J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion was published posthumously in 1977.
Tolkien died in 1973 without completing a definitive final form of the work. His son Christopher Tolkien edited the manuscripts and arranged the material for publication, with assistance from the fantasy writer Guy Gavriel Kay. The book appeared four years after Tolkien’s death.
The Silmarillion presents the creation of the world, the history of the Ainur, the rise and fall of Númenor, and the major conflicts of the First Age. Its central narrative includes the wars against Morgoth, the original Dark Lord and predecessor of Sauron.
It is not a conventional novel like The Hobbit. The published volume combines mythology, annalistic history, genealogical material, and narrative prose. Later editions and related books reveal how extensively Tolkien revised these stories across his lifetime.