Tolkien Artwork

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Is it known which year this picture is from?

Artist & Illustrator places it "no earlier than October 1944", and says it's "probably the last of his finished drawings" for LOTR. He seems to have made these to help him in imagining different scenes while writing, so I wwouldn't date it much after that.

 

[ZehnWaters]

Based on various indications in the story, I don't think even someone such as Aragorn or Gandalf taking control of the power of the Ring would cause the tower to collapse. It's an interesting subject for speculation, though-- perhaps on a dedicated thread.

I guess I got it backwards. Letter 246 says the creations made by the Ring WOULD have endured but Sauron would have been rendered destroyed utterly.

And then at last over the miles between there came a rumble, rising to a deafening crash and roar; the earth shook, the plain heaved and cracked, and Orodruin reeled.

Hm. I know there was supernatural elements to it's construction but if it caused a "deafening crash and roar" MILES away, it MUST have been huge. Also it apparently was so heavy it cause geological issues.

Artist & Illustrator places it "no earlier than October 1944", and says it's "probably the last of his finished drawings" for LOTR. He seems to have made these to help him in imagining different scenes while writing, so I wwouldn't date it much after that.

It IS one of his better ones. We do know, however, that he revised his images as we see when Orthanc went from this (click to enlarge):


To This (click to enlarge):

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

It certainly did in the movie. 😄

There, of course, you could see it from outside the Black Gate, so that's not surprising.

 

[Elbereth Vala Varda]

Yep. So much changed in the movies, and for most cases I don't as much hate their changes, but the fact that everyone sees it as the 'right way' and perceives it as 'true Tolkien' or canon. That is what bothers me.

 

[Annatar]

Today, while passing through a village in Franconia, I happened to discover real hobbit houses (albeit only of the worker class).
Here are a few photos:

I wonder what this is supposed to be...

 

[Elbereth Vala Varda]

All they need are circular doors!

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

Found this painting and wanted to share, I thought he did an excellent job

Source:

https://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/comments/xq9n2n

 

[Elbereth Vala Varda]

Beautiful work!

 

[ZehnWaters]

Another good drawing of Minas Tirith that actually has the black outer wall and farms [click to enlarge]:

 

[ZehnWaters]

Alan Lee showing off how the top of Barad-Dûr looked in the book: enswathed in shadows/clouds/smoke and only briefly appearing.

Alan Lee showing off the size of Barad-Dûr.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Hey, that can't be right! 😳

There ya go! 😄

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

Dall-E: Melkor with blue electricity coming from his fingertips and walking through a field of daisies

This site's now available for anyone fyi

DALL·E

Experiment with DALL·E, an AI system by OpenAI

labs.openai.com

 

[ZehnWaters]

Míriel, Indis, Findis, Irimë, & Nerdanel by Tajmah (click to enlarge)



Fingolfin Rides to Angband, by Kenneth Sofia (click to enlarge)


Ar-Pharazôn, Tar-Míriel, Tar-Ancalimë by Juliana Pinho

 

[Áramandë Amaniel]

Manwe (by EvissOmiros):

Mandos (by EvissOmiros):

Melkor and Nienna (by EvissOmiros):

Could we e'er meet again?

Melkor and Nienna:

 

[Berzelmayr]

made with Artificial Intelligence (https://huggingface.co/spaces/stabilityai/stable-diffusion). Not that bad actually.

 

[The Void]

All very good Art works. Some styles will be historical timepieces on the voyage/journey Tolkienism takes through the decades.

Sadly, not one of the Artworks evokes a sense of 'evil' or 'fear' when depicting Melkor or his contributions (orcs, trolls, etc).
They don't even scratch the surface close to H.R.Giger 'darkness'.
Seems every Elven character looks more 'human' than another 'alien' race apart from human. Just add pointy ears and 'feminine' look in the males - well, it just doesn't cut it for me. I've always seen the Elves as very 'un-human' (un-man) in their appearance. Almost 'alien' in their difference. Enough to scare even the hearts of men who stray too near their realms uninvited. So too the Orcs. All of these artworks show a strong 'human' aspect in both Orcs and Elves and even the Valar.
Luckily there were some artworks that captured a unique stylistic 'alien' appearance of landscape there that creates that 'other worldly' feel, like you've never seen here on earth.

Tolkien borrowed from 1st Age European myths/legends (before Christianity) of Pagan Europe. Added a sprinkle of Medieval, with a dash of Religion and delivered a flavour of Hobbits as if from the year 1899 AD in fashion. Sure, there are some artworks that deliver us this and some are structured around the 'children's book' of the Hobbit in their silliness and comic. But if Tolkienism is to be taken seriously in future generations, then the art must move into a more serious expression.
Tolkien did try to create a fabricated pre-history for Britain. But he also created 'another world' unlike this one, wether he liked it or not.

Maybe one day, maybe myself ?? I might see an artwork that depicts the Elven as more than just pointy-ears, taller, slender and 'feminine' male looking.
Gee! These are Elves, these are reflections of the Valar's light and more. These are 'immortals' - and yet, still look more like men from an American Soapie crossed with Twilight. Are Elves nothing more than just replications of pre-pubescent boys with long hair?

They are a Race 'unlike' Humans. (As are Dwarves, Orcs, etc).
Oh well.
Maybe I'm being too harsh and demanding. Sorry.

