Skip Navigation
Battle of the Five Armies

The five armies are goblins, eagles, dwarves, elves, and men. Beorne doesn't count as an army, although it might take one to kill him. Sand worms don't count either because they are from Dune.

Note that Beorne is rescuing Thorin.

by Matthew Stewart

1
The Sun (from Lord of the Rings Tarot Cards by Sceith-A)
  • Hah, the "Hanged Man" is Frodo caught in Shelob's webbing! That artist apparently made 32 tarot cards. I think there are actually 78 cards in a tarot deck, any idea if they're going to do the full deck?

    Thanks for contributing!

  • Boromir's death (Bakshi 1978)
  • It has been ages since I watched that. I don't think I appreciated it as much when I was younger since I was more familiar with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Rankin Bass cartoons. But, this just looks so unique and interesting that I should really re-watch it as an adult to see what it's like. The great thing about Tolkien's work is the wide variety of artistic interpretations. I love them all.

    Thanks for posting!

  • Amon Hen - The Redemption of Boromir

    This is a miniature scene of Boromir's last stand at Amon Hen when he was defending Merry and Pippin from the Uruk Hai and orcs.

    I was hoping that this was a kit or something, because I'd love to paint this. But, it appears to be a custom project someone did using games workshop miniatures.

    from this forum

    0
    Argonath from a lower angle

    Most images of the Argonath are from an angle similar to the movie where you're seeing it from further back. But, I really like this lower angle. This kind of looks like it comes from a computer game, but I don't know of one that has the Argonath in it. Anyone know where this is from?

    found here

    2
    I wrote a program that generated this video which plots the paths of all characters in Lord of the Rings.
  • Thanks! It was a fun project. Some day I hope to go back to it and add more detail. Maybe change the timing on the early parts so that there isn't as much dead time while Boromir is the only one travelling. I'm always working on something, so it may be a while. I never did get around to adding The Fox, which was always kind of a joke, but I felt it needed to be in there. I also just realized I never put Goldberry in there either, which is a shame. There's always more to do.

    I was listening to the Fellowship of the Ring again and realized that in Lorien they mention that orcs travelled up to Moria days earlier, so the orcs weren't just already in Moria, they travelled there, which means I should add them to the video.

    The author of the atlas seems to have a background in map making because she also made a map book for Forgotten Realms that I have. I was organizing things and was thinking about what books to get rid of when I recognized the author's name and decided to keep it for that reason.

  • I Am No Man by Angela Rizza
  • Hey, thanks for posting! Feel free to post any other LOTR art you have any time!

  • Watcher in the Water

    What is the watcher in the water? How did it get there?

    The watcher gets its first kill that we know of when Balin tries to retake the mines. (If anyone knows of earlier references, please let me know.) During that attempt, the watcher gets Óin. 25 years later, it's woken up by Boromir and it nearly gets the fellowship, but instead traps them inside the mines.

    Gandalf seemed to think it was one of the nameless things that lives beneath middle earth which gnawed its way to the surface. What other nameless things are there that have reached the surface?

    by Joan Wyatt

    0
    Bombadil saving Merry and Pippin from Old Man Willow

    If you look closely, you can see a pair of feet in the center. Both Merry and Pippin are trapped, but I wasn't able to see a second pair of feet.

    I love all the detail in the bark and the roots of the tree. That is a very elaborate tree!

    The Willow Man is Tamed by Ted Nasmith

    0
    Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin’s Day will shine upon the key-hole.

    This is the definition of Durin's Day: >Durin's Day was a yearly event noted by the Dwarves, "when the last moon of Autumn and the first sun of Winter appear in the sky together" (i.e. until sunset) on the first day of the Dwarves' New Year, which was "the first day of the last moon of Autumn on the threshold of Winter."

    Since it's based on the moon, it doesn't happen on the same day every year.

    The art of David Wenzel is just the best. His style is just so fun to me.

    by David Wenzel

    0
    Hobbits have no need of adventures

    You can't go wrong with a good picture of Hobbiton.

    by David T Wenzel

    0
    The Great Goblin, upset at Thorin after seeing Foe Hammer, an epic weapon used to kill many goblins

    I'm loving this circular style of art from David Wenzel. This is the moment when the Great Goblin gets really upset that Thorin has Foe Hammer. That weapon had been used to kill many goblins in the past. It was probably glowing pretty brightly here given that it's surrounded by goblins and is being held by one.

    He won't have long to be upset though. Gandalf takes him out just a few seconds from now.

    by David Wenzel

    0
    Éowyn Alone Before the Golden Hall

    I believe this is an image of Éowyn during the brief period when she was in Edoras after she was told that she would rule while Théoden went off to battle in Minas Tirith.

    You can see soldiers in the background, so presumably they're getting ready to go soon. Éowyn goes with them, so I assume she's getting ready to do that right now.

    by Matthew Stewart

    0
    Bard the Bowman, aiming his last shot at Smaug while the town burns behind him

    I love the feeling in this image of the pressure he's under. He's standing precariously on a rooftop while the entire town is up in flames behind him, aiming at a moving dragon, while a thrush is trying to talk to him to explain where he needs to aim.

    Note that the quiver is empty, so this is his last shot. In a way, the entire future of Middle Earth hangs on this moment. If Smaug had killed Bard here, he probably would have gone back and killed Bilbo and the dwarves. The ring would have ended up in the treasure hoard and would presumably have eventually been retrieved by Sauron.

