Some of my Favourite Tolkien Illustrations

JRR Tolkien

While Tolkien (in my not-so-humble-opinion) is the greatest author, he is not the greatest artist (in the drawing sense. Writing is an art). Though I am a devoted Tolkienite, I am not afraid to say that I don't particularly care for all of his drawings (though I couldn't do nearly so well myself). But there are many that I love, and here are a few of them.
All of these images were taken from the Tolkien Estate Website, and are the works of JRR Tolkien. Disclaimer blah blah they aren't mine (obviously) blah blah trying not to get sued blah blah blah I own no rights to these blah blah THEY BELONG TO THE MAGIC TOLKIEN PEOPLE IN THE SKY (estate....website...thing) blah blah due credit blah not stealing ladida okay I'm done.

 I particularly like this one. The stained glass feel.
I like this because people often forget that many hobbits lived in normal houses
Old Man Willow


Nargothrond: I love being able to see it the way Tolkien imagined it
It's so pretty

The cuteness is too much.



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Chapter by Chapter Challenge: Fellowship of the Ring Book II

I'm back with the rest of my Fellowship of the Ring quotes. I also forgot how incredibly sad Fellowship (the whole thing really) is. Not depressing though, I mean sad in the best of ways. Beautiful and uplifting. The sort of thing that leaves you staring at a wall for hours with a blank face, because there are no words, nor any facial expression that can convey what you feel. But somehow, you feel a little bigger than when you started.  
Since I made this a challenge for no particular reason, I might as well make a new rule just for kicks. 

1. Add the above image to your post.
2. Leave a link to your post around here somewhere, so I can come see (the eye of Goldenrod is watching).
3. List a beloved (or favourite) quote from each chapter in The Fellowship of the Ring.
4. Sing a song or dance a jig, and make plans to watch LOTR sometime in the near future.
5. Change rule 4 when you challenge your own followers. 

And now for the quotes from Fellowship Book II (which is technically the same thing as LOTR Book II, for those of us who prefer the intended format of the book).

Chapter I: Many Meetings
"Almost it seemed that the words took shape, and visions of far lands and bright things that he had never yet imagined opened out before him; and the firelit hall became like a golden mist above the seas of foam that sighed upon the margins of the world."

Chapter II: The Council of Elrond*
"This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."

Chapter III: The Ring Goes South
"[V]arious small belongings of his master's that Frodo had forgotten and Sam had stowed to bring them out in triumph when they were called for."

Chapter IV: A Journey in the Dark
"The world was young, the mountains green, 
No stain yet on the Moon was seen,
No words were laid on stream or stone
When Durin woke and walked alone.
He named the nameless hills and ells;
He drank from yet untasted wells;
He stopped and looked in Mirrormere,
And saw a crown of stars appear,
As gems upon a silver thread,
Above the shadow of his head."

Chapter V: The Bridge of Khazad-dûm
"I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass."

Chapter VI: Lothlórien
"Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him."

Chapter VII: The Mirror of Galadriel
"A lord of wisdom throned he sat,
swift in anger, quick to laugh;
an old man in a battered hat
who leaned upon a thorny staff."

Chapter VIII: Farewell to Lórien
"Then you may remember Galadriel, and catch a glimpse far off of Lórien, that you have seen only in our winter. For our spring and our summer are gone by, and they will never be seen on earth again save in memory."

Chapter IX: The Great River
"Upon great pedestals founded in the deep waters stood two great kings of stone: still with blurred eyes and crannied brows they frowned upon the North. The left hand of each was raised palm outwards in a gesture of warning; in each right hand there was an axe; upon each head there was a crumbling helm and crown. Great power and majesty they still wore, the silent wardens of a long-vanished kingdom."

Chapter X: The Breaking of the Fellowship
"Darkness lay there under the Sun. Fire glowed amid the smoke. Mount Doom was burning, and a great reek rising. Then at last his gaze was held: wall upon wall, battlement upon battlement, black, immeasurably strong, mountain of iron, gate of steel, tower of adamant, he saw it: Barad-dûr, Fortress of Sauron. All hope left him."








