'I think that The Hobbit can be seen to begin in what might be called a more 'whimsy' mode, & in places even more facetious, & move steadily to a more serious or significant, & more consistent & historical... But I regret much of it all the same.' ~ J.R.R. Tolkien, April 1959

'I presume it is meant to be taken seriously, & am apprehensive that I can find no really adequate reason for doing so... & yet this shapeless work has an undeniable fascination: especially to a reviewer with a cold.' ~ Peter Green on The Lord of the Rings, Daily Telegraph,1954

Bilbo at Rivendell - Greg and Tim Hildebrandt

'I presume it is meant to be taken seriously, & am apprehensive that I can find no really adequate reason for doing so... & yet this shapeless work has an undeniable fascination: especially to a reviewer with a cold.' ~ Peter Green on The Lord of the Rings, Daily Telegraph,1954

'These are indeed strange days. Dreams and legends spring to life out of the grass.' ~ Eomer

Melkor and Ungoliant Before the Two Trees - John Howe

Melkor and Ungoliant Before the Two Trees - John Howe

'These are indeed strange days. Dreams and legends spring to life out of the grass.' ~ Eomer

It is of their nature that the jabberwocks of historical & antiquarian research burble in the tulgy wood of conjecture, flitting from one tum-tum tree to another. Noble animals, though their eyes may sometimes prove searchlights, their range is short. ~Tolkien on Beowulf scholars

The Road to Minas Tirith - Greg and Tim Hildebrandt

The Road to Minas Tirith - Greg and Tim Hildebrandt

It is of their nature that the jabberwocks of historical & antiquarian research burble in the tulgy wood of conjecture, flitting from one tum-tum tree to another. Noble animals, though their eyes may sometimes prove searchlights, their range is short. ~Tolkien on Beowulf scholars

The Battle of the Pelennor Fields - Alan Lee

The Battle of the Pelennor Fields - Alan Lee

'I think that The Hobbit can be seen to begin in what might be called a more 'whimsy' mode, & in places even more facetious, & move steadily to a more serious or significant, & more consistent & historical... But I regret much of it all the same.' ~ J.R.R. Tolkien, April 1959

Old Man Willow - John Howe

'Come not between the nazgul and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bare thee away to the Houses of Lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured and thy shriviled mind be left naked to the lidless eye.' ~ The Lord of the Nazgûl to Éowyn

Old Man Willow - John Howe

'Come not between the nazgul and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bare thee away to the Houses of Lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured and thy shriviled mind be left naked to the lidless eye.' ~ The Lord of the Nazgûl to Éowyn

The Paths of the Dead - Darrell Sweet