Which person edited and prepared J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion for publication after his death?

Christopher Tolkien edited and prepared J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion for publication after his father’s death.

The Silmarillion was published in 1977, four years after Tolkien died. It presents mythology and history from the creation of Eä through the First Age and later events, including the stories of the Silmarils, Fëanor, Beren and Lúthien, and Túrin Turambar.

J.R.R. Tolkien had worked on related material for decades, but he left many versions, notes, and unfinished passages rather than one final manuscript. Christopher Tolkien selected, arranged, and edited this material into a publishable book, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay.

Readers sometimes assume The Silmarillion was simply a finished manuscript waiting to be printed. Its publication instead involved substantial editorial decisions, which Christopher later discussed in his twelve-volume History of Middle-earth.