Pictures by J. R. R.

Tolkien brings together a wide array of paintings,

sketches and pictures by J. R. R. Tolkien.
This collection of pictures, with a revised Notes text by Christopher Tolkien,
provides an insight into Tolkien’s visual conception of many of the places and
characters familiar to readers of such books as “The Hobbit”, “The Lord of the
Rings” and “The Silmarillion”. Examples of his art range from delicate
watercolours depicting Rivendell, the Forest of Lothlórien, Smaug and Old
Man Willow to drawings and sketches of Moira Gate and Minas Tirith.

[Link] - Página 2
 J. R. R. Tolkien

Pictures by J. R. R. Tolkien
ePub r1.1
Titivillus 18.05.15

[Link] - Página 3
J. R. R. Tolkien, 1979
Ilustrations: J. R. R. Tolkien
Editor: Christopher Tolkien

Digital Editor: Titivillus

ePub base r1.2

[Link] - Página 4
 FOREWORD

The primary purpose of this book is to collect together all the pictures (paintings,
drawings, designs) by J. R. R. Tolkien which were published in a series of six
Calendars from 1973 to 1979, with a gap in 1975.
The first of these Calendars was published in America by Ballantine Books, and
while this contained the five paintings that were published in The Hobbit it also
included some hitherto unknown pictures to illustrate The Lord of the Rings (in this
book nos. 21, 22, 24, and 30) and a sketch for a painting of the death of Smaug the
Dragon over the flames of Lake Town (19).
In 1974 began the series of Calendars published by George Allen and Unwin; and
this one also was prepared during my father’s lifetime. It contained many of the same
pictures as that of 1973, but also a further illustration to The Lord of the Rings (25),
the painting of Taniquetil (31) —an illustration to The Silmarillion done some forty
years before the posthumous publication of the book— and a painting (37) which
though entitled “Fangorn Forest” is in fact quite certainly of a scene in The
Silmarillion.
After my father’s death Mr Rayner Unwin, Chairman of Allen and Unwin, proposed
to me that we should continue the series of Calendars, and we collaborated closely in
the selection and presentation of pictures for those of 1976-1979. For The Hobbit
Calendar 1976 the five paintings published in The Hobbit were again reproduced, but
for the remaining seven months Mr H. E. Riddett was invited to colour the pen and
ink pictures: and since then these coloured versions have appeared elsewhere.
For The Lord of the Rings Calendar 1977 it seemed to us that a precedent had been
set by my father’s approval of the publication of the unfinished sketch of “The Death
of Smaug” in the Calendars for 1973 and 1974, and in addition to finished
illustrations, most of which had appeared previously, we included unfinished sketches
and rapid vignettes of great interest as an indication of the author’s conception of
certain places, as Helm’s Deep, Orthanc, and Cirith Ungol (26-28). The nature of
some of these pictures, and most especially the burnt leaves from the Book of
Mazarbul (23), seemed to call for an explanatory comment, and to this Calendar (and
the subsequent ones) I contributed notes, some of which reappear in this book.
The Silmarillion Calendar 1978 was mainly illustrated by paintings and drawings
done in the late 1920s, when The Silmarillion was still young (only two of these, 31
and 37, had appeared previously), and the drawings were coloured by Mr Riddett (34-
36). Also included were three examples of Elvish script, and the ‘heraldic’ devices
borne by figures of the First Age, the Age of The Silmarillion.
The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar 1979, the last of the series, was also largely composed

[Link] - Página 5
of previously unpublished paintings and designs, and included four further
illustrations to The Hobbit (3, 11, 13, 18, the first of these coloured by Mr Riddett),
together with a coloured version of ‘The Hall at Bag-End’ (20). It showed examples
of formal or emblematic dragons, trees, and flowers, presented in decorative
arrangements that in some cases combine elements from widely separated times.
As I have said, this book was conceived as a collection of all the pictures that
appeared in the six Calendars: but various considerations led us somewhat to extend
its scope. In the first place, it seemed desirable to include the original pen and ink
illustrations published in The Hobbit, facing the coloured versions that Mr Riddett
made for the Calendars (2, 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 20); and this naturally led to the
inclusion of the originals of the unpublished pictures coloured by Mr Riddett - these
originals (3, 34-36) here appearing for the first time.
In the second place, a collection of all the pictures from the Calendars necessarily
constitutes a fairly complete record of my father’s published work (since the majority
of them first appeared in the Calendars, while the Calendars included almost
everything that had been published previously - the chief exception being the
illustrations of The Father Christmas Letters). I have therefore more nearly
approached completeness by the inclusion of a few things that did not appear in the
Calendars: the pen and ink drawing of Hobbiton (1), the Doors of Durin (22),
Mirkwood (37), and the tree on the cover of the first paperback edition of Tree and
Leaf (41). The illustrations of The Father Christmas Letters have not been repealed,
with the exception of the 1928 picture of the Polar Bear fallen to the foot of the stairs
in Father Christmas’ house (39), which was used in the 1979 Calendar.
These enlargements of scope are however very minor. The book remains closely
related to the Calendars, which were limited (with a few exceptions among the
designs in that of 1979) to pictures illustrating The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and
The Silmarillion; and the range of my father’s pictorial art, especially that of his
earlier years, is by no means fully represented here.