 

[ZehnWaters]

All very good Art works. Some styles will be historical timepieces on the voyage/journey Tolkienism takes through the decades.

Sadly, not one of the Artworks evokes a sense of 'evil' or 'fear' when depicting Melkor or his contributions (orcs, trolls, etc).
They don't even scratch the surface close to H.R.Giger 'darkness'.
Seems every Elven character looks more 'human' than another 'alien' race apart from human. Just add pointy ears and 'feminine' look in the males - well, it just doesn't cut it for me. I've always seen the Elves as very 'un-human' (un-man) in their appearance. Almost 'alien' in their difference. Enough to scare even the hearts of men who stray too near their realms uninvited.

Odd, since they're both genetically compatible and identical enough to pass as one another (see Túrin). What's your thought process behind that?

So too the Orcs. All of these artworks show a strong 'human' aspect in both Orcs and Elves and even the Valar.

Well, Orcs are derived from men, elves, or Maia (or a combination thereof) it makes sense they'd be humanoid. Tolkien describes them as being at worst primate in appearance. The Ainur derived their appearances from the Children of Eru so they'd look humanoid as well.

Luckily there were some artworks that captured a unique stylistic 'alien' appearance of landscape there that creates that 'other worldly' feel, like you've never seen here on earth.

Attached below, though I'm unsure how "alien" you want. [Click to enlarge]

Maybe one day, maybe myself ?? I might see an artwork that depicts the Elven as more than just pointy-ears, taller, slender and 'feminine' male looking.
Gee! These are Elves, these are reflections of the Valar's light and more. These are 'immortals' - and yet, still look more like men from an American Soapie crossed with Twilight. Are Elves nothing more than just replications of pre-pubescent boys with long hair?

lol Well, here's Tolkien's description of Legolas:
"He was tall as a young tree, lithe, immensely strong, able swiftly to draw a great war-bow and shoot down a Nazgûl, endowed with the tremendous vitality of Elvish bodies, so hard and resistant to hurt that he went only in light shoes over rock or through snow, the most tireless of all the Fellowship."

So "lithe" IS a descriptor. But likely because he was still young.

 

[ZehnWaters]

Ulmo is the easiest one to find "alien" appearances for.

 

[Olorgando]

Seems every Elven character looks more 'human' than another 'alien' race apart from human.

JRRT may have liked to read (some) science fiction - but he was certainly not writing it.

(short aside: what do you think of Leonard Nimoy's "Mr. Spock" in the original Star Trek series? Pointy ears ... )

And I'm quite certain that JRRT stated - my guess is that Humphrey Carpenter's 1981 book "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien" is the source - that all humanoids in his writings, Elves, Dwarves and Orcs, represented some aspects of humanity, taken to extreme degrees (in the Elves, distinctly super-human).

While the Elves seem certainly to have left our world, and nearly as certainly the Dwarves, Orcs have been and continue to be in the news (and in every country) since the beginning of the Fourth Age down to the present day.

No, there's nothing 'alien' about Elves or the other two in a sci-fi sense ...

 

[ZehnWaters]

And I'm quite certain that JRRT stated - my guess is that Humphrey Carpenter's 1981 book "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien" is the source - that all humanoids in his writings, Elves, Dwarves and Orcs, represented some aspects of humanity, taken to extreme degrees (in the Elves, distinctly super-human).

Like Vulcans.

All very good Art works. Some styles will be historical timepieces on the voyage/journey Tolkienism takes through the decades.

Sadly, not one of the Artworks evokes a sense of 'evil' or 'fear' when depicting Melkor or his contributions (orcs, trolls, etc).
They don't even scratch the surface close to H.R.Giger 'darkness'.
Seems every Elven character looks more 'human' than another 'alien' race apart from human. Just add pointy ears and 'feminine' look in the males - well, it just doesn't cut it for me. I've always seen the Elves as very 'un-human' (un-man) in their appearance. Almost 'alien' in their difference. Enough to scare even the hearts of men who stray too near their realms uninvited. So too the Orcs. All of these artworks show a strong 'human' aspect in both Orcs and Elves and even the Valar.
Luckily there were some artworks that captured a unique stylistic 'alien' appearance of landscape there that creates that 'other worldly' feel, like you've never seen here on earth.

Tolkien borrowed from 1st Age European myths/legends (before Christianity) of Pagan Europe. Added a sprinkle of Medieval, with a dash of Religion and delivered a flavour of Hobbits as if from the year 1899 AD in fashion. Sure, there are some artworks that deliver us this and some are structured around the 'children's book' of the Hobbit in their silliness and comic. But if Tolkienism is to be taken seriously in future generations, then the art must move into a more serious expression.
Tolkien did try to create a fabricated pre-history for Britain. But he also created 'another world' unlike this one, wether he liked it or not.

Maybe one day, maybe myself ?? I might see an artwork that depicts the Elven as more than just pointy-ears, taller, slender and 'feminine' male looking.
Gee! These are Elves, these are reflections of the Valar's light and more. These are 'immortals' - and yet, still look more like men from an American Soapie crossed with Twilight. Are Elves nothing more than just replications of pre-pubescent boys with long hair?

They are a Race 'unlike' Humans. (As are Dwarves, Orcs, etc).
Oh well.
Maybe I'm being too harsh and demanding. Sorry.

How's this for "alien"? It's Sauron.

How's this for "alien"? It's Sauron.

lol He actually reminds me of Black Manta from DC comics.