Who edited and published J.R.R. Tolkien’s posthumous work The Silmarillion?

Christopher Tolkien edited and published J.R.R. Tolkien’s posthumous work The Silmarillion.

The book was published in 1977, four years after Tolkien’s death. Christopher Tolkien assembled material from his father’s drafts, notes, and variant texts, shaping it into a coherent account of the history of Tolkien’s invented world.

The Silmarillion covers events from the creation of Eä through the First Age and beyond. Its central jewels are the Silmarils, created by the Elven craftsman Fëanor. The work also includes the Ainulindalë, Valaquenta, Quenta Silmarillion, and later historical sections.

Christopher Tolkien did not write the mythology from scratch. His editorial role was necessary because Tolkien left many versions and unfinished passages. Later publications, including The History of Middle-earth, reveal more of those variations and show how extensively Tolkien continued revising his legendarium.