Christopher Tolkien

[Link] - Página 6
 1. The Hill: Hobbiton-across-the-Water

The drawing of Hobbiton was the frontispiece to the original impression of The

[Link] - Página 7
Hobbit, 1937, which had no coloured pictures, and it has not been published
since. The painting appeared as frontispiece to the second English impression of
the same year, and in the first American edition, 1938. It was reproduced in The
J. R. R. Tolkien Calendars 1973 and 1974, and in The Hobbit Calendar 1976.
There are only very slight differences between the two renderings, most notably
in the windows of the mill and in the words on the signpost, which in the
drawing directs the traveller to Bag-End but in the painting to the Hill.

[Link] - Página 8
 2. The Trolls

The original was published in the first impression of The Hobbit, 1937 (in

[Link] - Página 9
Chapter 2, Roast Mutton). The coloured version by H. E. Riddett was made for
The Hobbit Calendar 1976, and has been used in some illustrated editions of the
book.

[Link] - Página 10
 3. The Three Trolls are turned to Stone

This drawing lo illustrate Chapter 2 of The Hobbit has not been previously

[Link] - Página 11
published, but the coloured version by H. E. Riddell appeared in The J. R. R.
Tolkien Calendar 1979.

[Link] - Página 12
 4. Rivendell looking West

This unfinished crayon sketch was published in The Lord of the Rings Calendar

[Link] - Página 13
1977 where it was truncated at top and bottom.

[Link] - Página 14
 5. Rivendell looking East

An earlier conception of the view of Rivendell looking east towards the Misty
Mountains than in the watercolour (no. 6). This picture was published in The
Lord of the Rings Calendar 1977 where it was much truncated at the top.

[Link] - Página 15
 6. Rivendell

Not used in the original impression of The Hobbit. 1937, which included no
coloured illustrations, this painting appeared in the second English impression of
the same year, and in the first American edition, 1938. In the American edition
the title ‘Rivendell’ within the decorative border was removed (on which J. R. R.
Tolkien commented: ‘I cannot imagine why they have spoilt the Rivendell
picture by slicing the top and cutting out the ornament at the bottom’), but both
reproductions carried the printed caption The Fair Valley of Rivendell’ (‘Hidden
somewhere ahead of us is the fair valley of Rivendell where Elrond lives in the
Last Homely House’, Chapter 3, A Short Rest). The painting was reproduced in
The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendars 1973 and 1974 and in The Hobbit Calendar
1976.

[Link] - Página 16
 7. The Mountain-path

The original was published in the first impression of The Hobbit, 1937 (in

[Link] - Página 17
Chapter 4, Over Hill and Under Hill). The coloured version by H. E. Riddett
was made for The Hobbit Calendar 1976, and has been used in some illustrated
editions of the book: it was also used for the jacket of the American edition of
The Silmarillion.

[Link] - Página 18
8. The Misty Mountains looking West from the Eyrie towards Goblin
Gate

The original was published in the first impression of The Hobbit, 1937 (in

[Link] - Página 19
Chapter 6, the Frying-Pan into the Fire). The coloured version by H. E. Riddett
was made for The Calendar 1976, and has been used in some illustrated editions
of the book.

[Link] - Página 20
 9. Bilbo woke with the early sun in his eyes

This painting, to illustrate the first words of Chapter 7 of The Hobbit (Queer

[Link] - Página 21
Lodgings), was not used in the first English impression to contain coloured
pictures, but appeared in the first American edition, 1938. It was reproduced in
The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendars 1973 and 1974 and in The Hobbit Calendar
1976. The eagle was inspired by the painting of a Golden Eagle by Archibald
Thorburn.

[Link] - Página 22
 10. Beorn’s Hall

The original was published in the first impression of The Hobbit, 1937 (in

[Link] - Página 23
Chapter 7, Queer Lodgings). The coloured version by H. E. Riddett was made
for The Hobbit Calendar 1976, and has been used in some illustrated editions of
the book.

[Link] - Página 24
 11. The Elvenking’s Gate (I)

An unfinished painting to illustrate The Hobbit, Chapter 9 (Barrels out of Bond).

[Link] - Página 25
It was published in The J. K. R. Tolkien Calendar 1979. See no. 12.

[Link] - Página 26
 12. The Elvenking’s Gate (II)

The original was published in the first impression of The Hobbit. 1937 (in

[Link] - Página 27
Chapter 9. Barrels out of Bond). The coloured version by H. E. Riddell was
made for The Hobbit Calendar 1976, and has been used in some illustrated
editions of the book.

