The last one actually does make sense to me. It has a dark fortress, the Crebain, Shelob and the Nazgul, with one of them drowning in a river. It's somewhat abstract, but a pretty sensible collection of the most evil beings in the book minus Sauron.
Now..the others...are...very artistic interpretations? Not half as mad as this Polish Silmarillion cover though. I've tried to understand the damn thing for years but...nothing.
( ... )
Well, yeah, the one I linked to does have all the elements you listed and I'd perceived them...I was just confused cause the Nazgul in the river happened in Fellowship, and the river wasn't near a dark fortress, and I don't think any of the dark fortresses looked anything like that, andandand--- /literalist
Re: Polish Silm. I. Um. ... ............. ........................ Wha?
No, no, I can see it! Look, the egg symbolizes the fertility of genius, awaiting its entry onto the world! But the smooth roundness and neutral off-white of it symbolize the ambivalence of genius, its non-allegiance with anything but itself.
Moreover, the world is cruel, and so the brown birdlike metal hook/latch/door-holder thingie, representing the fusion of nature and artifice waits to pierce the shell of genius, and unleash it upon the world, to what effect, no one knows, but the shadow looming in the background forebodes Bad Things. And then the people - their pointy form is actually suggestive of a keyhole, and their coloration combines with that to suggest that they are just trouble waiting to be unlocked behind their abstract and naive gazes! Madness! Madness lies within!
I got it! I totally got this cover art! Legomullet --> painful. Plant-head people --> disturbing. My Batshit Pony --> significantly less terrifying than required. But abstract bird-egg art? I go this!
(Yes, I think I am going insane. I blame class prep.)
Hah! My insane interpretation was the the bird with egg was Feanor, crouching protectively over his one egg, his one true creation, his "children" in a way - the Silmarils.
The hopeless looking people on the next page are the 7. If you look at their faces, they are actually just flat with eyes on them. They don't have beaks! Those are fake things they hold up to their face. I think this represents them trying to emulate Feanor and their trying to find and take back the Silmarils.
This is probably just me, but for the Return of the King cover I saw the giant, pointy rock tower rising up in front of (what is presumably) Sauron, and immediately thought...
[Dark Muse] Huh. Which would I rather be? A priapic Cyclops or the world's largest lighthouse? *thinks* Priapic Cyclops it is! [/Dark Muse]
I love that "doesn't make sense" cover for purely sentimental reasons. That was the edition (pictured in 1L's post below) that my brother brought home from college in 1968. I immediately grabbed the paperbacks and didn't emerge from my room for a few days.
Your link was the cover set that I first had and, in fact, still have (along with at least five additional sets). I thought the covers were so beautiful and I still love them.
The ones that you showed seem to have a thing with outstretched arms and odd rock formations :-) I hadn't seen these before and they are quite odd - especially the dark Pegasus for the Nazgul.
Here's the full set of three in the series I first owned around 1967 or so...(I also had the full poster on my wall).
Yeah, they are really cool-looking (the ones pictured in your comment, I mean). I spent longer than I should have yesterday afternoon trying to find a good version of all of them patched together. Which I assume is the poster you had. =D
Couldn't resist icon-izing a detail of the Tower Towers one myself.
I saw your avatar and couldn't resist doing one of each of the books as well as the holder which they all came from (sorry, didn't mean to step on your toes but they bring back such happy memories).
The poster was indeed of all of them seamlessly joined. Here's a fairly decent photo of what it looked like...
Oh don't worry, no toe-stepping going on...if anything, you're more entitled to make icons of the covers given your history with them. Glad this post brought back some good memories for you. =]
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And I assume that giant hooded chap is Sauron going "aaaugh I've got an infestation of...of...what even are these?!"
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Now..the others...are...very artistic interpretations? Not half as mad as this Polish Silmarillion cover though. I've tried to understand the damn thing for years but...nothing.
( ... )
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Re: Polish Silm.
I.
Um.
...
.............
........................ Wha?
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Moreover, the world is cruel, and so the brown birdlike metal hook/latch/door-holder thingie, representing the fusion of nature and artifice waits to pierce the shell of genius, and unleash it upon the world, to what effect, no one knows, but the shadow looming in the background forebodes Bad Things. And then the people - their pointy form is actually suggestive of a keyhole, and their coloration combines with that to suggest that they are just trouble waiting to be unlocked behind their abstract and naive gazes! Madness! Madness lies within!
I got it! I totally got this cover art! Legomullet --> painful. Plant-head people --> disturbing. My Batshit Pony --> significantly less terrifying than required. But abstract bird-egg art? I go this!
(Yes, I think I am going insane. I blame class prep.)
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The hopeless looking people on the next page are the 7. If you look at their faces, they are actually just flat with eyes on them. They don't have beaks! Those are fake things they hold up to their face. I think this represents them trying to emulate Feanor and their trying to find and take back the Silmarils.
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This is probably just me, but for the Return of the King cover I saw the giant, pointy rock tower rising up in front of (what is presumably) Sauron, and immediately thought...
*runs away*
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And all those little plant people or gull aliens or whatever are like OH SHIT GUYS SAURON IS GOING TO COVER ALL THE LANDS WITH HIS--
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I love that "doesn't make sense" cover for purely sentimental reasons. That was the edition (pictured in 1L's post below) that my brother brought home from college in 1968. I immediately grabbed the paperbacks and didn't emerge from my room for a few days.
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The ones that you showed seem to have a thing with outstretched arms and odd rock formations :-) I hadn't seen these before and they are quite odd - especially the dark Pegasus for the Nazgul.
Here's the full set of three in the series I first owned around 1967 or so...(I also had the full poster on my wall).
- Erulisse (one L)
( ... )
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Couldn't resist icon-izing a detail of the Tower Towers one myself.
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The poster was indeed of all of them seamlessly joined. Here's a fairly decent photo of what it looked like...
( ... )
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