J. R. R. Tolkien

The first two books that were the first form of myths and legends which led to the writing of Tolkien's epic tale of war that came to be called the Silmarillion.

Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwells in the vast fortress of Angband, where the fates of Túrin and his sister Niënor will be tragically entwined. Their lives are dominated by the hatred that Morgoth bears them as the children of Húrin, the man who dared to defy him. Morgoth sends a powerful spirit in an attempt to destroy the children of Húrin.

Gondolin was a fabulous secret city of Elves in the First Age of Middle-earth. This is the story of the founding of the city; of the arrival there of Tuor, a prince of Men; of the betrayal of the city to Morgoth by the king's nephew, Maeglin; and of its subsequent catastrophic destruction by Morgoth's armies.

Farmer Giles of Ham did not look like a hero. He was fat and red-bearded and enjoyed a slow, comfortable life. Then one day a rather deaf and short-sighted giant blundered on to his land. More by luck than skill, Farmer Giles managed to scare him away. The people of the village cheered: Farmer Giles was a hero. His reputation spread far and wide across the kingdom. So when the dragon Chrysophylax visited the area it was Farmer Giles who was expected to do battle with it!

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely travelling further than the pantry of his hobbit-hole in Bag End. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandalf, and a company of thirteen dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day, to whisk him away on a journey ‘there and back again’. They have a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon…

Can you imagine writing to Father Christmas and actually getting a reply? Every year, the children of J.R.R. Tolkien would write to Father Christmas, and the letters they received told wonderful stories of his adventures at the North Pole.

The dark forces are gathering and Lord Sauron needs only one thing to complete his evil power, the Ruling Ring of Power. This is in the keeping of Bilbo Baggins in the Shire. Can the Hobbits and their friends destroy the Ring before it falls to Sauron?

Men, Dwarves, Elves and Ents unite to do battle with the ever widening forces of evil. Meanwhile Frodo and Sam struggle on with their quest to destroy the One Ring. Final book of 'The Lord of the Rings', sequel to 'The Two Towers' (5977).

The members of the Fellowship have separated leaving Frodo and Sam trying to reach Mount Doom alone, save for a mysterious creeping figure who follows their every move! Book two of 'Lord of the Rings', sequel to 'The Fellowship of the Ring' (5909).

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 Númenor 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.

Written with the same skill and quality that made Tolkien's 'Hobbit' a classic, these five fairy tales, largely overlooked because of their short lengths, are finally brought together for the benefit of old and young alike.