[Link] - Página 28
 13. Bilbo comes to the Huts of the Raft-elves (I)

This painting, with the inscription ‘Sketch for the Forest River, Hobbit Ch. IX’,

[Link] - Página 29
shows Bilbo’s arrival on the barrel by the light of the full moon, whereas in the
painting published with the book the sun has already risen (see no. 14). In the
text the barrels arrived at the village of the Raft-elves while it was still dark:
‘There was a dim sheet of water no longer overshadowed, and on its sliding
surface there were dancing and broken reflections of clouds and stars.’ This
picture was published in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar 1979. The paper of the
original is torn on the lower left-hand side and a blue underlay shows here.

[Link] - Página 30
 14. Bilbo comes to the Huts of the Raft-elves (II)

See no. 13. Not used in the original impression of The Hobbit, 1937, which
included no coloured illustrations, this painting appeared in the second English
impression of the same year. It was the only one of the five submitted that was
not used in the first American edition, 1938. In a letter written to the American
publishers in March 1938 J. R. R. Tolkien, while approving their use of ‘the
Eagle picture’ (no. 9, omitted from the first English impression to contain
coloured illustrations), said that he was sorry that they had not selected ‘the
River-picture, in which on the whole the amateur artist caught the imagined
scene most closely’. In the second English impression the picture carried the
printed caption ‘The dark river opened suddenly wide’ (from Chapter 9. Barrels
out of Bond). The painting was reproduced in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendars
1972 and 1974 and in The Hobbit Calendar 1976.

[Link] - Página 31
 15. Lake Town

The original was published in the first impression of The Hobbit. 1937 (in

[Link] - Página 32
Chapter 10. A Warm Welcome). The coloured version by H. E. Riddett was made
for The Hobbit Calendar 1976, and has been used in some illustrated editions of
the book.

[Link] - Página 33
 16. The Front Gate

The original was published in the first impression of The Hobbit, 1937 (in

[Link] - Página 34
Chapter 11, On the Doorstep). The coloured version by H. E. Riddett was made
for The Hobbit Calendar 1976, and has been used in some illustrated editions of
the book.

[Link] - Página 35
 17. Conversation with Smaug

Not used in the original impression of The Hobbit. 1937, which included no

[Link] - Página 36
coloured illustrations, this painting appeared in the second English impression of
the same year and in the first American edition, 1938. In the American edition
the title and the J. R. R. T. monogram were obliterated: but both reproductions
carried the printed caption ‘O Smaug the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities’
(Bilbo’s words to the Dragon. Chapter 12, Inside Information). The painting was
reproduced in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendars 1973 and 1974 and in The Hobbit
Calendar 1976.

[Link] - Página 37
 18. Smaug flies round the Mountain

This painting of the Lonely Mountain, which shows the ruins of the town of
Dale in bend of the Running River, was published in The J. R. R. Tolkien
Calendar 1979.

[Link] - Página 38
 19. Death of Smaug

This sketch of the arrow shot by Bard the Bowman finding its mark in the
Dragon’s belly above burning Lake Town (The Hobbit Chapter 14. Fire and
Water) was published in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendars 1973 and 1974. The
writing on the left side of the picture reads: ‘The moon should be a crescent: it
was only a few nights after the New Moon on Durin’s Day’; in the left-hand
bottom comer: ‘Dragon should have a white naked spot where the arrow enters’;
and at the bottom: ‘Bard the Bowman should be standing after release of arrow
at extreme left point of the piles.’

[Link] - Página 39
 20. The Hall at Bag-End. Residence of B. Baggins Esquire

The original was published in the first impression of The Hobbit, 1937 (in
Chapter 11, On the Doorstep). The coloured version by H. E. Riddett was first

[Link] - Página 40
published in the English De Luxe edition and in a new edition of the Dutch
translation (both 1976), and appeared also in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar
1979.

[Link] - Página 41
 21. Old Man Willow

Crayon drawing to illustrate the description of the great willow-tree in The

Fellowship of the Ring. Book I, Chapter 6, The Old Forest: ‘Enormous it looked,
its sprawling branches going up like reaching arms with many long-fingered
hands, its knotted and twisted trunk gaping in wide fissures that creaked faintly
as the boughs moved.’ It was published in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendars 1973
and 1974: a somewhat enlarged reproduction with a part of the picture excluded
appeared in The Lord of the Rings Calendar 1977.

[Link] - Página 42
 22. Doors of Durin and Moria Gate

Crayon drawing of the West Gate of Moria, on the western side of the Misty

[Link] - Página 43
Mountains, by which the Fellowship of the Ring entered the Mines: cf. The
Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Chapter 4. A Journey in the Dark: ‘Beyond the
ominous water were reared vast cliffs, their stern faces pallid in the fading light:
final and impassable.’ It was published in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendars 1973
and 1974, and in The Lord of the Rings Calendar 1977 (slightly truncated at top
and bottom).
The drawing of the Doors of Durin above is reproduced from the same
chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring, where the words on the arch were thus
translated by Gandalf: ‘The Doors of Durin. Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and
enter. I, Narvi, made them. Celebrimbor of Hollin drew these signs.’ It was only
when Gandalf perceived that pedo mellon a minno should be translated ‘Say
“Friend” and enter’, and uttered the word Mellon, that the Doors opened.

