Which son edited J.R.R. Tolkien’s posthumous book The Silmarillion?

Christopher Tolkien edited J.R.R. Tolkien’s posthumous book The Silmarillion.

The Silmarillion was published in 1977, four years after Tolkien’s death. Christopher Tolkien organized and edited material his father had developed over many decades, working with the writer Guy Gavriel Kay during the preparation of the published volume. The book presents mythology and history reaching from the creation of the world through major events of the First Age.

Unlike The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion was not completed by Tolkien as a final, fully arranged manuscript. Its editorial form therefore reflects difficult decisions about selecting, ordering, and reconciling different versions of stories, names, and genealogies.

Christopher later edited many additional volumes of his father’s papers, including The History of Middle-earth. He served as Tolkien’s literary executor and became the principal editor of the unpublished legendarium. His role is distinct from authorship: the underlying stories and texts originated with J.R.R. Tolkien.