Tolkien Artwork

[Glorfindel Goldtress]

In Letter 184 Tolkien explains that near Birmingham, (where he spent his childhood) "gamgee" (or "gamgee-tissue") was a colloquial local word for surgical cotton-wool, invented by Dr. Joseph Sampson Gamgee.
The "word pun" in the story is his linking together the families of Cotton and Gamgee .

That is indeed a passing reference in the same notes Tolkien wrote for the foreign publications. I can send in PM to you the PDF of Tolkien's instructions regarding his nomenclature if you desire. If anyone else would like it, let me know.

 

[Radaghast]

Old woman Aragorn strikes again...

 

[Deimos]

Old woman Aragorn strikes again...
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And Deranged Elf Legolas (with his toy Bow and Arrow)

 

[Radaghast]

And Deranged Elf Legolas (with his toy Bow and Arrow)

And a rather taller-than-seems-normal Gimli.

 

[Deimos]

And a rather taller-than-seems-normal Gimli.

And well-coiffed too .

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Despite some odd choices, overall I like Denis Gordeev's illustrations. He seems to have taken Aragorn's age (87) a little too "real-life literally".

Not really very different from people who insist Frodo should have been played by a 50-year-old.

Personally, I'd love to have his Russian editions -- particularly if HM or someone did them with English text. I believe he did 30 illustrations for The Hobbit alone.

 

[Elthir]

If you look closely. . . you still can't see Glorfindel. . . by J. D. Howard.

 

[Radaghast]

Despite some odd choices, overall I like Denis Gordeev's illustrations. He seems to have taken Aragorn's age (87) a little too "real-life literally".

Not really very different from people who insist Frodo should have been played by a 50-year-old.

Personally, I'd love to have his Russian editions -- particularly if HM or someone did them with English text. I believe he did 30 illustrations for The Hobbit alone.
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Apparently, he doesn't care much about the descriptions given in the book, which is odd since Tolkien is often rather sparse with them. Aragorn, aside from being tall (estimated to be around 6'6") has "dark hair, flecked with grey" and wore a "travel-stained cloak of heavy, dark-green cloth. And I know Tolkien never seems to describe Gandalf's colors besides his hat and cloak, that red leather just looks weird. Lastly, not loving that Smaug 😕