|
''The Silmarillion'' is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son, Christopher Tolkien, in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. ''The Silmarillion'', along with J. R. R. Tolkien's other works, forms an extensive, though incomplete, narrative that describes the universe of Eä in which are found the lands of Valinor, Beleriand, Númenor, and Middle-earth within which ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'' take place. After the success of ''The Hobbit'', Tolkien's publisher requested a sequel. Tolkien sent them an early draft of ''The Silmarillion'' but through a misunderstanding, the publisher rejected the draft without fully reading it. The result was that Tolkien began work on "A Long Expected Party", the first chapter of what he described at the time as "a new story about Hobbits", which became ''The Lord of the Rings''. ''The Silmarillion'' comprises five parts. The first part, ''Ainulindalë'', tells of the creation of Eä, the "world that ''is''". ''Valaquenta'', the second part, gives a description of the Valar and Maiar, the supernatural powers in Eä. The next section, ''Quenta Silmarillion'', which forms the bulk of the collection, chronicles the history of the events before and during the First Age, including the wars over the Silmarils that gave the book its title. The fourth part, ''Akallabêth'', relates the history of the Downfall of Númenor and its people, which takes place in the Second Age. The final part, ''Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age'', is a brief account of the circumstances which led to and were presented in ''The Lord of the Rings''. The five parts were initially separate works, but it was the elder Tolkien's express wish that they be published together.〔 Because J. R. R. Tolkien died before he finished revising the various legends, Christopher gathered material from his father's older writings to fill out the book. In a few cases, this meant that he had to devise completely new material in order to resolve gaps and inconsistencies in the narrative. ==Overview== ''The Silmarillion'', like Tolkien's other Middle-earth writings, was meant to have taken place at some time in Earth's past. In keeping with this idea, ''The Silmarillion'' is meant to have been translated from Bilbo's three-volume ''Translations from the Elvish'', which he wrote while at Rivendell. Among the notable chapters in the book are: *"The Music of the Ainur" *"Quenta Silmarillion" (the history of the Silmarils and the war of the Noldor against Morgoth) *"Of Beren and Lúthien" *"Túrin Turambar" (closely associated with "Narn i Chîn Húrin: The Tale of the Children of Húrin" in ''Unfinished Tales'' and ''The Children of Húrin'') *"Of Tuor and The Fall of Gondolin" *"Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath" The inside title page contains an inscription written in Tengwar. In the common script, it reads "The tales of the First Age when Morgoth dwelt in Middle-earth and the Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils to which are appended the downfall of Númenor and the history of the Rings of Power and the Third Age in which these tales come to their end." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Silmarillion」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|