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dreamflowerMost of us LotR fanfic writers have from time to time bemoaned the fact that JRRT never really gave us much in the way of physical description of the characters.
Well, not in canon, anyhow. One of the revelations in The History of The Hobbit, Part One is that at one point he *did* write down some detailed descriptions!
Tolkien was a big fan of Pauline Baynes' illustrations of his work-- all except for one thing. She did this map* in 1970 as a poster. He liked the map itself well enough, but absolutely *hated* the depictions of the Fellowship at the top and the Bad Guys at the bottom.
He wrote out some descriptions of the characters, and they are in an unpublished MSS: The Bodleian Department of Western Manuscripts, Tolkien Papers, A61, fols 1-31 "in which he describes each member of the Fellowship of the Ring as he pictured them-- an invaluable aid to any future illustrator of his work. In this he dismissed her Gollum as reminiscent of 'the Michelin tyre man; and included the [following] description of Gollum as he came to envision him..."
Unfortunately, the only description Mr. Rateliff actually gives us is that of Gollum! *ARGGGHHH!!*
On the other hand, perhaps it's just as well. I wonder if Frodo still had a "white streak at his temple" and "a wart on his chin"?
*I actually had that map when I was in high school. *sigh*. It did not survive our family's subsequent move after I graduated...
Well, not in canon, anyhow. One of the revelations in The History of The Hobbit, Part One is that at one point he *did* write down some detailed descriptions!
Tolkien was a big fan of Pauline Baynes' illustrations of his work-- all except for one thing. She did this map* in 1970 as a poster. He liked the map itself well enough, but absolutely *hated* the depictions of the Fellowship at the top and the Bad Guys at the bottom.
He wrote out some descriptions of the characters, and they are in an unpublished MSS: The Bodleian Department of Western Manuscripts, Tolkien Papers, A61, fols 1-31 "in which he describes each member of the Fellowship of the Ring as he pictured them-- an invaluable aid to any future illustrator of his work. In this he dismissed her Gollum as reminiscent of 'the Michelin tyre man; and included the [following] description of Gollum as he came to envision him..."
Unfortunately, the only description Mr. Rateliff actually gives us is that of Gollum! *ARGGGHHH!!*
On the other hand, perhaps it's just as well. I wonder if Frodo still had a "white streak at his temple" and "a wart on his chin"?
*I actually had that map when I was in high school. *sigh*. It did not survive our family's subsequent move after I graduated...