Same here. I read it in seventh grade in 1994. I didn’t even know the Lord of the Rings was an additional series until I stumbled across it in the library. You think people get excited at seeing trailers for their favorite movies? I was beside myself. And it wasn’t just an additional series by an author. It was a continuation of The Hobbit!!! I opened Fellowship of the Ring, and the first thing I saw was the map that unfolded showing Middle Earth. I was a diehard fan for the rest of my life from that point on.
I was a little too young when I tried to make the same jump from The Hobbit to LoTR. I was like 9 when my Grandpa gave me The Hobbit for Christmas and I absolutely loved it. Damn near memorized every word of the book. He got my the LoTR the following year and found myself getting lost quite a bit. References to things I didn’t understand the relevance of and names I couldn’t pronounce. Metaphors that just went over my head. I’ve gone back and reread them since, but that first read was rough.
Yeah, there were definitely books I liked the *idea* of back when I was 10 or 11, but really wasn't old enough for yet. I remember trying to read one of the Tom Clancy books in 5th grade, made it through 2 or 3 chapters before putting it down and coming back a few years later.
Yep. Same. Grew up on the hobbit book, was obsessed with the cartoon.
Funnily picked up the middle earth card game out of curiosity having no idea, until it sparked my friends memory and he goes “wait a minute…” and pulls his Dads trilogy off of the shelf.
And lo and behold a whole new series geared at an older audience was discovered.
After I read the Hobbit in elementary school, my dad gave me his old hardcover set of LotR with the original map of Middle-Earth. I still have that map framed and hanging on the wall.
My aunt gave me this copy when I was very young. The artwork looked horrifying, so I gave it a pass and read everything else I could get my hands on. As a teen, I picked up the whole series and still kind of laugh - if only I'd known! This particular book is much simpler and more whimsical, much more within my mentality at the time, while it's the others that would have challenged me more had I known!
My experience almost exactly. I read it a little younger in grade school in the early 90s. It was late 90s and I was walking around in a book store and just happened upon LOTR. Had no idea it existed before that and was a little leery, wondering if this "Frodo" cat could somehow live up to my guy Bilbo.
Decided to give it a shot and was instantly hooked with the map. Been a fan ever since.
My son was talking about some shit he learned in history class and started saying "the late 1900s" and I was outraged because he was talking about the 90s like we all worked the butterchurn in our log cabins
Ngl 5th grade me picked this book from a lineup specifically because of the cover lol he had a lil sword and monster riddle dude, plus the other options were totally froopy. I’ve been doomed to this life from the start.
“I, decide when staffs can be taken out or put away. I, demand a superior product. I do not require your understanding, but I do expect your compliance. Do we have an understanding as to who it is that you serve?”
“SARUMANNN!”
I had many questions about why Gandalf was in white on the cover of Fellowship.
I asked my brother about it, after I’d read the Moria chapter, and he said, “Uhhhhh, Gandalf wears white at a different point in the story.” I replied, “But, he’s dead.” Brother retorted, “Well, with a wizard you never really know, do you?”
Supposedly [Jackson considered him for the role at one point](https://www.cbr.com/lord-of-rings-aragorn-almost-nicolas-cage/). I wonder if this is what gave him the idea.
Something that I think gets lost on modern readers especially if they’re not British is the class distinctions among the main four hobbits in Lord of the Rings. Frodo, Merry and Pippin are gentry who live a life of leisure. Sam is working class and he is Frodo’s servant. His father was Bilbo’s servant. After the Ring is destroyed, Sam gets a class promotion: his surname is changed to Gardner, he is elected mayor and he inherits land. I’ve always felt like PJ cut this a little short by changing Master Frodo to Mister Frodo.
Aragorn is a descendant of kings. Legolas is a king's son. Boromir is the son of the most powerful man in the most powerful kingdom of men. Gimli is nobility, being second cousin or something to the heir of Durin. Gandalf is Gandalf. Sam's the only non-upperclass member of the Fellowship. The most major character with a sizable number of speaking lines is probably Beregond. Even fucking Gollum is described as having been part of a well-off family with his grandmother being the Matriarch of Stoor-country. There's more than a hint of old-timey classism in Tolkien's work.
But it was Sam who kept shit running the whole time, kept going when Frodo couldn't, and finally saved the day when everyone was about to die in their own way.
