J.R.R. 托爾金（J.R.R.Tolkien），英國文豪，天纔的語言學傢，生於1892年1月3日，1925年開始擔任牛津大學教授。他創造瞭一係列膾炙人口的中洲世界史詩，影響最為深遠的是《霍比特人》和《魔戒》。這兩部巨作，被譽為當代奇幻作品的鼻祖。1972年3月28日，托爾金獲英國女王伊利莎白二世頒發的大英帝國指揮官勛章。

托爾金於1973年9月2日在牛津逝世。托爾金死後，其作品聲名未減，至今已暢銷2.5億餘冊，《魔戒》在英國Waterstones書店和第四頻道閤辦的票選活動中被選為20世紀之書，被亞馬遜網絡書店票選為兩韆年以來最重要的書籍。

A new hardback edition with a cover design by Tolkien himself, to complement the popular Hobbit and Lord of the Rings hardbacks. Includes new Preface by J.R.R. Tolkien unique to this edition. The Silmarillion is an account of the Elder Days, of the First Age of Tolkien's World. It is the ancient drama to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in whose events some of them such as Elrond and Galadriel took part. The tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-Earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor. Included in the book are several shorter works. The Ainulindale is a myth of the Creation and in the Valaquenta the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. The Akallabeth recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Numenor at the end of the Second Age and Of the Rings of Power tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age, as narrated in The Lord of the Rings.