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.