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Although ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'' published decades earlier, the stories of the ''Silmarillion'' and the world of Middle-earth existed long before both of the novels.  

Although ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'' published decades earlier, the stories of the ''Silmarillion'' and the world of Middle-earth existed long before both of the novels.  

Tolkien stated that Middle-earth was created as a setting for [[Tolkien's languages|his constructed languages]]<ref>"Nobody believes me when I say that my long book is an attempt to create a world in which a form of language agreeable to my personal aesthetic taste might seem real. But it is true." ''The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien'', #264</ref>, among them the Elvish languages [[Quenya]] and [[Sindarin]]. The writing of the first Middle-earth stories which would later become ''The Silmarillion'' was started by Tolkien during [[World War I]], and he continued to work on them until his death in 1972.  

Tolkien stated that Middle-earth was created as a setting for [[Tolkien's languages|his constructed languages]]<ref>"Nobody believes me when I say that my long book is an attempt to create a world in which a form of language agreeable to my personal aesthetic taste might seem real. But it is true." ''The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien'', #264</ref>, among them the Elvish languages [[Quenya]] and [[Sindarin]]. The writing of the first Middle-earth stories which would later become ''The Silmarillion'' was started by Tolkien during [[World War I]], and he continued to work on them until his death in 1972.  

The world laid out in ''The Silmarillion'' provides a great deal of the back-drop to his other popular novels, through history and constant allusions in ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. ''The Silmarillion'' is sometimes called the "[[Old Testament]]" to ''The Lord of the Rings''' "[[Gospel]]s".  Tolkien never managed to get the older stories published during his lifetime, so they were compiled and edited by his son Christopher Tolkien into the publiched ''Silmarillion''.

The world laid out in ''The Silmarillion'' provides a great deal of the back-drop to his other popular novels, through history and constant allusions in ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. ''The Silmarillion'' is sometimes called the "[[Old Testament]]" to ''The Lord of the Rings''' "[[Gospel]]s".  Tolkien never managed to get the older stories published during his lifetime, so they were compiled and edited by his son Christopher Tolkien into the published ''Silmarillion''.

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== Content ==