I always loved them too. Still have the calanders around here somewhere. In case you didn’t know Tim Hildebrant died last year.
You mean this ?
Here’s an ancient Ace cover for Return of the King that I just googled up, and hadn’t seen before. Note the (elf?) warrior in the forground with the weird jester hat. (Or is that supposed to be a Gondor knight with a swan helm? Comical in any case).
Cripes.
Pimpagorn stares dumbfounded at the sapling of the White Hibiscus. Gandalf is drunk and disapproving.
That Aragorn looks like someone from the 70’s, especially with that haircut and facial hair. That’s the only time I can imagine a straight man wearing a purple cape. I bet those boots go on another 3 inches past his toes. He’s gonna get a blister climbing in them.
The second book cover looks like a Star Trek OS set. And the guy with the bird on his head is just too…what’s beyond ridiculous?
I didn’t care much for their drawings of people, but that one of Smaug has been my desktop for years.
Then don’t look at the rest of them. From Darrell K. Sweet’s 1982 Tolkien calendar.
Beyond ridiculous? …Bakshi’s Aragorn
The Rankin/Bass animated version of the Hobbit was the first visual interpretation of Tolkien’s stuff that I experienced, and I thought it captured the characters pretty well.
You know, I actually like most of those.
But Mauveagorn seems vaguely bored here and I always envisioned the Dynamic Duo as having black hair. Like Aragorn himself, for that matter.
Also, all the headgear seems to suffer from Jaunty Feather Syndrome.
For example: I never thought the elf king’s crown would be very jaunty.
ETA: That’s not Theoden. He sure has some white hair for Thranduil though.
The Fall of Numenor is actually pretty good, I think, and the Last of the Fellowship isn’t all that bad, either. Those are also the only two without people in the frame. I don’t think this is coincidence.
The worst violator, though, is probably the Lord of the Eagles. What kind of bird has its legs join its body in front of where its wings do? It looks more like one of those freaky misassembled extraplanar creatures one finds in the D&D monster books.
Most of those are definitely still stuck in the Seventies, but I like some of them - although his orcs are … boaring.
But I’ll say this, his Ents actually much more closely match my mental image than anyone else’s (and usually, I think Alan Lee can do no wrong)
That is one fat dragon.
That’s the one I had in my head when I read the question.
As a science fiction fan, I’ve seen a lot of bad cover art. Art that misses the point, or the characterization, or gives away plot points or spoils part of the novel, or simply makes no sense or are just plain ugly. (I can give examples of all if anyone’s interested.) Still, though, these are up there.
Hmmm…I always pictured Aragorn as someone who wore pants.
… why Frodo’s horse?
I mean, did they ever mention Frodo’s horse in the books? Sam’s fat pony, sure. Gandalf’s horse, Shadowfax, yes. Various loaners from the Rohirrim, yep.
But I don’t particularly remember Frodo for his horsemanship.
Frodo had to bum a horse from Glorfindel for the big crossing the ford scene. And that’s it. But I guess someone at marketing really liked it.
well, in the Bakshi movie, Legolas, not Glorfindel.
Poor Glorfindel, shafted in two movies so far.
He shoulda stayed in Valinor after whacking the Balrog! He never did accomplish much in ME other than the rescue of Frodo and company. At least not that I recall JRRT writing about.
I always have this image of Glorfindel on his horse trotting through the forest, silver bells tinkling…
…a rustle from the branches of a tree…
…Glorfindel rides on, oblivious…
…Arwen leaps out from the tree, shrieking a AIAIAIAIAIAIAIAI Xena warcry, knocking the shocked Glorfindel from his horse, stealing his swords, tying him up, stuffing him behind a bush.
“I will be the one saving my boyfriend, thank you.” trot trot trot