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Wandering in the Forest of Lothlórien in Spring
8 April 2021 | Beyond Bree, April, 2021, 1
Dating from the early ’40s, The Forest of Lothlórien in Spring is one of the most magical pieces Tolkien ever completed. It covers one of the subjects closest to his affection, if not THE closest, trees and forests. Drawn in pencil and crayons, Tolkien’s favourite mode for his Lord of the Rings illustrations, the drawing is of a dazzling complexity for its size (28.5×20.4 cm) [8 x 11¼”].
And yet, for all its undeniable aesthetic beauty, one may feel that there is not much to see in it. This would contrast it with most of Tolkien’s other drawings, which generally abound with meaning. In most reproduced versions of the piece, it doesn’t invite the eye to wander and to find what there is as, save from the ray of sunlight, it seems to lack a focus to draw our attention. This may explain why, in their reference volume J.R.R. Tolkien, Artist & Illustrator (1995), Hammond & Scull say of the piece: …
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