Aragorn was leading his army to death. For a last chance at victory, yes - but still through death and war. Legolas and Gimli mostly just tag along and fight. Boromir was also obsessed with war and victory, which the ring used to get into his heart. Gandalf is something between an angel and a minor god, not really on the same scale as the others. The other hobbits just got stuck into it and then tagged along, and eventually learnt to fight and take things head on (see scourge of the Shire). Gollum also got corrupted with power.
Sam was the only one who cared about helping by *nurturing*. Actually working towards making things better with love, not only getting rid of the ones trying to make them worse with violence.
It's the same lesson Eowyn learns when she says, towards the end of the book, *I will be a shieldmaiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer [...]*. Many people give Tolkien shit because "the great fighting heroine settles down to marry and turns into a healer", but that's a very short sighted view: Eowyn shows at first the same focus on war as most of the guys (which in the men is seen as normal and in her as unnatural, but it's still the same thing), but she manages to grow at the end. She doesn't give up her identity. She will still be enjoying the songs of slaying, just not *only* the songs of slaying. She understands that, after the enemy is defeated, what the world needs the most is healers, not fighters.
That's what Sam brings. He also fights for his life and his companions, with others and alone, from the beginning to the end of the story - but he fights as much as necessary to protect the world he loves, without building his entire identity around the fighting. He shows that the lesson Eowyn spells out doesn't just apply to women, but to everyone, and that all the nobility and glory of the big king fighters is actually, to a big degree, just self serving vainglory.
Sam is the most humble character, but he's the most noble of heart.
Gimli is the third cousin once removed of Thorin Oakenshield, fourth cousin of King Dain. All three are descendants of King Nain (who is Thror’s grandfather). Balin and Dwalin are also relations, being first cousins of Oin and Gloin.
Anyway, you’re missing one other member of the Fellowship who isn’t high-born because he wasn’t born at all.
I don’t agree re: Gollum, there’s a Tolkien letter that basically describes his living condition as more like a tribe. He says that is related to Deagol because they live in a community so small that everyone in it was a close relation.
There is rampant classism throughout the books, but there’s also huge respect for the working class - as in Sam’s character arc from bumbling working class gardener to literal hero of the planet.
I think Tolkien’s time in the war would have disabused him of any mean or malicious classism.
Wouldn't it be "Mister" anyway? "Master" is usually reserved for the families eldest son, while the head of family is called "Mister"
It's my favorite bit about Batman, that Alfred calls him Master Bruce- implying that no matter what Wayne does, he'll always be that little boy to Alfred.
It depends on the time period. At one point the world Master was used as Mister is used today. That's the form Tolkien seems to be using as people in the book also refer to each other per "Master Dwarf", "Master Hobbit" and so on.
And if Bilbo thinks Bombur is fat... that means his portrayal in the movie -- at least when it comes to how he looked -- was close to book accurate.
His fat-fu in the river barrel scene the other hand...
I wouldnt say all hobbits. Bilbo is definitely described as chubby, and the first chapter of The Hobbit states Hobbits are "inclined to be fat in the stomach", but there's never any mention of Sam's weight despite the movies depicting him as the fat one which I feel was a silly choice.
I know right?? Frodo, it makes sense in the books hes descibed in the beginning as kind of soft, cause he's the heir to a super rich landowner who doesn't work for a living but sam and the Gaffer are laborers renting from the Baggins I'm pretty sure
Watch hobbit ladies swooning over the chubby rich dudes and gagging at the ripped jacked laborers like our boy Sam.
(Someone make a comic of this please.)
Which means he would be one of those farmers who look like a tub of lard right up until they casually drag a broken tractor to the barn.
Proper work muscle tends to have a layer of fat over it unless they have limited calories. Just look at the assorted world’s strongest man competitions.
I base this on this conversation with Butterbur in the Prancing Pony. He gives the description of Frodo that Gandalf gave him:
> 'A stout little fellow with red cheeks,' said Mr. Butterbur solemnly. Pippin chuckled, but Sam looked indignant. 'That won't help you much; it goes for most Hobbits, Barley, he says to me' continued Mr. Butterbur with a glance at Pippin. 'But this one is taller than some and fairer than most, and he has a cleft in his chin; perky chap with a bright eye. Begging your pardon, but he said it, not me.'