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*If you should like to pick two quotes from Council of Elrond, due to its length, I won't complain.

(Lest there should be any confusion or matter of rights and whatnot, all quotes in this post are from The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien, unless otherwise mentioned. There may be slight errors, misspellings, or alternate punctuation in the quotes, and if you notice such, please inform me so that I can speedily remedy them. But I think the fact that I made this blog proves that I would never intentionally change something of Tolkien's in the transcribing of it.)


The Fellowship of the Ring Book I (and 75th anniversary edition review?)



Hello friendlies! I finished Fellowship of the Ring at long last, after reading it in snitches and in snatches at meals. The copy I was reading is a little worse for the wear, but in a loved way. A couple months ago, I purchased the 75th anniv. paperback set (not including the hobbit):
I have a few things to say about them. 
First of all, Amazon seems incapable of sending me a copy in perfect condition, even though I wasn't buying them used.
Second of all, I kind of forgave Amazon when I realized how terribly fragile these books were. They scuff quite easily. The cover art is JRR Tolkien's original designs from the first editions (I think it was on the first? maybe a slightly later one), so yay 75th anniversary. Of course, the cover art on my 50th anniversary edition is also original awesomeness so.....
Despite being snazzy looking, these were the same price as most average length paperbacks 6-10 dollars depending on sellers etc. Because of that, I don't feel so protective of them that I can barely read them because I'm scared to open them all the way. Very down-to-earth, these books.

Now then, you are not may be wondering about the 75th anniv. hardcovers. 
They look like this picture, they also have the original art, and I want them. 
Are the hardcovers beautiful? Yes. 
Do I have them? No.
Do I want them? Yes.
Do I intend to own them at some point in the future? Yes. 
Can I, in any way, justify buying them considering how many copies of this book I already have? No, but that never stopped me before. Muahahahaha. 
Has anyone ever stopped to consider how rich Christopher Tolkien must be? And yet he lives a quiet, decently normal (considering the circumstances) life with his wife somewhere in France. He is also member of that ancient generation that makes it to 92. Oh my goodness, he is terribly old. Now I'm sad. I think that Christopher Tolkien deserves an eleventy-first birthday. It's only fitting. Someday I ought to do a post on Simon Tolkien....I'm not at all happy with that chap. I honestly don't know anyone as easily sidetracked as myself. Anyway. Here is a quote from every chapter in the Fellowship of the Ring. Enjoy. I should make this a challenge. Um...Chapter by Chapter Challenge? Boom! Now it's a thing. 
Time for some random rules:
1. Add the Chapter by Chapter image to your post.
2. Leave a link to your post around here somewhere, so I can come see (the eye of Goldenrod is watching).
3. List a beloved (or favourite) quote from each chapter in The Fellowship of the Ring.
4. Sing a song or dance a jig, and make plans to watch LOTR sometime in the near future.
I shall be doing mine in two parts, Book I and Book II, for the sake of reasonably long posts (HA!). I also refuse to commit to picking my 'favourite' quotes because that is impossible. I shall choose mostly at random from among all the ones I have underlined. Book II will arrive at some point between now, and the day I die. 

Chapter I: A Long-Expected Party
'I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.' This was unexpected and rather difficult. There was some scattered clapping, but most of them were trying to work it out and see if it came to a compliment.

Chapter II: The Shadow of the Past
'Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.'

Chapter III: Three is Company

'"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door," he used to say. "You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to."'


Chapter IV: A Short Cut to Mushrooms

"Ho! Ho! Ho! to the bottle I go
To heal my heart and drown my woe. 
Rain may fall and wind may blow, 
And many miles be still to go, 
But under a tall tree I will lie, 
And let the clouds go sailing by."

