Set primarily in the First Age of Middle-earth, The Silmarillion contains the legend of the creation of the world, and an account of the Elder Days. It is the ancient drama remembered by Elrond and Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings, and the harrowing origins of the adventure that ends ages later with Frodo and the One Ring.

At the story's heart are the three Silmarils, jewels which held within them the Light of the Two Trees of Valinor, and Fëanor, the most gifted of elven artificers. When the Two Trees are destroyed, the Silmarils become coveted, setting into motion events that lead to the rebellion of Fëanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from Valinor, and their hopeless war against the greatest enemy Middle-earth has ever known: Morgoth.