Middle-earth Journeys

Thank you, Parmastahir . I'm so glad you like that one - it was quite hard to tell the tale of all the trees in one picture! It's still one of my favourites.

Hello Iolanthe -

It may seem too early to ask this, but would you consider permitting me to use this in the 2010 Heren Istarion calendar? I already envision it as the centerfold. It is an elegantly simple picture (and one is worth a thousand words) of the tale of the two trees. It is such that I thought "Why didn't someone do that before?" As Sam Gamgee blustered about Galadriel "That's a lot o' nonsense, and all wide of my mark." The more I try to describe why I like it, the harder it seems to put my thoughts into words. Suffice it to say, I think it wonderful.

The HI/NETS calendar (as you have read previously) is a fundraiser for that organization. But I also envisioned it as a means to get the works of new, lesser known (or unknown) illustrators out. And I would love to include this work in it.

In any case, you need not worry about responding any time soon. Please consider my request in your own time. There is (obviously) a long time before the next publishing date. Thanks!

Away from The Green Hill Country,

Parmastahir

That would be fantastic, Parmastahir! I'll pm you .

Woo hoo, Iolanthe!

I found out something today: the children's author Tove Jansson, who created & illustrated the Moomintroll books which I loved as a child, also did some illustrations for The Hobbit (although I'm not sure they were ever published).

You can see the illustrations here: http://www.zepe.de/tjillu/hobbit/index.html

Some of them are a bit wide of the mark (the enormous Gollum, for instance), which makes me wonder when she did them - was Gollum's history public knowledge at the time? her trolls are brilliant and I also love "Dwarves making music" and "Smaug assaults Lake Town".

As a child I associated Tove Jansson with Tolkien - I knew she was Finnish and I assumed that he was a Scandinavian until I found out he wasn't. I thought of The Hobbit as a sort of successor to the Moomin stories - lots of fun but with a more serious side. Tove Jansson died in 2001 but her Moomin books live on! she also apparently did illustrations for Alice in Wonderland.

I'm ridiculously pleased about this . . .

Great find, marbretherese! I've seen some of these before because they are included in The Annotated Hobbit. It seems that most of the European editions were illustrated by these simple kinds of line drawings. They make me think of the difference between illustration and art, both of which have their own strengths.

I used to love Moomintroll too - I'd completely forgotten about it until you mentioned it!

I love these illustrations. I'm familiar with the cover but I've never seen any of the other ones. My favourites are the 'Trolls' (who seemed to have turned into mountains!). The 'Bridge to Rivendel'l with the mad stars that could almost give you a migraine, The 'Goblins and Wolves 'where the wolves are leaping gleefully on their hind legs, the 'Front Gate of the Lonely Mountain' which is more terrifying than I ever imagined it, and little 'Dwarves in Armour'.

What a treat . Great find.

Updated my Tolkien calendar website with several new entries: a calendar of photos of New Zealand sites where the LotR movies were filmed; a recently discovered 1994 calendar based upon an iconic 1977 poster. Check them out at:

http://www.angelfire.com/tn3/tolkiencalendars

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Away from The Green Hill Country,

Parmastahir

I remember that 1977 poster . I don't think I've come across the image since so it's quite nostalgic seeing it again!

A short note to inform those interested of three calendars that I just received and entered on my website. Two (A3 and A4 size) are the annual offerings from Colin Williams. The third is also from Mr. Williams. But it is his first attempt at both full-color illustrations and subjects from LotR. Previously, all illustrations were pen and ink and depicted scenes from "The Hobbit." Colin was generous enough to allow me to feature illustrations from his previous calendars in the 2009 HI/NETS calendar.

www.angelfire.com/tn3/tolkiencalendars

Happy New Year to all!

Away from The Green Hill Country,

Parmastahir

The links have got a bit mixed up, Parmastahir. The link to the colour illustration is dead and the first link to the black and white calendar (showing Gandalf) leads to the colour illustration .

I like his new Gandalf drawing!

that you are paying attention! I put the bad links in just to see if anyone were ( ) Just fixed them. Thanks for looking in.

Parm

I'm always paying attention - and I wouldn't want to miss out on any new drawings by Colin Williams.

Has John Howe changed his site? John Howe

I think it's quite different and copying now is a no, no.

Philipa, copying has always been a no no on his site. Simply use the Print Screen button if you need to.

He has certainly upgraded everything though.