"Hobbits have a passion for mushrooms, surpassing even the greediest likings of the Big People. A fact which partly explains young Frodo's long expeditions to the renowned fields of the Marish, and the wrath of the injured Maggot. On this occasion there was plenty for all, even according to hobbit standards."


Chapter VI: The Old Forest
"Then another clear voice, as young and as ancient as Spring, like the song of a glad water flowing down into the night from a bright morning in the hills, came falling like silver to meet them:
       'Now let the song begin! Let us sing together
       Of sun, stars, moon and mist, rain and cloudy weather,
       Light on the budding leaf, dew on the feather,
       Wind on the open hill, bells on the heather,
       Reeds by the shady pool, lilies on the water:
       Old Tom Bombadil and the River-daughter!"



Chapter VII: in the House of Tom Bombadil
"Tom's words laid bare the hearts of trees and their thoughts, which were often dark and strange, and filled with a hatred of things that go free upon the earth, gnawing, biting, breaking, hacking, burning: destroyers and usurpers."

Chapter VIII: Fog on the Barrow-downs
"Frodo heard a sweet singing running in his mind: a song that seemed to come like a pale light behind a grey rain-curtain, and growing stronger to turn the veil all to glass and silver, until at last it was rolled back, and a far green country opened before him under a swift sunrise." 

Chapter IX: At the Sign of The Prancing Pony
"There were several Underhills from Staddle, and as the could not imagine sharing a name without being related, they took Frodo to their hearts as a long-lost cousin."

Chapter X: Strider
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king."

Chapter XI: A Knife in the Dark
"Immediately, though everything else remained as before, dim and dark, the shapes became terribly clear. He was able to see beneath their black wrappings. There were five tall figures: two standing on the lip of the dell, three advancing. In their white faces burned keen and merciless eyes; under their mantles were long grey robes; upon their grey hairs were helms of silver; in their haggard hands were swords of steel."

Chapter XII: Flight to the Ford
"Suddenly into view below came a white horse, gleaming in the shadows, running swiftly. In the dusk its headstall flickered and flashed, as if it were studded with gems like living stars. The rider's cloak streamed behind him, and his hood was thrown back; his golden hair flowed shimmering in the wind of his speed. To Frodo it appeared that a white light was shining through the form and raiment of the rider, as if through a thin veil."



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If anyone should notice any errors in these quotes, please point them out so that I can change them. Also excuse the inconsistent formatting in this post....I don't know what is going on. 








Announcing: The Silmarillion

John Howe

I have finished the tale of the Third Age. But now it is time to go all the way back to before the world's beginning. 
Beginning January 1st, I shall be doing a... cataloguing? of the Silmarillion. Cataloguing isn't really the right word, but it will have to do. I haven't really made a final decision on the format of the posts yet, but I will just feel my way through. 
At the moment, I'm thinking of taking it small segment by small segment, and doing three posts a segment. One that just sort of says what happens. One that draws connections back to LOTR, and one that is just my thoughts and comments of the segment. We'll see how it goes. 
The Silmarillion is a very weighty book, completely packed with information. Though it is much shorter than LOTR, it took me longer to read. It's more of a very very dense history book than a fantasy novel. There are a lot of times where I just had to stop and keep rereading things to figure out what was going on. 
Hopefully these coming posts will help clarify a little bit? Or perhaps they will just be more confusing. I don't know. I'm enjoying writing them. Yes, I am getting as many done early as I can, but fear not! I shall be bogged down and behind schedule in no time, as per usual. 

I have high hopes though, as I am only doing one of these every two weeks. You shall laugh at me when I complain about how time consuming it is, as I'm afraid the end products aren't THAT wonderful, but reading Silmarillion, taking notes, and then trying to figure out how to fit it into a post, and then writing the post....well it simply takes time. 

As always, I am very open to commentary and critique, and if you have any specific questions or things you want me to write about, let me know. 
Wish me luck, good readers. 
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