[Link] - Página 44
23. Leaves from the Book of Mazarbul

[Link] - Página 45
The Book of Mazarbul, found by the Fellowship of the Ring in the Chamber of

[Link] - Página 46
Mazarbul in Moria, recorded the fortunes of the people of Balin the Dwarf. ‘It
had been slashed and stabbed and partly burned, and it was so stained with black
and other dark marks like old blood that little of it could be read.’ These
facsimile pages were published in The Lord of the Rings Calendar 1977,
accompanied by the following note on their interpretation:

I.
This page of the Book of Mazarbul exemplifies the late form of the Angerthas,
called ‘the usage of Erebor’. This use would be expected in a kind of diary,
written, hastily and without attempt at calligraphy or meticulous consistency of
spelling, by Dwarves coming from Dale. Almost all the runes can be interpreted
by reference to the section on the Cirth in Appendix E to The Lord of the Rings,
where also the modifications of the Angerthas Moria made by the Dwarves of
Erebor are briefly described.
The Book of Mazarbul was written in Westron, the Common Speech, which in
the pages here reproduced is represented, as throughout The Lord of the Rings,
by Modem English. In writing the Common Speech the Dwarves tended to blend
its customary spelling with certain phonetic usages: for they did not like to use
any letter or rune in more than one value, nor to express a simple sound by
combinations of letters. In representation of this, it will be found that the
spelling here is not on the basis of one runic sign for each Modern English letter:
for example, the word chamber in line 13 is spelt with only five runes, there
being a rune for ch and a rune for mb.
In the transcript that follows these features arc not indicated. It may be noted
that the word the is represented by a short vertical stroke; the word of by the
rune for v; and (often) the word is by the rune for Z. There are also single signs
for ai, ay; ea; ew; oa; ou, ow. The rune in the top right-hand corner is the
numeral 3.
The passage in The Lord of the Rings in which Gandalf reads out these pages
will be found in The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, at the beginning of Ch. 5.
‘The Bridge of Khazad-dûm’. It is possible to make out a little more of the text
than Gandalf was able to do in the Chamber of Mazarbul.
1 We drove out orns from the great gate and guard
2 (r)oom and took the first hall: we slew many in the br
3 (i)ght sun in the dale: Flo’i was killed by an arr
4 ow. He slew the great chiefta(in) ……… Flo’i
5 under grass near Mirrormcr(e) ………… came
6…………………ken
7 (w?)e repaire(d) …………………

[Link] - Página 47
8…………………
9 We have taken the twentyfirst hall of northen
10 nd to dwell in There is g(ood) air ……………
11………………… that can easily be
12 watched………the shaft is clear………
13 Balin has set up his seat in the chamber of Maz
14 arbul………ga(th)ered………
15 gold…………………
16…………………
17………wonderful (lay?) Durin’s Axe………sil
18 ver helm Balin h(a)s ta(k)en them for his own
19 Balin is now lord of Moria:
******
20 ………today we found truesilver………
21………………… well forged hel(m)…
22 n. .coat m(ade7) all of purest mithril………
23 Iin to seek for the upper armouries of the third deep
24… go westwards to s………to Hollin gate
****

II.
Gandalf paused and set a few leaves aside. ‘There are several pages of the same
sort, rather hastily written and much damaged,’ he said; ‘but I can make little of
them in this light. Now there must be a number of leaves missing, because they
begin to be numbered five, the fifth year of the colony, I suppose. Let me see!
No, they are too cut and stained: I cannot read them. We might do better in the
sunlight. Wait! Here is something: a large bold hand using an Elvish script.’
‘That would be Ori’s hand,’ said Gimli, looking over the wizard’s arm. ‘He
could write well and speedily, and often used the Elvish characters.’
‘I fear he had ill tidings to record in a fair hand,’ said Gandalf.

The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II,

Ch. 5, ‘The Bridge of Khazad-dûm’.

This page is written in the later or Westron convention, in its northern variety, in
the application of the Elvish signs to the Common Western Speech. The script
can be interpreted from the information given in Appendix E to The Lord of the
Ring’s; but the following points may be noted. The vowels are expressed not by
tehtar but by separate letters, a, e, o, u being represented by the tengwar 24, 35,
23, 22 respectively (see the table in The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E), and i

[Link] - Página 48
by an i undotted or with an acute stroke above. For y, as in many line 9, a j is
used, and for w both tengwar 22 and 25; but the diphthongs ou, ow (as in sorrow
line 3, don(b)t line 13) and ew (as in slew line 9) are expressed by a curl over the
first element, and ay (as in day line 4) by two dots over the a-letter, e is often
indicated (as in alone line 6, Silverlode line 10) by a dot placed under the
preceding letter.
A bar over a consonant is used to show that it is preceded by a nasal, as in went
line 6; and a double consonant may be expressed by a bar beneath the latter, as
in barred line 13. For double I tengwa 28 is used.
The runic figure at the bottom of the page is the numeral 5.

1 r………arz (probably for ars, the end of years?)

