A Tolkien Bestiary in J.R.R. Tolkien

Jun 16, 2014 J. Aleksandr Wootton rated it liked it

More like an illustrated encyclopedia inspired by the medieval bestiary tradition than a true bestiary.

There's much more broad Tolkienic lore here than a focused guide to beasts would contain, and the illustrations are nothing like an alchemic anatomy or even an Audubon fieldbook. More often they depict scenes, events, and moods instead.

A decent resource, despite the misleading title. ...more

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Mar 09, 2019 Stephanie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It's not very useful as a reference material because the same subject will have multiple entries but no cross-references within entries. I'd recommend Foster's Guide to Middle-Earth if you want a book to actually look up stuff in.

That being said, this was really fun to read and had really excellent illustrations. ...more

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Jan 11, 2014 Kevis Hendrickson rated it it was amazing

One of my personal favorite books based on Tolkien's work and ranks right up there with Letters and his biographies. The art style is nothing like what you would expect, especially if you saw the movies first. Thankfully, I didn't. So I have an increased appreciation for what Middle-Earth looks like in my mind, as opposed to Peter Jackson's. Highly recommended for the Tolkien enthusiast. But the purists may still want to stick with their own vision of Middle-Earth. Me? I say bring it on. You can ...more

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Oct 26, 2011 Paul rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: tolkien-related, art, bestiary

While not a big fan of David Day's artwork, I have several of his illustrations of Tolkien related work. This one feels very reminiscent of the Tolkien Bestiary, with some of the artwork following over from that book too. ...more

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