Not all, but many (most?). From the prologue to Fellowship:
> They are quick of hearing and sharp-eyed, and though they are inclined to be fat and do not hurry unnecessarily, they are nonetheless nimble and deft in their movements.
If hobbits tended by nature to be 'big boned', can you imagine how big Fredegar Bolger must have been for it to be remarked upon to the extent that he was known as 'Fatty'
Just read the part in the Hobbit where they meet Beorn. It seems to me that Bilbo is more on the thicker side:
> "So here you all are still!" he said. He picked up the hobbit and laughed: "Not eaten up by Wargs or goblins or wicked bears yet I see"; and he poked Mr. Baggins' waistcoat most disrespectfully. "Little bunny is getting nice and fat again on bread and honey," he chuckled. "Come and have some more!"
That’s why I struggle with picturing the hobbits in my mind when reading because I’m just seeing the movie hobbits. Sam is the only one that doesn’t have a well defined jawline looks hobbitsh
I love the cheerful Legolas and Gimli. Just bros hanging out while waiting to kill some orcs.
https://preview.redd.it/fws4cjci4qbd1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5d684b8b27567fb7456d7b0399023294b3b2197
I had such a crush on movie Legolas that my older brother was like, “I have the Two Towers book with Legolas on the cover! You can have it!”
And he gives me *this* 😂 he knew
When I read the books in the late 90's all I had to go on were the Brothers Hildebrandt depictions. I still imagine the characters that way. I love the films, but I lament that subsequent generations of readers were robbed of the experience of forming their own image of the characters.
i got into LOTR through the lego game of all things and the first time i read the book i hadnt seen the movies yet so i was imagining them all as lego dudes lmao
You may have seen already, but Tove Jansson illustrated The Hobbit's Swedish release before Tolkien reworked it. He initially never described Gollum's size, so she illustrated the character as her interpretation: a gigantic cave-dwelling monster who could scoop up and swallow goblins whole.
I had this version growing up. Bilbo is actually pretty book-accurate here. And since the book doesn’t give them much to work off of in terms of description of Gollum that isn’t half bad either.
Because Bilbo looks like he lives in a van down by the river.
And Gollum with his Saw-blade teeth, loose skin, boggle eyes and massive hooked nose looks like he's wearing a Papier-mache halloween mask.
It's poorly composed. A fat guy can look dynamic and interesting if he's posed well, but here he may as well be waiting for a bus. Also the lighting is flat and unflattering and almost like sunlight. Altogether it's missing the drama and creepiness that the narrative evokes.
I don’t think this particular fat guy would have known how to hold a sword, stand in a fighting stance, or be intimidating either. I get the point about the lighting, but Bilbo had no idea what he was doing at this point in the story - or really during most of the story.
This was my first copy and I still love that cover. I miss the days pre-movie when there was variety in artistic interpretations. Now it’s all so infused by Alan Lee & Peter Jackson. Wonderful visuals, of course, just mostly kind of the same
I too had to track down this box set after I lost my original set I got from my parents as a kid in the 90s. There's a certain nostalgia in this set for me.
I love pre-PJ LotR illustrations, and really any that aren't informed by the PJ movies. They have a certain charm to them
Not that the movies were lacking in style or anything, it's just cool to see different imaginings of characters/events
Grade 12 book report. Teacher said it could he anything, but had to be published before 1940. She said this to cut out sci-fi and fantasy not realizing this gem from 1937. I was elated.
What that also did was open my eyes to Jules Verne and so much original sci-fi and fantasy. Never looked back.
I kind of prefer this an artist gives their take on what they would look like as described in the book vs them just slapping the movie poster on the cover
That’s the version I read in grade school back in the 20th century lol
Same here. I read it in seventh grade in 1994. I didn’t even know the Lord of the Rings was an additional series until I stumbled across it in the library. You think people get excited at seeing trailers for their favorite movies? I was beside myself. And it wasn’t just an additional series by an author. It was a continuation of The Hobbit!!! I opened Fellowship of the Ring, and the first thing I saw was the map that unfolded showing Middle Earth. I was a diehard fan for the rest of my life from that point on.