2 since…………ready
3 sorrow………… (y)ester
4 day being the tenth of november
5 Balin lord of Moria fell
6 in Dimrill Dale: he went alone
7 to look in Mirrormere, an ore
8 shot him from behind a stone, we
9 slew the ore but many more ca………
10 p from east up the Silverlode………
11 we rescued Balin’s b(ody) ………
12… .re a sharp battle………
13 we have barred the gates but doubt if
14 …… can hold them long, if there is …
15 no escape it will be a horrible fate (to)
16 suffer - but I shall hold

III
The last page of the Book of Mazarbul. The runes employed arc the same as
those on the first of these facsimiles, though the hand is different and the shapes
differ in detail. The last line is in the same Elvish alphabet as that used on the
second page.

1 We cannot get out: we cannot get out

2 they have taken the bridge and second h
3 (a)ll. Fra’r & Lo’ni & Na’li fell the
4 re bravely wh(ile the) rest retr …………
5 Ma(zarb)ul. We still ho …………
6 g: but hope u……n……(O’?)ins p

[Link] - Página 49
7 arty went 5 days ago but (today) only
8 4 returned: the pool is up to the wall
9 at Westgate: the watcher in the water too
10 k O’in - we cannot get out: the end com
11 es soon we hear drums drums in the deep

They are coming

[Link] - Página 50
 24. Moria Gate (The Steps to the East Gate)

Crayon drawing of the steps leading up to the Great Gates of Moria on the
eastern side of the Misty Mountains; cf. The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II,
Chapter 5, The Bridge of Khazad-dûm: ‘Out of the Gates they ran and sprang
down the huge and age-worn steps, the threshold of Moria.’ This picture was
published in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar 1973.

[Link] - Página 51
 25. The Forest of Lothlórien in Spring

Crayon drawing of the mallorn trees of Lothl6rien; cf. The Fellowship of the

[Link] - Página 52
Ring, Book II, Chapter 6: ‘There are no trees like the trees of that land. For in
the autumn their leaves fall not, but turn to gold. Not till the spring comes and
the new green opens do they fall, and then the boughs are laden with yellow
flowers; and the floor of the wood is golden, and golden is the roof, and its
pillars arc of silver, for the bark of the trees is smooth and grey.’ This
reproduction is as published in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar 1974: an enlarged
reproduction, with some of the picture including the title cut out, appeared in
The Lord of the Rings Calendar 1977.

[Link] - Página 53
 26. Helm’s Deep and the Hornburg

This sketch was done on a page from an examination script, and partly over the
handwriting itself; in the reproduction (published in The Lord of the Rings
Calendar 1977) the writing has been removed. A description is given in The Two
Towers, Book 111. Chapter 7, of the Horn-burg on the Hornrock, the gorge of
Helm’s Deep, and the Deeping Stream.

[Link] - Página 54
 27. Orthanc and Minas Tirith

These two sketches were published together in The Lord of the Rings Calendar
1977. The illustration of Orthanc, the tower of Isengard, is one of several
different conceptions sketched by J. R. R. Tolkien, but this agrees best with the
description in The Two Towers, Book III. Chapter 8, The Road to Isengard: ‘A
peak and isle of rock it was, black and gleaming hard: four mighty piers of
many-sided stone were welded into one, but near the summit they opened into
gaping horns, their pinnacles sharp as the points of spears, keen-edged as
knives.’
The unfinished picture of Minas Tirith is entitled Stanburg in Fëanorian (Elvish)
letters, and Stanburg and Steinborg in Roman letters (only the latter visible in
the reproduction). Stanburg is Old English (and Steinborg Old Norse), meaning
‘Stone-fortress, Stone-city’.
Minas Tirith was called ‘Stone-city’ by the Woses (the Wild Men of the Woods
in the White Mountains) in The Return of the King, Book V, Chapter 5, though
its usual name in Rohan (as translated into Old English) was Mundburg.
‘Guardian-fortress’.

[Link] - Página 55
 28. Shelob’s Lair

This sketch was published (but with less of the manuscript page shown) in The
Lord of the Rings Calendar 1977, together with the following note:
The writing accompanying this picture is a fragment of an early draft of the
passage in The Two Towers (Book IV. Chapter 8. The Stairs of Cirith Ungol) in
which is described Sam and Frodo’s first sight of the Tower of Cirith Ungol. In
this draft Gollum had already disappeared at this point in the story.

[Link] - Página 56
 29. Dunharrow

The original of this picture in crayon bears a note on the back: ‘No longer fits
story’. It was published in The Lord of the Rings Calendar 1977, accompanied
by the following note:
This picture of the Firienfeld and the climbing road marked at each angle by the
carved Púkel-men was done at a time when the conception of the Dark Door
(leading to the Paths of the Dead) was somewhat different from the description
in the published work. There it is said: ‘Dividing the upland into two there
marched a double line of unshaped standing stones that dwindled into the dusk
and vanished in the trees. Those who dared to follow that road came soon to the
black Dimholt under Dwimorberg, and the menace of the pillar of stone, and the
yawning shadow of the forbidden door.’ (The Return of the King, Book V.
Chapter 3, The Muster of Rohan). In the picture there is no sign of the dark
wood (the Dimholt), or the pillar of stone; it seems that the Dark Door lies in the
cleft at the end of the double line of stones across the Firienfeld.

