Month: June 2017

crocordile:

JRR Tolkien
Sketch and design for dust-jacket for The Return of the King

Drawn and painted on black paper, it features the empty throne of Gondor awating the return of the King. Within the circle of the throne – in place of the One Ring, destroyed in the course of the volume – is the winged crown of Gondor, ‘shaped like the helms of the Guards of the Citadel, save that it was loftier, and it was all white, and the wings at either side were wrought of pearl and silver in the likeness of the wings of a sea-bird, for it was the emblem of kings who came over the Sea

With this in tengwar are the initials L ND L, the monogram of Elendil, the first High King of Arnor and Gondor. His words upon coming to Middle-earth, ‘Sinome moruvan ar hildinya tenn’ambar-metta’ (‘In this place will I abide and my heirs until the World’s end’), are inscribed in tengwar to the left and right of the throne.

Above the seat is the White Tree of Gondor with seven flowers, and the Seven Stars that were the emblem of Elendil and his heirs. Below the throne is a green jewel which repre­sents the coming of the new King, Elessar, the ‘Elfstone’.

The most remarkable detail of the original design [is] above and behind the throne: the Shadow of Mordor given gigantic human-like form. The long arm of Sauron reaches out across red and black mountains, its clawed hand like the mouth of a hungry beast, sharp with teeth. 

It proved impossible to adapt the design to binding stamps, and indeed even in Tolkien’s original art the face and form of Sauron are difficult to make out in the upper background. Fortunately a preliminary sketch survives, in which the features of the Shadow are clearly seen. 

And as the captains gazed south to the Land of Mordor, it seemed to them that, black against the pall of cloud, there rose a huge shape of shadow, impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the sky. Enormous it reared above the world, and stretched out towards them a vast threatening hand, terrible but impotent: for even as it leaned over them, a great wind took it, and it was all blown away, and passed… (book 6, chapter 4)

From: “J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & iIlustrator”, by Hammond & Scull, page 183

mapsburgh:

banner-bearer:

I actually teared up.

Thank you, Christopher Tolkien, for giving us the absolute pleasure of delving into your fathers world and meeting such intriguing and fantastic characters. Thank you for bringing it to life, for continuing even though you constantly berated yourself in your essays, you have done such an amazing job that this family could not thank you enough.

Get some rest, Chris, you’ve earned it.

:’) Thank you

Source: banner-bearer

elfmaidens:

ungoliamt:

sauron stole black horses from rohan solely for the aesthetic™

‘Some years ago the Lord of the Black Land wished to purchase horses of us at great price, but we refused him. for he puts beasts to evil use. Then he sent plundering Orcs, and they carry off what they can, choosing always the black horses: few of these are now left. For that reason our feud with the Orcs is bitter.

— The Two Towers

“THEY’RE FRESH OUT OF THE BLACK ONES, SIR! WHAT DO WE DO?”

“We do what we’ve always done, Khamûl…”

–Cue a musical number as the Nazgul begin painting their horses black–

treasures-and-beauty:

Turban helmet,
blued, with pointed and twisted skull, surmounted by a square cusp, the
lower part engraved by floral motifs and cartouches featuring
gold-inlaid inscriptions in Arabic, provided with sliding nosepiece
cusped at the upper part, engraved and gold inlaid; complete with mail
neck-defence of simple closed iron rings; with inside stuffing.
Circular, slightly convex sipar, at the centre a plaque in the shape of
sun with anthropomorphic face, and a relieved gilt decoration depicting a
long snake woven around the four studs, the surface engraved with
floral motifs featuring gold inlays; at the back surface the lining, the
central stuffing and two handles.provenance: Turkey, 19th century

Source: invaluable.com

Semi-Serious Silm Headcanons: What Happened to Daeron

roadgoeson:

  • Eventually, Daeron manages to move on from his sad pining songs and sad pining wandering, more or less.
  • No one can actually mope forever, can they?
  • I mean, he gave it a damn good shot, but. Even an immortal being has got to take a step back from themselves eventually, and go ‘okay yeah this is getting a bit ridiculous,’ right? …… right??
  • He’s still maybe wandering and singing, just not so much in the wilds. Slowly reintegrating himself back into society.
  • And then he hears that the children of Luthien’s line live in the hidden valley of Imladris. 
  • So one day he just kind of shows up out of nowhere, introduces himself as Lindir (it’s literally just ‘singing man,’ which seems embarrassingly apt when it comes to Elven ingenuity re: false names), and has been living there ever since. 
  • Just chillin’. Playing his music. Don’t make it weird. 
  • But lbr, he was totally the one responsible for starting the rumour that Arwen = Luthien’s very likeness, returned once more.
  • (Dammit Daeron, you went and made it weird)
  • Elrond knows who he is, because the first time Galadriel came to Imladris after his arrival, she recognized him on the spot and made him aware of it. ‘Lindir’ does not know that Elrond knows this.
  • ‘Lindir’ does not in fact know that Elrond’s whole family knows this.
  • He would probably have an easier time of it if he did.
  • At least a few things would make more sense, anyway.
  • This is mainly because the kids (+ Celebrian) have made an incredibly infuriating habit of praising ‘Lindir’s’ musical talent by telling him, with utmost earnestness, that he’s so skilled he’s surely almost as good as Daeron himself ever was.
  • He twitches a lot when they do this.
  • He hasn’t broken and blurted out the truth yet, but that could certainly change given the right incentive.
  • By which I mean: to no one’s surprise, the twins immediately turned it into a competition.
  • So far, Arwen is winning, though her brothers claim she has an unfair advantage.
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