Illustrations of Tolkien before his time

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Ah, the hyphenated Pre-Raphealite painter whose name always escapes me! I just came across his "Beguiling of Merlin" as I was researching something completely different.

Burne-Jones! I was naughty not to credit these artworks

The other one is by Samuel Palmer.

I'd like to think that The Baleful Head is one of the paintings that actually did influence Tolkien as he was quite a fan of the pre-Raphaelites and used to go to Birmingham art gallery quite a lot (where they have a good collection), but looking it up, this one is displayed in a gallery in Stuttgart, and I doubt it would have been sold by Birmingham art gallery since Tolkien's youth (most public art collections are held in trust).