[Link] - Página 57
30. Orodruin and Barad-dûr

[Link] - Página 58
 The sketch of Orodruin (Mount Doom) was done on a rejected page of the
manuscript of The Return of the King, Book VI, Chapter 3. Mount Doom. In the
original the tongue of flame at the cone of the mountain is coloured red, and beneath
the words visible in the reproduction is written ‘Mt Doom from the North’. In this
sketch is seen the ‘long sloping causeway that led up on to the Mountain’s eastern
side’, carrying Sauron’s Road from Barad-dûr up to the dark entrance of the Sammath
Naur, the Chambers of Fire. It was published as an inset to the painting of Barad-dûr
in The Lord of the Rings Calendar 1977.

The painting shows a door on the eastern side of the fortress with Mount Doom
to the westward. It was published in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendars 1973 and
1974, and again in The Lord of the Rings Calendar 1977 in a slightly enlarged
and truncated reproduction together with the sketch of Orodruin as an inset.

[Link] - Página 59
 31. Taniquetil

This watercolour dates in all probability from the same period (1927-8) as the

[Link] - Página 60
other Silmarillion paintings. It was published in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar
1974, and again in The Silmarillion Calendar 1978. Taniquetil, called also
Oiolossë, Amon Uilos, and Mount Ever-white, was the highest or the mountains
that guarded Valinor and the highest mountain of Arda, ‘upon whose summit
Manwë set his throne’. In the foreground is one of the white swan-ships of the
Telerin Elves who dwelt on the coast of Aman.

[Link] - Página 61
 32. Lake Mithrim

This watercolour, dated 1927, was published in The Silmarillion Calendar 1978,
together with the heraldic devices of Fëanor, Fingolfin. Hador, and Eärendil,
who were associated with the region (Eärendil through his father Tuor). In this
book these devices have been grouped with others that appeared in the same
Calendar (see no. 47). Lake Mithrim lay in the east of Hithlum: about its shores
the divided hosts of the Noldorin Elves made their encampments after their
return to Middle-earth (The Silmarillion Chapter 13, Of t he Return of the
Noldor).

[Link] - Página 62
 33. Nargothrond (I)

This unfinished watercolour of the entrances to the great underground fortress of

Finrod Felagund was no doubt painted during the same period as the drawing of
Nargothrond, see no. 34. It was published in The Silmarillion Calendar 1978.

[Link] - Página 63
 34. Nargothrond (II)

This drawing of Nargothrond, showing a different conception of the doors from

that in the watercolour (no. 33), has not been previously published in its original
form, but the coloured version by H. E. Riddett appeared in The Silmarillion
Calendar 1978. The original was done at Lyme Regis in Dorset in 1928. The
entrance to Nargothrond is shown as it was before the great bridge of Túrin was
built over the River Narog (The Silmarillion Chapter 21. Of Turin Turambar).

[Link] - Página 64
34. Nargothrond (II) coloured

[Link] - Página 65
 35. Gondolin and the Vale of Tumladen

This drawing, dated September 1928, has not been previously published in its

[Link] - Página 66
original form, but the coloured version by H. E. Riddett appeared in The
Silmarillion Calendar 1978. The name Cristhorn, seen in the pencilled title,
means ‘The Eagles Cleft’: it was afterwards changed to Cirith Thoronath, of the
same meaning. Here Glorfindel fought with the Balrog who ambushed those
who fled from the sack of the city (The Silmarillion Chapter 23, Of Tuor and the
Fall of Gondolin).

[Link] - Página 67
35. Gondolin and the Vale of Tumladen coloured

[Link] - Página 68
 36. Tol Sirion

This drawing has not been previously published in its original form, but the

[Link] - Página 69
coloured version by H. E. Riddett appeared in The Silmarillion Calendar 1978.
The original, like no. 34, was done at Lyme Regis in Dorset in 1928.
The picture shows Minas Tirith, the watchtower of Finrod Felagund, on the
island of Tol Sirion, which after its capture by Sauron was named Tol-in-
Gaurhoth, the Isle of Were-wolves. To the left are Ered Wethrin, the Mountains
of Shadow, and to the right the western edge of Dorthonion (Taur-nu-Fuin);
beyond lies the wide plain of Ard-galen, called after its devastation Anfauglith,
and on the far northern horizon is the line of Ered Engrin, the Iron Mountains,
with smoke hanging over Thangorodrim.