I was a little too young when I tried to make the same jump from The Hobbit to LoTR. I was like 9 when my Grandpa gave me The Hobbit for Christmas and I absolutely loved it. Damn near memorized every word of the book. He got my the LoTR the following year and found myself getting lost quite a bit. References to things I didn’t understand the relevance of and names I couldn’t pronounce. Metaphors that just went over my head. I’ve gone back and reread them since, but that first read was rough.
Yeah, there were definitely books I liked the *idea* of back when I was 10 or 11, but really wasn't old enough for yet. I remember trying to read one of the Tom Clancy books in 5th grade, made it through 2 or 3 chapters before putting it down and coming back a few years later.
Yep. Same. Grew up on the hobbit book, was obsessed with the cartoon. Funnily picked up the middle earth card game out of curiosity having no idea, until it sparked my friends memory and he goes “wait a minute…” and pulls his Dads trilogy off of the shelf. And lo and behold a whole new series geared at an older audience was discovered.
The magic of finding that in the wild. Suddenly knowing there's more to read!
About the same thing happened to me. 99 2000 my high school buddy gave me the fellowship
Daniel? Is that you? lol. I gave my friend The Fellowship in 99.
Lol are you my friend? I’ve been searching for you man! I want that fucking book back haha
I am Daniel I also am in possession of a LOTR book I do not own.
After I read the Hobbit in elementary school, my dad gave me his old hardcover set of LotR with the original map of Middle-Earth. I still have that map framed and hanging on the wall.
My aunt gave me this copy when I was very young. The artwork looked horrifying, so I gave it a pass and read everything else I could get my hands on. As a teen, I picked up the whole series and still kind of laugh - if only I'd known! This particular book is much simpler and more whimsical, much more within my mentality at the time, while it's the others that would have challenged me more had I known!
My experience almost exactly. I read it a little younger in grade school in the early 90s. It was late 90s and I was walking around in a book store and just happened upon LOTR. Had no idea it existed before that and was a little leery, wondering if this "Frodo" cat could somehow live up to my guy Bilbo. Decided to give it a shot and was instantly hooked with the map. Been a fan ever since.
That sounds magical. Great memory to have for an awesome story!
i read this copy in the 5th grade in 2011…who knows how long it had been in the school library!
I read it in 5th grade in the 90s. Lol
Same
Saying ‘20th Century’ makes it sound so, so long ago. To my ears at least. 😆
My nephew calls it "the 1900s" which is so much worse imo
My son was talking about some shit he learned in history class and started saying "the late 1900s" and I was outraged because he was talking about the 90s like we all worked the butterchurn in our log cabins
Hello, young people… I am relevant and cool like all of you. Check out my stunner shades! Do people still say yolo?
YOLO? Poor child, submit to the wisdom of your elders and embrace Carpe Diem.
Sup my fellow youthful cool person, today is indeed a bussin’ day to be alive, on god, for real. Anyways gg ez days to you or something.
It was the 90s, so like 10 years ago.
I remember my dad using this exact book to convince me not to judge a book by its cover haha
Ngl 5th grade me picked this book from a lineup specifically because of the cover lol he had a lil sword and monster riddle dude, plus the other options were totally froopy. I’ve been doomed to this life from the start.
This is the version I own, that my grandmother gifted me as a kid, ages ago.
https://preview.redd.it/94mfxhimgqbd1.jpeg?width=5709&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=281ead959ef07f53c9d24d82e7e383b9c252f9c5 I gotcha
TTT cover looks like a romance novel
I now believe The Two Towers is a euphemism.
The union of the two towers indeed
Frodo and Gandalf make meth, Nice Cage becomes king. Cool collection!
“We have to cook, Frodo!” *The embers of the fire reveal the inscription around The One Ring* “Yo magical science, bitch!” “You’re goddamn right!”
Put your staff away Gandalf
“I, decide when staffs can be taken out or put away. I, demand a superior product. I do not require your understanding, but I do expect your compliance. Do we have an understanding as to who it is that you serve?” “SARUMANNN!”
“Say my name.” “Mithrandir.” “You’re goddamn right!”
I tolllllld you to take the wizard’s staff
Cooking now https://preview.redd.it/j0emzzf39rbd1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c5448aae3feccf5c6e3b55d0495741b7cc233ca
*Crystal Blue Persuasion starts playing*
legolas and gimli in a romance novel.
