Questions for the Lore Masters.

Could you provide a link to that image Elthir? I tried to find it and came up with a couple of her other horse pictures:





The last one is clearly from after Tolkien's death so it means even less, but I see a bay in the foreground and a couple of chestnuts in the back.

Um, in that first cover is it just the buckie or is that a pink horse?

It may appear to be pink, but it's actually strawberry roan.

Wheres Yooper?

Strarwberries arent pink Dave!

And by the way, just as a Strawberry Roan may appear pink, a Blue Roan may appear grey, but it's NOT!

Quite screwing with colour! Bad enough the whole white is grey thing, now pink is strawberry and grey is also blue! Its not on you know.

Google 'pauline baynes fellowship' and you should find her Bill (for anyone still looking)

woaH! she drew this!?


my lotr book has this on it's cover and I thought I was a retard for having this as a cover, since none else had it!

btw.. this is a pink horse.

Why would the cover of a book show the ass-end of the entire fellowship? Some editor needed to be tossed out the back door. I don't think you're the retard, Norc.

Norc wrote:woaH! she drew this!?


my lotr book has this on it's cover and I thought I was a retard for having this as a cover, since none else had it!

Yes she did. It was published as the top part of her map (well, above the map) -- bad guys on the bottom, below the map.

The map Tolkien actually helped with. The above and below illustrations however, prompted some negative commentary from JRRT, despite that in general Tolkien was a fan of Pauline Baynes. And according to John Rateliff, Tolkien actually cropped the top and bottom of the original illustration when he had it framed for Joy Hill, thus leaving only the map section with its ten vignettes on the map itself.

because they have nice asses?

Baynes' Bill's a "Bay".


{{Norc, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ignore you if you can't take this subject seriously! }}

Note too: Legolas' hair is hidden. Hammond and Scull have revealed that among Tolkien's still private comments (about this illustration), he did not reveal the colour of Legolas' locks.

That is, I don't think there is a strand of hair showing. I used to have this poster full size but it got ruined in a (minor) bursting of pipes. I have a puzzle with the image, and calendars too, but these are smaller versions if memory serves, the poster being fairly large. I would buy a book with the image... if I found one.

By the way, look at the feet of the Hobbits. Notice anything odd?

Hobbits wearing shoes?! Can't say I'm impressed.

they all look a bit silly don't they? I

about legolas hair color, is it never mentioned? Ive seen him as both dark haired and blond.. but this woman, she was a friend of tolkiens? should't she know stuff like this? like hobbits being barefoot?

Norc wrote: like hobbits being barefoot?

I think there's a note from Tolkien on that. Hang on......


"There is in the text no mention of his acquiring of boots. There should be! It had dropped out somehow or other in the various revisions -- the bootings occurred at Rivendel; and he was again bootless after leaving Rivendell on the way home" (Letters No. 27)

That's from his picture of Bilbo with Smaug. I don't know if the same was true for the Fellowship.

wow! WHAT! BILBO USED SHOES!! mindblown..

Tolkien illustrated Bilbo with boots, but his reference (in the letter noted) to a written mention of the Rivendell booting doesn't seem to exist, or was lost; or in any case there is no actual known written reference to date.


I was wondering rather: do the Hobbits appear to have hair on the bottom of their feet? Or is this a representation of the leathery soles? I'm not sure I ever took the illustration as depicting shoes, but I wish I had a larger, clearer version in any case.

Baynes and Tolkien did meet in person at least once if I recall correctly, but there appears to be no indication (as yet) that she ever asked JRRT about Legolas' hair, nor about the matter of pointed ears in general.

How does one pronounce Arahad?
He's one of the chieftains of the Dunedain. I was reading the appendices yesterday and it was bugging me.

probably A-r-a-h-a-d? but what do I know, I aint a Loremaster.

As much as I like reading Tolkien,I sometimes wish he'd chosen names easier to bloody pronounce! Tho I spose "Ernie the Dwarf" doesnt really have the same ring does it.

What sounds are you wondering about?

Going from memory the vowel a here (all of 'em) should be as in English father; and here the primary stress falls on the first syllable, like with Aragorn.

Oh thanks, it was the stress I wasn't sure about.