The book charts the story of an elven city sacked by the Dark Lord, Morgoth. The author started writing it in 1917, before returning to Middle-earth for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
At this point, Middle-earth is in an era of relative peace after a great evil has been seemingly wiped out. According to J.R.R. Tolkien's stories and appendices, that great evil was the first Dark ...