Archives for October 2013

(The Healing of Éowyn by the Brothers Hildebrandt)

The painting above is one of my favorite Tolkien-inspired works. It’s the scene of Aragorn holding a steaming cup of the magical athelas herb in the Houses of Healing in Gondor. He’s trying to bring Éowyn out of the coma that was caused by her confrontation with the Witch-king of Angmar. In my most recent article for Legendarium, I write about the mystical properties of the athelas herb, as well as several unique magical items from Middle-earth that help show J.R.R. Tolkien’s creative genius. You can read more here.

I’ve already written on this blog about how much I love the new edition of The Hobbit illustrated by Jemima Catlin. Recently I got to do a Q&A with this brilliant artist.

NOBLE: One of my favorite pictures that you’ve done is of Thorin floating down the Forest River in a barrel. We get to see inside that barrel (as if we have X-ray vision) to the grumpy Dwarf crammed inside. How did you come up with that idea?

JEMIMA: I wanted to represent the movement and speed of the barrel, but at the same time show the cramped and grumpy Thorin inside, so thought this was the best way to show that. I could see that image quite clearly while reading the text so made sure to sketch it out before it left my head!

To read the rest of the interview on the fantasy/sci-fi website Legendarium click here. You will also get to see an unpublished picture that Ms. Catlin did for J.R.R. Tolkien’s children’s story Roverandom.