So that's what the two towers are.
Legolas looks like he pulled up to the Council of Elrond in a Trans Am blasting Barracuda
He reminds me of He-Man.
Gandalf looking like a Southern plantation owner in that last one too lol
Pretty sure that’s the Goonies behind Aragorn.
Frodo looking like Mad Magazine mascot
I had many questions about why Gandalf was in white on the cover of Fellowship. I asked my brother about it, after I’d read the Moria chapter, and he said, “Uhhhhh, Gandalf wears white at a different point in the story.” I replied, “But, he’s dead.” Brother retorted, “Well, with a wizard you never really know, do you?”
These depictions feel so off it’s making me strangely uncomfortable
They really are something terrible.
I remember seeing these. They looked off even before the movies, especially if you saw the cartoons
They look ready to start a rock band in their mom's garage
Two Towers looks like a romance novel. I love it for Legolas and Gimli, but it’s just such a vibe lol.
These are my covers, man that brings back memories
That’s my set!! Read them over and over! Now I’m reading them to my daughter
I can’t wait to start reading them to my daughter!
Yo why does Aragorn look like Nic Cage here
Supposedly [Jackson considered him for the role at one point](https://www.cbr.com/lord-of-rings-aragorn-almost-nicolas-cage/). I wonder if this is what gave him the idea.
He was considered for Aragorn in the movies!
Oh my God nostalgia overload! I haven't seen those covers in probably 25 years!
I absolutely love these covers. My dad gave them to me on my 13th bday. Blasted through them at least 10 times in the 25 years since.
This is the collection I had as a kid! Read them so much the covers fell off
The two towers copy makes Gimli look like the character from golden Axe
Hey give those back! Those are the same as my copies!
Why the fuck is Gandalf holding the ring?
Gandolf holding the ring, the one fucking thing he never ever did in the entire story.
All Hobbits are described as fat in the books. The movies made them good looking. So this isn't that far off.
Bilbo is also from old money and the landed aristocracy. He was definitely fat and lazy.
Fat and lazy hobbitses!
Something that I think gets lost on modern readers especially if they’re not British is the class distinctions among the main four hobbits in Lord of the Rings. Frodo, Merry and Pippin are gentry who live a life of leisure. Sam is working class and he is Frodo’s servant. His father was Bilbo’s servant. After the Ring is destroyed, Sam gets a class promotion: his surname is changed to Gardner, he is elected mayor and he inherits land. I’ve always felt like PJ cut this a little short by changing Master Frodo to Mister Frodo.
Aragorn is a descendant of kings. Legolas is a king's son. Boromir is the son of the most powerful man in the most powerful kingdom of men. Gimli is nobility, being second cousin or something to the heir of Durin. Gandalf is Gandalf. Sam's the only non-upperclass member of the Fellowship. The most major character with a sizable number of speaking lines is probably Beregond. Even fucking Gollum is described as having been part of a well-off family with his grandmother being the Matriarch of Stoor-country. There's more than a hint of old-timey classism in Tolkien's work.
But it was Sam who kept shit running the whole time, kept going when Frodo couldn't, and finally saved the day when everyone was about to die in their own way. Aragorn was leading his army to death. For a last chance at victory, yes - but still through death and war. Legolas and Gimli mostly just tag along and fight. Boromir was also obsessed with war and victory, which the ring used to get into his heart. Gandalf is something between an angel and a minor god, not really on the same scale as the others. The other hobbits just got stuck into it and then tagged along, and eventually learnt to fight and take things head on (see scourge of the Shire). Gollum also got corrupted with power. Sam was the only one who cared about helping by *nurturing*. Actually working towards making things better with love, not only getting rid of the ones trying to make them worse with violence. It's the same lesson Eowyn learns when she says, towards the end of the book, *I will be a shieldmaiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer [...]*. Many people give Tolkien shit because "the great fighting heroine settles down to marry and turns into a healer", but that's a very short sighted view: Eowyn shows at first the same focus on war as most of the guys (which in the men is seen as normal and in her as unnatural, but it's still the same thing), but she manages to grow at the end. She doesn't give up her identity. She will still be enjoying the songs of slaying, just not *only* the songs of slaying. She understands that, after the enemy is defeated, what the world needs the most is healers, not fighters. That's what Sam brings. He also fights for his life and his companions, with others and alone, from the beginning to the end of the story - but he fights as much as necessary to protect the world he loves, without building his entire identity around the fighting. He shows that the lesson Eowyn spells out doesn't just apply to women, but to everyone, and that all the nobility and glory of the big king fighters is actually, to a big degree, just self serving vainglory. Sam is the most humble character, but he's the most noble of heart.
