Who edited and posthumously published J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion in 1977?

Christopher Tolkien edited and posthumously published J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion in 1977.

J.R.R. Tolkien died in 1973, leaving a large body of unfinished and differently developed writings about the mythology of Arda. His son Christopher Tolkien organized, selected, and edited these materials into the book published four years later by George Allen & Unwin.

The Silmarillion presents the creation of the world, the mythology of the Valar, and the history of the Elves and Men in the First Age. It includes the Ainulindalë, Valaquenta, Quenta Silmarillion, Akallabêth, and Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age.

Christopher’s editorial role was substantial because his father had not produced one final, fully arranged manuscript. The book is therefore not simply a completed manuscript released unchanged. Later publications, including Unfinished Tales and The History of Middle-earth, further document the evolution of Tolkien’s ideas.