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davem · 04-12-2005, 01:42 PM

Of course one theme which runs right through Tolkien’s art is nature. Not included in the Artist & Illustrator volume is a page from a sketchbook of 1896, included in the Bodlean Library 1992 Tolkien Exhibition catalogue. Tolkien would have been 5 or 6 at the time. The page shows ‘Sea Weeds & Starfish’ & were illustrated from life while on a seaside holiday. I supppose this was the family’s first holiday, & it seems possible that his love of the sea may have arisen at this time. The illustration of seaweed is very similar in shape to the Tree of Amalion on p86 of A&I. do wonder if the Sea became such a strong theme in his work - as strong as the rural English countryside - at the same time & perhaps for the same reason - that both were first experienced through the eyes of a child.

I seem to recall reading that Tolkien said he could never study myth & fairystory as subjects in themselves, as he would always end up taking the ideas & symbols up into his own Legendarium. It seems that he did the same with the natural world. The undersea world depicted in the sketchbook certainly reappeared later in ‘mythological’ form in the paintings he did for Roverrandom, & also in his final (?) painting The Hills of Morning’, & the connections between the illustration of Tumble Hill (p30) & various later paintings of Lothlorien in Spring (p162) & The Elvenking’s Gate (p128), among others is clear.

I have to say, though, that the ‘Visions, Myths & Legends’ section is perhaps the most interesting to me. ‘End of the World’ (p 40) is a variant of the tarot image The Fool, showing a figure blithely stepping off a cliff. I don’t know if Tolkien had seen a Tarot pack before drawing this - if not the image is all the more remarkable, & seems to confirm that tarot images are archetypal images arising from the unconscious. In fact, many of the illustrations in this section have a disturbing quality. One thing that did strike me (even before reading the text in which the authors point it out) was the way the doorway in ‘Before’ was the same shape as the one in the Elvenking’s Gate & The Back Door (p138). The similarity between the hand emerging from behind the curtain in ‘Wickedness’ & that in ‘Maddo’ is also pointed out by Hammond & Scull. Another ‘tarot’ connection can be seen in Eeriness (p43), which is reminiscent of The Hermit. ‘Before’, ‘Afterwards’ & ‘Wickedness’ are all ‘UnderWorld’ images, & seem to reflect a deep psychological & spiritual experience, an UnderWorld Journey.

04-12-2005, 01:42 PM	#8
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	Of course one theme which runs right through Tolkien’s art is nature. Not included in the Artist & Illustrator volume is a page from a sketchbook of 1896, included in the Bodlean Library 1992 Tolkien Exhibition catalogue. Tolkien would have been 5 or 6 at the time. The page shows ‘Sea Weeds & Starfish’ & were illustrated from life while on a seaside holiday. I supppose this was the family’s first holiday, & it seems possible that his love of the sea may have arisen at this time. The illustration of seaweed is very similar in shape to the Tree of Amalion on p86 of A&I. do wonder if the Sea became such a strong theme in his work - as strong as the rural English countryside - at the same time & perhaps for the same reason - that both were first experienced through the eyes of a child. I seem to recall reading that Tolkien said he could never study myth & fairystory as subjects in themselves, as he would always end up taking the ideas & symbols up into his own Legendarium. It seems that he did the same with the natural world. The undersea world depicted in the sketchbook certainly reappeared later in ‘mythological’ form in the paintings he did for Roverrandom, & also in his final (?) painting The Hills of Morning’, & the connections between the illustration of Tumble Hill (p30) & various later paintings of Lothlorien in Spring (p162) & The Elvenking’s Gate (p128), among others is clear. I have to say, though, that the ‘Visions, Myths & Legends’ section is perhaps the most interesting to me. ‘End of the World’ (p 40) is a variant of the tarot image The Fool, showing a figure blithely stepping off a cliff. I don’t know if Tolkien had seen a Tarot pack before drawing this - if not the image is all the more remarkable, & seems to confirm that tarot images are archetypal images arising from the unconscious. In fact, many of the illustrations in this section have a disturbing quality. One thing that did strike me (even before reading the text in which the authors point it out) was the way the doorway in ‘Before’ was the same shape as the one in the Elvenking’s Gate & The Back Door (p138). The similarity between the hand emerging from behind the curtain in ‘Wickedness’ & that in ‘Maddo’ is also pointed out by Hammond & Scull. Another ‘tarot’ connection can be seen in Eeriness (p43), which is reminiscent of The Hermit. ‘Before’, ‘Afterwards’ & ‘Wickedness’ are all ‘UnderWorld’ images, & seem to reflect a deep psychological & spiritual experience, an UnderWorld Journey. __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."