I love this you said it so well.
> Sam's the only non-upperclass member of the Fellowship. Hey now, don't forget about Bill...
I mean I guess even Shadowfax is aristocracy, now that I think about it.
Yeah, Lord of All Horses is pretty swanky
Shadowfax to Bill: You bow to no one... *Shadowfax bows to Bill
the fanfiction that we need tbh
Gimli is the third cousin once removed of Thorin Oakenshield, fourth cousin of King Dain. All three are descendants of King Nain (who is Thror’s grandfather). Balin and Dwalin are also relations, being first cousins of Oin and Gloin. Anyway, you’re missing one other member of the Fellowship who isn’t high-born because he wasn’t born at all. I don’t agree re: Gollum, there’s a Tolkien letter that basically describes his living condition as more like a tribe. He says that is related to Deagol because they live in a community so small that everyone in it was a close relation.
There is rampant classism throughout the books, but there’s also huge respect for the working class - as in Sam’s character arc from bumbling working class gardener to literal hero of the planet. I think Tolkien’s time in the war would have disabused him of any mean or malicious classism.
You write what you know and Tolkien wasn’t a poverty-stricken fellow.
Wouldn't it be "Mister" anyway? "Master" is usually reserved for the families eldest son, while the head of family is called "Mister" It's my favorite bit about Batman, that Alfred calls him Master Bruce- implying that no matter what Wayne does, he'll always be that little boy to Alfred.
It was always "master" in the books.
It depends on the time period. At one point the world Master was used as Mister is used today. That's the form Tolkien seems to be using as people in the book also refer to each other per "Master Dwarf", "Master Hobbit" and so on.
In the UK, Master is just used for any male under 18. I was the middle child and was "master surname" on my bank statements as a 16 year old.
Frodo was named bilbo's heir, he is the master of the Baggins estate.
Well, Frodo is Bilbo‘s adoptive son. So, technically, he is the family‘s eldest son.
It fit a modern international audience better.
Sam calls Frodo "Mister Frodo" in the book as well. Frodo is usually only referred to as "his master" during narration of Sam's thoughts.
And if Bilbo thinks Bombur is fat... that means his portrayal in the movie -- at least when it comes to how he looked -- was close to book accurate. His fat-fu in the river barrel scene the other hand...
Remembering bow he acts in the books makes this picture make a lot of sense actually.
I wouldnt say all hobbits. Bilbo is definitely described as chubby, and the first chapter of The Hobbit states Hobbits are "inclined to be fat in the stomach", but there's never any mention of Sam's weight despite the movies depicting him as the fat one which I feel was a silly choice.
Come to think of it, Sam was the only one who did physical labor for a living.
I know right?? Frodo, it makes sense in the books hes descibed in the beginning as kind of soft, cause he's the heir to a super rich landowner who doesn't work for a living but sam and the Gaffer are laborers renting from the Baggins I'm pretty sure
Watch hobbit ladies swooning over the chubby rich dudes and gagging at the ripped jacked laborers like our boy Sam. (Someone make a comic of this please.)
Which means he would be one of those farmers who look like a tub of lard right up until they casually drag a broken tractor to the barn. Proper work muscle tends to have a layer of fat over it unless they have limited calories. Just look at the assorted world’s strongest man competitions.
I could see why Merry and Pippin might be fit. They have that sort of meth head cutting out cat converters vibe.
I think both Merry and Pippin are more of the “upper class hooligans who don’t have to work and instead cause mischief” trope.
Wickham
Finest cat converters in the south farthing.
I base this on this conversation with Butterbur in the Prancing Pony. He gives the description of Frodo that Gandalf gave him: > 'A stout little fellow with red cheeks,' said Mr. Butterbur solemnly. Pippin chuckled, but Sam looked indignant. 'That won't help you much; it goes for most Hobbits, Barley, he says to me' continued Mr. Butterbur with a glance at Pippin. 'But this one is taller than some and fairer than most, and he has a cleft in his chin; perky chap with a bright eye. Begging your pardon, but he said it, not me.'
also "fat" back when tolkien wrote the books was pictured different then it would be today.
