Who edited and arranged J.R.R. Tolkien’s unfinished mythology for the posthumous 1977 book The Silmarillion?

Christopher Tolkien edited and arranged J.R.R. Tolkien’s unfinished mythology for the posthumous 1977 book The Silmarillion. He worked from a large body of drafts, revisions, notes, and variant texts left by his father.

J.R.R. Tolkien died in 1973, before completing a publishable version of the work. Christopher organized the material into a connected account covering the creation of Eä, the history of the First Age, the downfall of Númenor, and events leading toward The Lord of the Rings.

The Silmarillion is therefore not a novel prepared for publication by J.R.R. Tolkien in the same way as The Hobbit. Its editorial structure reflects Christopher Tolkien’s decisions, and later volumes such as Unfinished Tales and The History of Middle-earth provide additional versions and commentary.