    Could Smaug have used the ring? I think it is able to change its size. Don't know if it could increase that big. But, a dragon is already nearly invincible. Imagine having to deal with an invisible one.

    by Matthew Stewart

    0
    You sure this is the only way out?

    I find this picture to be super charming. Those poor dwarves, getting stuffed into barrels by Bilbo with the sleeping elves in the upper left.

    Author is David T Wenzel

    1
    Saruman and Grima in the Shire
  • Here's another picture which I believe is from the same author. This appears to be Frodo and Sam, so that means the bowl cut guy in the above picture is Frodo and Sam is the angry guy right above Grima. The two armored hobbits must be Merry and Pippin.

  • Saruman and Grima in the Shire

    I like art styles that stand out. The faces in this image are so expressive! Grima looks really upset, presumably because Saruman just told them all that Grima had murdered and possibly eaten Lotho.

    I'm not sure if that weird bowl haircut guy is supposed to be Frodo or not.

    This image is apparently by Denis Gordeev, a Russian artist born in 1964. I got the impression he was famous, but he doesn't have a wikipedia page, so I'm not sure.

    1
    Farewell Boromir

    This is Boromir floating down the Anduin. The horn is still there, so this is before he passes Faramir since I think Faramir takes the horn. Or, possibly, that might have just been from the movie. Anyone know if Faramir recovers the horn in the books?

    Here's the color version of this, but I kind of like the pencil sketch version better.

    !

    By R Navy. That page links to a tumblr for that person, but it doesn't seem to exist anymore. I was unable to find a current page for the same author.

    0
    Wormtongue speaking to Théoden by the great Alan Lee

    My suggestion to all the kings out there: If your advisor is named "Wormtongue", you should be suspicious of the things he says.

    To be fair, even though every place I see him he is referred to as Gríma Wormtongue, that actually wasn't his name. It's just what everyone but the king called him. His actual name, as far as I can determine, is just Gríma, son of Gálmód.

    From the The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook by the great Alan Lee

    0
    Second Supper

    Who invited a cave troll to the last supper?

    I'm not actually sure who the zombie-looking creature is on the left. Maybe an orc or someone from the army of the dead?

    But, the rest are pretty clear. Going counterclockwise (more or less) from the top left: Cave troll, Saruman, orc?, Elrond, Eowyn, Arwen, Gimli, Gandalf, Aragorn, Frodo, Legolas, Gollum, Frodo, nazgul, balrog.

    By Steve Airola

    0
    The 9 companions of The Fellowship of the Ring and Gollum

    From top to bottom and left to right, here are my guesses as to which is which:

    Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Aragorn, Frodo, Merry, Pippin, Sam, Gollum. I'm assuming Sam is holding Sting and Frodo is more out front I would guess, although I don't see a chain with a ring.

    This was made by the comic book artist Mike Ploog.

    1
    Ungoliant (Shelob's ancestor) and Melkor (Sauron's former boss)

    Ungoliant was a truly gigantic spider god type creature who is an ancestor of Shelob, the spider that attacked Sam and Frodo. She wasn't initially so huge, but Melkor fed her various powerful objects and she grew and grew. They stayed allies until she demanded to consume the Silmarils, but, like every other possessor of the Silmarils, he didn't want to give them up, so they fought. I think that's what's being represented here.

    By Ruben

    0
    The Voice of Isengard: Saruman and Wormtongue talking a walk

    I initially assumed this was Saruman and Wormtongue walking to the Shire, but since his staff is intact and Isengard doesn't look like it's swarming with ents, it's clearly from before that time.

    by Matthew Stewart

    0
    A wonderful stylized version of the Middle Earth map
  • I'm curious why the other post I did today about Bilbo's journey got so much more love than this one. Perhaps it's because we see Bilbo in the other one, but this one just shows the map? I can see that. There's a bigger emotional hook in that one.

    Personally, if you look at the making-of stuff I linked to, it's clear this is a really tremendous work of art. I'm really impressed by this one.

  • Bilbo's journey

    We see Bilbo starting out in the Shire with, I think, Rivendell in the center, followed by the Misty Mountains, Mirkwood, and the Lonely Mountain at the back.

    The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are all about journeys and that lends itself well to images that are montages of every point in the journey. Is there a name for this type of artwork that covers the entire journey in a single image? I'm going to stick with "montage", but it doesn't seem specific enough.

    by MatejCadil

    0
    A wonderful stylized version of the Middle Earth map

    This is a wonderful stylized version of the Middle Earth map which shows the path of the ring, although you need to zoom in to see all those lines. The orientation of things is kind of all over the place, but that was obviously done in order to fit all the different places into a single image. I wouldn't use it to actually travel in Middle Earth, but it looks amazing.

    Minas Tirith and Mordor are positioned side by side like normal in the front, but behind we actually see things going westward with Isengaard in the middle left. Then Hobbiton, Bree, Weathertop, Rivendell, Lorien, and Moria along the top left to right. I won't list every place in there, but they managed to cram practically everything in there.

    I wanted to link to the gif of the making of this image, but Lemmy didn't like it. But, I strongly recommend checking it out. I love seeing the stages of art being made.

    Also, check out all the details about this image by Andrew DeGraff. It shows lots of detail about different parts of this image.

    1
    Gandalf Gandalf @hobbit.world
    Posts 48
    Comments 8
    Moderates