I would think fat/stout back then was just anybody that didn’t look lean.
Not all, but many (most?). From the prologue to Fellowship: > They are quick of hearing and sharp-eyed, and though they are inclined to be fat and do not hurry unnecessarily, they are nonetheless nimble and deft in their movements.
If hobbits tended by nature to be 'big boned', can you imagine how big Fredegar Bolger must have been for it to be remarked upon to the extent that he was known as 'Fatty'
Just read the part in the Hobbit where they meet Beorn. It seems to me that Bilbo is more on the thicker side: > "So here you all are still!" he said. He picked up the hobbit and laughed: "Not eaten up by Wargs or goblins or wicked bears yet I see"; and he poked Mr. Baggins' waistcoat most disrespectfully. "Little bunny is getting nice and fat again on bread and honey," he chuckled. "Come and have some more!"
That’s why I struggle with picturing the hobbits in my mind when reading because I’m just seeing the movie hobbits. Sam is the only one that doesn’t have a well defined jawline looks hobbitsh
Interesting how Jackson's Hobbits wear basically the same thing as in this cover
I love the cheerful Legolas and Gimli. Just bros hanging out while waiting to kill some orcs. https://preview.redd.it/fws4cjci4qbd1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5d684b8b27567fb7456d7b0399023294b3b2197
Legolas got that Farrah Fawcett hair.
Put him in that red swimsuit.
Mullet Legolas isn't real; mullet Legolas can't hurt you
I wish he would.
Legolas and Gimli as the lovers I always thought they were.
Gimli is fuckin shredded, look at that bicep vein
I had such a crush on movie Legolas that my older brother was like, “I have the Two Towers book with Legolas on the cover! You can have it!” And he gives me *this* 😂 he knew
ricky and steve
Steve, he could've been your brother
Eyes bulging with imagined rings
Just don’t have a go at the eyes, cos that is a stigmatism I’ve had from the age of five, so that’s what make them a bit bulbous
The orcs and norcs. Interminable.
Gwimlin went into the cave
Gerald Preston will smite you with his sword
To anyone thinking about posting this, we've done this!
This picture is our little gibbon, it’s like when Karl went on Zoe’s show.
Wonder who karl would be in lotr
He’d be the gormless hobbit with his finger in his ear in the opening sequences
And his thumb firmly stuck up his arse. Alright see you later.
While complaining about his broken boiler
"And can you tell Gandalf that I'm running about like a BEEP here sorting shit out for you?"
Good question. Pippin maybe?
Throw yourself in next time and spare us all your stupidity you round headed mank twat
I'm having the muffin
Hello you
Interminable
This reminds me so much of early Forgotten Realms book covers.
Dragonlance too. The chicks always had the Joan Jett hair lol.
I'm still a little bit in love with Laurana
Kitiara, I can fix her.
That is the correct response to reading the Dragonlance books.
I was always partial to Tika, myself.
Bro dragonlance covers were art
Big time. I'm getting r a salcatore flashbacks lol
The ones where Drizzt was depicted as an old man? I still have a bunch of those kicking around.
Contemporary to those! I never got down in the Drizzt depths but plenty of the earlier ones had this oils approach, like old romance novels!
Same idea came to my mind ngl.
So much this, came here to say that exact thing. Cadderly anyone?
May be an unpopular opinion but I love to se how Tolkien's characters were depicted before the movies
When I read the books in the late 90's all I had to go on were the Brothers Hildebrandt depictions. I still imagine the characters that way. I love the films, but I lament that subsequent generations of readers were robbed of the experience of forming their own image of the characters.
There is a lot of pre movies artwork that doesn't look anywhere close to a romantic novel cover.
i got into LOTR through the lego game of all things and the first time i read the book i hadnt seen the movies yet so i was imagining them all as lego dudes lmao
You may have seen already, but Tove Jansson illustrated The Hobbit's Swedish release before Tolkien reworked it. He initially never described Gollum's size, so she illustrated the character as her interpretation: a gigantic cave-dwelling monster who could scoop up and swallow goblins whole.
