Who edited and prepared J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion for posthumous publication?

Christopher Tolkien edited and prepared The Silmarillion for posthumous publication.

Christopher Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien’s third child, assembled and edited The Silmarillion after his father’s death. The book was published in 1977, four years after J.R.R. Tolkien died. It presents creation myths, legends of the First Age, and the histories of Elves, Men, Dwarves, and other peoples.

The work was not a single polished novel completed by Tolkien in one final form. He had developed its stories and texts over many decades, revising them repeatedly and leaving multiple versions, notes, and unfinished passages. Christopher therefore had to select, arrange, and sometimes connect material while trying to represent his father’s intentions.

The Silmarillion begins with the creation of Eä and includes the stories of the Silmarils, Beren and Lúthien, and Túrin Turambar. It is more mythic and compressed than The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, which explains why readers sometimes find its narrative style more demanding.