Hidden faces IVb: The face of cruel Caradhras
12 January 2022 | Beyond Bree, January, 2022, 5
Exploring the drawing of “Old Man Willow” [Beyond Bree, Dec ’21] invited me to revisit another Lord of the Rings drawing, namely “Moria Gate.” Despite the title, it is surprising to see the tiny size of the feature giving its name to the piece, located as it is at the bottom of an immense cliff face (left). Most of the time, we focus on the middle of the illustration, where the action occurs and we ignore the top section. Do note the strange symmetry of the piece, its axis of symmetry with the minuscule Gate in the middle, flanked by two just as diminutive trees. It is only by looking towards the top of the picture with a loose focus that what concerns us reveals itself, hence the thumbnail size of it (left), showing a face with two blue eye-like features at the top, evoked by the two blue summits, and a long nose resembling a kind of baboon muzzle, where the two trees form the nostrils. The pool looks like a mouth and the further shore has the appearance of a thin upper lip.…
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