Nosferatu in Lunch Lady Land
Sloppy Joe and the dragon’s den.
I had this version growing up. Bilbo is actually pretty book-accurate here. And since the book doesn’t give them much to work off of in terms of description of Gollum that isn’t half bad either.
Yeah I never understood why this cover has become such a meme. That’s just canonical Bilbo.
Lou Costello really embodies the role here
"Abbott and Costello Meet the Cave Dweller" coming soon from RKO
Universal.
Bilbo looks exactly like described in the book while Gollum didn’t get any definite description in the book; why “Uhm”?
Because in the OP’s subjective take, it looks stupid. And I’m inclined to agree.
Because Bilbo looks like he lives in a van down by the river. And Gollum with his Saw-blade teeth, loose skin, boggle eyes and massive hooked nose looks like he's wearing a Papier-mache halloween mask.
*Because Bilbo looks like he lives in a van down by the river.* I understood that reference 👈
It's poorly composed. A fat guy can look dynamic and interesting if he's posed well, but here he may as well be waiting for a bus. Also the lighting is flat and unflattering and almost like sunlight. Altogether it's missing the drama and creepiness that the narrative evokes.
He is like. "I got a secret, and it's a 10 PC mcnuggey in my pocket "
“He may as well be waiting for the bus” is a pretty decent description of a Hobbit in ANY situation, isn’t it? :)
I don’t think this particular fat guy would have known how to hold a sword, stand in a fighting stance, or be intimidating either. I get the point about the lighting, but Bilbo had no idea what he was doing at this point in the story - or really during most of the story.
Yes it’s poorly composed, but absolutely characteristic of its era
Honestly, he looks like he’s wearing a wig. Not sure why.
Yeah I'm trying to figure out why the "umm" also lol
This was my first copy and I still love that cover. I miss the days pre-movie when there was variety in artistic interpretations. Now it’s all so infused by Alan Lee & Peter Jackson. Wonderful visuals, of course, just mostly kind of the same
Jesus, too bad Guillermo from What We Do In The Shadows didn’t have his big break until after the films came out. He would have been a dead ringer.
Came to the comments for this.
Same
*Fucking guy...*
Gollumstein
Yeah, I might be wrong, but that is the worst cover on a Tolkien book that I recall.
The Legolas and gimli two towers cover from this same series is equally bad
https://preview.redd.it/p8say4hv4qbd1.jpeg?width=477&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=006de99698546ff601606f3c9902f444371c005c
"Stupid, fat hobbit!"
My first copy! That brings back memories.
That's the one I read in 4th grade, which would have been about 1995.
We’re about the same age 👨🏼🦳
I bought these covers recently. All 4. I love them.
I too had to track down this box set after I lost my original set I got from my parents as a kid in the 90s. There's a certain nostalgia in this set for me.
This was the copy I read when I was 5. Definitely kept scary Gollum covered up with my hand most of the time.
Martin Freeman was clearly miscast. Dawn French was clearly robbed.
or James Corden
That was the version I had when I first read it.
My daughter’s school library still has these copies, which I was delighted to find out when she brought two towers home for reading.
That looks surprisingly like Sean Astin.
That cover Gollum is still better than that recent video game portrayal.
I love pre-PJ LotR illustrations, and really any that aren't informed by the PJ movies. They have a certain charm to them Not that the movies were lacking in style or anything, it's just cool to see different imaginings of characters/events
…yes, what?
Grade 12 book report. Teacher said it could he anything, but had to be published before 1940. She said this to cut out sci-fi and fantasy not realizing this gem from 1937. I was elated. What that also did was open my eyes to Jules Verne and so much original sci-fi and fantasy. Never looked back.
Cam and Mitchells best Halloween costume so far
Are you having a laugh? https://preview.redd.it/wv8c9a27iqbd1.jpeg?width=212&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=85ead25ede9cd3d24f7aa3e4da0b789be3b360d8
This is the cover of the copy my dad read to us before bed. I love it.
That’s probably exactly what Bilbo looked and felt like half the time. He’s far from your traditional hero, OP! Try GoT or something 😂
I kind of prefer this an artist gives their take on what they would look like as described in the book vs them just slapping the movie poster on the cover
Most people arent ready for Lore Accurate Hobbits.