[Link] - Página 70
36. Tol Sirion coloured

[Link] - Página 71
 37. Mirkwood and Beleg finds Gwindor in Taur-nu-Fuin (entitled
Fangorn Forest)

The black and while picture of Mirkwood was published in the first impression

[Link] - Página 72
of The Hobbit. 1937 (in Chapter 8. Flies and Spiders, though intended to be the
endpaper): the original was given by J. R. R. Tolkien to a friend and cannot now
be traced.
The painting on the opposite page appeared first in The J. R. R. Tolkien
Calendar 1974, and an enlargement of the central area of the picture in The Lord
of the Rings Calendar 1977, in both Calendars captioned ‘Fangorn Forest’, as in
the title inscription, in the hand of the artist, on the painting itself. In The
Silmarillion Calendar 1978 the same reproduction as in 1977 was used, but this
time captioned ‘Beleg finds Gwindor in Taur-nu-Fuin’. The reason for this is
that while preparing the 1978 Calendar I realised the original significance of the
painting.
J. R. R. Tolkien stated in a letter of 1937 that the picture of Mirkwood for The
Hobbit was itself redrawn from a painting made earlier to illustrate the passage
in The Silmarillion (Chapter 21) where Beleg finds Gwindor in the forest of
Taur-nu-Fuin. That painting is beyond question the one reproduced here, despite
the title ‘Fangorn Forest’. In view of the title the two figures would naturally be
taken to be the hobbits Pippin and Merry, straying in Fangorn before their
encounter with Treebeard (The Two Towers, Book III, Chapter 4). It is clear,
however, that this is not so; the figures are elves and not hobbits; and the elf
climbing over the tree-roots is Beleg Strongbow of Doriath, bearing his great
sword Anglachel (which was afterwards reforged for Túrin and from which he
became known as the Black Sword of Nargothrond). The other is Gwindor of
Nargothrond, lying exhausted after his escape from the mines of Angband, with
his lamp beside him.
The only possible explanation is that J. R. R. Tolkien decided that the
Silmarillion painting could nevertheless be used, in the 1974 Calendar, as an
illustration of the hobbits in Fangorn Forest. It was probably done at the same
time as the other Silmarillion paintings in the late 1920s.

[Link] - Página 73
37. (entitled Fangorn Forest) coloured

[Link] - Página 74
 38. Glaurung sets forth to seek Turin

This painting, dated 1927, was published in The Silmarillion Calendar 1978.

[Link] - Página 75
The title is in Old English letters, which J. R. R. Tolkien frequently used when
writing in a formal style. At the time of the painting the name of the Father of
Dragons was Glorund, not Glaurung, and for the reproduction in the Calendar I
rewrote the Old English lettering in precisely similar form in order to introduce
the name by which the Dragon is known in the published work. The entrance to
Nargothrond is here seen as a single arch, unlike the triple doors seen in nos. 33
and 34.

[Link] - Página 76
 39. Polar Bear had fallen from top to bottom onto his nose

Published in The Father Christmas Letters, 1976, and again (with the decorative
borders removed) in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar 1979, this painting of the
interior of Cliff House at the North Pole, together with a letter describing the
event, was delivered to J. R. R. Tolkien’s children at Christmas 1928, and thus
belongs to the prolific period of painting from which derive the illustrations to
The Silmarillion in this book.

[Link] - Página 77
 40. Three Dragons

These paintings date from the same period (1927-8) as the paintings and
drawings illustrating The Silmarillion. Beneath the coiled dragon at the top
appear in the original some words from the Old English poem Beowulf (line
2561): ‘hringbogan heorte gefysed, rendered in J. R. R. Tolkien’s translation of
the poem The heart of the coiling beast was stirred’. The three dragons were
published in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar 1979, but the uppermost (in colour)
and the warrior contending with a dragon (uncoloured) were used to illustrate
the catalogue of the exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and the
National Book League. London, in 1976-7, and the former, as an embossed
design in red, silver, and gold, appears on the cover of the De Luxe edition of
The Hobbit (1976).

[Link] - Página 78
[Link] - Página 79
 41. Trees

[Link] - Página 80
The upper tree on the left bears in the original the title ‘The Tree of Amalion’, as
also does the tree done in crayon on grey paper below it. In these pictures the

[Link] - Página 81
placing of the flowers and most of the flowers themselves arc obviously similar
and related; but I believe the lower tree to be much later than the upper, which
dates from 1927-8.
On this page is reproduced a third drawing of such a tree, bearing leaves (not
flowers) of many different forms, which was done by J. R. R. Tolkien as a cover
design for the paperback edition of Tree and Leaf published in 1964; and while I
cannot cast any light on the name Amalion itself, it is noteworthy that an earlier
version of this design was entitled ‘The Tree of Amalion. First draft for the cover
of Tree and Leaf.’
This page of trees was published in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar 1979.

[Link] - Página 82
 42. Flowering Tree with Friezes

This page, published in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar 1979, is made up (with the

[Link] - Página 83
exception of the two flowers to right and left, which belong with those in no. 45)
of much earlier compositions (late 1920s) than the designs reproduced in nos.
43-46. For the flowering tree see the note to no. 41.

