A number-one New York Times bestseller when it was originally published, The Silmarillion is the core of J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginative writing, a work whose origins stretch back to a time long before The Hobbit. Tolkien considered The Silmarillion his most important work, and, though it was published last and posthumously, this great collection of tales and legends clearly sets the stage for all his other writing. The story of the creation of the world...

Bilbo Baggins, a peaceful hobbit living in the Shire, joins a group of thirteen dwarves in their quest to retake their home from the dangerous dragon Smaug.

After the departure of Smaug the dragon, Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, and the dwarves engage in war to keep the Lone Mountain from falling into the hands of evil.