Which Tolkien child edited The Silmarillion for publication?

Christopher Tolkien edited The Silmarillion for publication after his father’s death.

J.R.R. Tolkien had worked on the mythology behind The Silmarillion for decades, but he did not complete a final publishable version. Christopher organized, edited, and sometimes connected the surviving manuscripts so that a coherent posthumous book could be produced.

The Silmarillion was published in 1977, four years after Tolkien’s death. It presents the creation of Eä, the history of the Ainur and Elves, and the events of the First Age, including the stories of Fëanor, Beren and Lúthien, and Túrin Turambar.

Christopher Tolkien continued documenting and editing his father’s writings in later books, including the twelve-volume History of Middle-earth. His editorial work made many otherwise unpublished texts available, although The Silmarillion itself reflects the complexity of assembling Tolkien’s changing drafts.