[Link] - Página 84
 43. Patterns (I)

While doing newspaper crossword puzzles J. R. R. Tolkien used to draw patterns

[Link] - Página 85
such as those, selected from among many, that are reproduced here, previously
published in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar 1979. They date from the 1960s, and
are done with coloured ball-point pens. These designs were very frequently of
flowers or flowerlike forms; others were friezes, or suggested heraldic devices,
belts, or tapestries, and might then be associated with Númenórean works of art
or flowers of the imagined world. Sec nos. 44,45.46. and also the Heraldic
Devices, no. 47.

[Link] - Página 86
 43. Patterns (I) b

[Link] - Página 87
 44. Patterns (II)

These designs, like those shown in no. 43, date from the 1960s, and were
arranged thus for The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar 1979.

[Link] - Página 88
 45. Floral Designs

See the note to no. 43. These arc late designs, like those in nos. 43 and 44, and
like them were published in The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar 1979 in this
arrangement. The name pilinehtar belongs with the plant in the centre, which is
one of many similar designs in black ink of slender rushlike or grasslike plants,
several of them bearing Elvish names.

[Link] - Página 89
 46. Númenórean Tile and Textiles

See the note to no. 43. Such artefacts would have been among the precious
things saved from the Drowning of Númenor in the ships of Elendil and his sons
Isildur and Anarion and brought to Middle-earth, as is told in the Akallabêth
(The Silmarillion p. 276). The Númenórean tile was used as the centrepiece on
the back of the cover of The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar 1974, and both tile and
textiles as reproduced here appeared in The Silmarillion Calendar 1978.

[Link] - Página 90
 47. Heraldic Devices

See the note to no. 43. Eight of these devices were used on the back of the cover
of The J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar 1974 (those of Finwë and Eärendil in slightly
different forms), and all the sixteen here reproduced appeared in The
Silmarillion Calendar 1978 (the second device of Lúthien Tinúviel on the cover
of the Calendar, and also on the jacket of The Silmarillion), where the following
note was given:
Some details of the emblems cannot now be explained, but the following notes
draw attention to notable features. The device of Finwë, first king of the
Noldorin Elves, is a winged sun, as that of Elwë (King Thingol of Doriath) is a
winged moon with stars. Those of Finwë’s sons Fëanor and Fingolfin are clearly
related to Finwë’s emblem, although in the case of Fëanor it is natural to
associate the flames with the meaning of his name, Fëanáro ‘Spirit of Fire’. Gil-
galad’s device of white stars is also associated with his name, which means ‘Star

[Link] - Página 91
of Radiance’: but the harp of Finrod Felagund probably derives from the legend
(The Silmarillion Chapter 17) of his coming upon the first Men to enter
Beleriand, and of his singing to them to the accompaniment of a harp that he
found in their camp.

[Link] - Página 92
 47. Heraldic Devices b

The white flowers that appear in the devices of Lúthien are probably to be
connected with the flowers of niphredil that sprang at her birth in Doriath, as is
told in The Silmarillion Chapter 10. The emblem of Idril Celebrindal (daughter
of Turgon of Gondolin and mother of Eärendil) is a cornflower pattern, and was
named Menelluin (‘Sky-blue’); this is stated to be an inlaid plaque saved from
Gondolin and descending through Eärendil and his son Elros to Númenor,
whence it was saved by Elendil and taken to Gondor. Its influence on
Númenórean circular designs can be seen in the Númenórean tile (no. 46).
The full description of the emblem in the centre of the bottom row is ‘Ancient

[Link] - Página 93
Emblem representing the derivation of the Silmarils from the Light of the Trees
upon Ezellohar’, Ezellohar (or Corollairë) being the Green Mound on which the
Two Trees grew in Valinor.

[Link] - Página 94
 48. Elvish Script

The three pages of Elvish script here reproduced were published in The
Silmarillion Calendar 1978. In substance they have no connection with The
Silmarillion, being in fact the beginnings of (versions of) the poems Errantry
and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. Those at the top and on the left are in the
‘pointed’ style; that on the right is in ‘decorated verse-hand’.

[Link] - Página 95
[Link] - Página 96
 48. Elvish Script b

[Link] - Página 97
 49. Code letter to Father Francis

Code letter from Tolkien to Father Francis Morgan, August 8, 1904 - Ink on

[Link] - Página 98
paper Collection of the Bodleian library, Oxford, Ms. Tolkien drawings 86, fol.
IV.

Letter to Fr Francis: August, 08th 1904

Woodside (wood S eye D E)

Cottage, Rednal (cottage red-N A L)[*]

My dear wise old Father Francis (M eye deer Ys Owl Fr France hiss)
You are too bad (UR2 Bee A D)
not to come in (knot 2 “set” O M E inn)
spite of Father Dennis (spit E of Fr D hen 1 S)
I am so sorry you (hyam sew saw rye…)
did not like the (DID knot L -ike Tea he)
word “piano” in my (word pea note inn m eye)
last letter so I… (L -ast letter sow eye)

[Link] - Página 99
 J. R. R. Tolkien

[Link] - Página 100

 Notas

[Link] - Página 101

[*]
Rednal was the small hamlet outside Birmingham where the Tolkiens stayed in the
summer of 1904. <<

[Link] - Página 102