Couldn't go to bed tonight without making another HotH post

[dreamflower]

Most 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He wrote out some descriptions of the characters, and they are in an unpublished MSS: The Bodleian Department of Western Manuscripts, Tolkien Papers, A61, fols 1-31 "in which he describes each member of the Fellowship of the Ring as he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...

Comments

[baranduin.livejournal.com]

Eek! I'd really like to see those descriptions.

I expect Tolkien would be appalled to know how much the Ballantine paperback books formed my opinion of how Middle-earth looked, including emus and weird lizards. I had the poster version with the map for years and wouldn't mind acquiring another copy of it :-)

[periantari.livejournal.com]

I like that map a lot.
I cant' imagine Frodo with a wart though. :s I don't even like the description in Bree about him having a cleft on his chin... :s I like PJ's Frodo a bit more. :P hehe

[labourslamp.livejournal.com]

Apparently Hammond and Scull got access to the MS as well when they were writing their LotR Reader's Companion. I think that if it had had anything truly significant (say, Legolas' hair color) they would have included it...

I hope...

I would love it if Frodo still had a wart on his chin, if only for the sheer apoplectic fits it would cause!

[shirebound]

That map is awesome, but I could never put it on my wall with that creepy Shelob at the bottom!

Frodo = wart = no thanks!

[dreamflower]

Oh, I had that poster as well. I loved how the three covers of that edition of the books blended into one!

I loved the covers, emus and all. But I understand why he didn't! LOL!

[dreamflower]

But EW *does* have a slight cleft in his chin! So does Dom; I liked that-- it made them look more like cousins.

[dreamflower]

I would love to see it for myself, though. I wonder-- do you suppose PJ & Co. had access to it? Do you suppose it could have influenced some of their casting choices? *scratches head*

It *would* cause a lot of apoplectic fits, wouldn't it?

Maybe *someone* could write a bit of crack!fic about a blue-eyed Frodo suddenly discovering a wart on his chin and trying to deal with it! LOL!

[dreamflower]

That is one weird looking Shelob! And I have to say, JRRT was right about the way that version of Gollum looked-- all white and bloaty!

[ansostuff.livejournal.com]

That's interesting. I don't have any other images of them than what I saw in the film. I read LOTR after I'd seen the first film so for me the characters don't have any other looks than what the actors had. I would love to see a real description of how TOlkien actually thouht they looked. :)

[labourslamp.livejournal.com]

If PJ et al. were interested in casting people according to how they're "supposed to" look, Boromir and Faramir would have had black hair. I'm pretty sure their casting choices, so far as they were based on physical appearance, were based on one thing, and one thing only:

Fangirls.

[meneleth.livejournal.com]

I vaguely remember that one. I had (and still have, for that matter) the more psychedelic one which was also broken up into the covers of the trilogy in, what the late 60s? It's not in pristine shape, having graced its share of my walls over the years, but still in one piece and now presides over my craft area.

[lilybaggins.livejournal.com]

I'd love to read the descriptions if you ever come across them!