"My mind sees that I am nothing, my heart sees that I am everything, between these two poles my life unfolds."

Thursday, October 27, 2011

'The Hobbit' As Tolkien Imagined It

Greetings!

It's been quite windy here the past few days, as a result...

this was what things were looking like on Sunday,

and here's today...lol!

Kind of depressing to say the least :( 
I just returned from a long walk and had to wear my hood the whole way;
the wind is quite nippy in spots.
On my walk I passed a number of homes that were very decked out for Halloween.
No pics to share as I forgot to take my camera with me today grrrr - 
I remembered when I was three blocks from home and decided against turning back. 
Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a few shots to share with you - one house had a whole
graveyard set up, complete with freshly dugs graves!




Aren't these amazing? I stumbled across them at StumbleUpon :)

The below images and descriptions are courtesy of The Guardian (guardian.co.uk)
I try to keep an ear to the ground for all things surrounding The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings
and these were published in Monday's edition. Peter Jackson's facebook page hasn't had an update in many weeks - I had high hopes for it when it was first announced, but it's turned out to be a big disappointment. If interested, The Hobbit Movie is an interesting site.

When The Hobbit was first published almost 75 years ago, JRR Tolkien provided a set of wonderful illustrations. But buried among the author's papers were 110 drawings, watercolours and sketches, some of which have never been published before. Here are some of the earliest images.


Smaug Flies Round the Mountain 
This watercolour is similar in composition to Smaug Flies Around the Lonely Mountain. Beyond the bridge are the ‘ancient steps’ by which Bilbo and the dwarves climb the ‘high bank’, and the road running around the spur to the path leading up to the look-out post. To the right are the ruins of Dale


Smaug Flies Around the Lonely Mountain 
This is probably the earliest of four pictures of Smaug flying around the mountain, and is an untitled ink drawing with an elaborate sky. It appears to be set in daylight, though in The Hobbit Smaug flies only at night. The dragon is black against the mountainside, as is the front gate and Ravenhill on the south-west spur. At the bend of the river are the remains of the old bridge that Bilbo and the dwarves cross in chapter 13 (‘most of its stones were now only boulders in the shallow noisy stream’)


The Lonely Mountain 
This drawing is demonstrably set at night, the dragon a stark white against a jet-black sky. Although this and The Lonely Mountain are more finished drawings, neither seems to have been offered to Allen & Unwin for publication – because they were made too late, perhaps, or because they contain varied greys or dense blacks not well suited to line-blocks


The White Dragon Pursues Roverandom and the Moondog. When producing his art for The Hobbit, Tolkien borrowed from his short story Roverandom, which was written for his son, Michael


Smaug in Flight and Dwarves Marching 
This earlier image was reused in Thror's Map, and on the dust jacket of The Hobbit.

7 comments:

  1. What a talented man he was. He wrote an amazing set of books, painted the artwork for them, created entire languages to use in his stories, wrote poems and even songs. I am always awed when I step back and just think about everything he put into these works.

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  2. Today I learned more new information about this creative man that I had not known before. He would have been another Walt Disney if he had lived in our time.

    Yes, it is sad to see the trees getting ready for the winter wind and snow that will be here all too soon for for my liking.

    I'm already planning my spring flowers/vegetable garden in my head.....much more fun. Would you all not agree?

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  3. Wow, I had no idea just how talented Tolkien is. Always something interesting to learn on your blog!

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  4. Those trees are funny. Darn wind! I'm buying a treadmill soon because I've noticed I just don't have the same motivation to go outside anymore.

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  5. WebDebris, You summed it up perfectly - he was truly amazing.

    Lorene, I agree, let's get out our gardening books and focus on spring :)

    Martha, Thanks! I've learned a lot from reading your blog as well :)

    LaelShine, I also find it hard to get my walks in once the weather turns... especially when it's windy.

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Thanks for stopping by - and leaving your comments! I love reading them :)