the diversity of theand evolving creation extending over more than half a century - would in fact lead only to confusion and the sub of what is essential I setand arranging in such a way as seemed to me to produce the most coherent and internally self-consistent narrative In this work the concluding chapters (from the death of Turin Turambar) introduced peculiar difficulties, in that they had reed for many years, and were in some respects in serious disharmony with more developed conceptions in other parts of the book

A complete consistency (either within the compass of The Silmarillion itself or between The Sils of my father's) is not to be looked for, and could only be achieved, if at all at heavy and needless cost Moreover, my father came to conceive The Sil afterwards froreat diversity (poe tradition; and this conception has indeed its parallel in the actual history of the book, for a great deal of earlier prose and poetry does underlie it, and it is to some extent a compendium in fact and not only in theory To thisspeed of the narrative and fullness of detail in different parts, the contrast (for example) of the precise recollections of place and h and reorodrioth overthrown; and also some differences of tone and portrayal, some obscurities, and, here and there, some lack of cohesion In the case of the Valaquenta, for instance, we have to assuo back to the earliest days of the Eldar in Valinor, it was remodelled in later ti of tense and viewpoint, so that the divine powers seem now present and active in the world, now reh entitled as it must be The Silmarillion, contains not only the Quenta Silmarillion, or Silmarillion proper, but also four other short works The Ainulindale and Valaquenta, which are given at the beginning, are indeed closely related with The Sils of Pohich appear at the end, are (it must to emphasised) wholly separate and independent They are included according to my father's explicit intention; and by their inclusion is set forth the entire history is set forth froan to the passing of the Ringbearers froe

The nue, and I have provided a full index; but the number of persons (Elves and Men) who play an ie is very ical tables In addition I have provided a table setting out the rather co of the different Elvish peoples; a note on the pronunciation of Elvish names, and a list of some of the chief elements found in these nae in the east, Ered Luin or Ered Lindon, the Blue Mountains, appears in the extres In the body of the book there is a slance where lay the kingdoms of the Elves after the return of the Noldor to Middle-earth I have not burdened the book further with any sort of commentary or annotation There is indeed a wealth of unpublished writing by uistic, historical, and philosophical, and I hope that it will prove possible to publish some of this at a later date

In the difficult and doubtful task of preparing the text of the book I was very greatly assisted by Guy Kay, orked with me in 1974-1975

Christopher Tolkien

AINULINDALE

The Music of the Ainur There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Iluvatar; and heof his thought, and they ith hiht else wasto thelad But for a long while they sang only each alone, or but few together, while the rest hearkened; for each comprehended only that part of meof their brethren they grew but slowly Yet ever as they listened they ca, and increased in unison and harmony