[Mithalwen]

RE : Farmer Giles of Ham, "I am pleased with them beyond even the expectations aroused by the first examples. They are more than illustrations, they are a collateral theme. I showed them to my friends whose polite comment was that they reduced my text to a commentary on the drawings." (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien no. 120)

Baynes was Tolkien's illustrator of choice and a remarkable woman. the Farmer Giles ones may not fit in to how we as individuals imagine ME (and how much of that is coloured by other artists or the films?) but he was clearly happy with her work as at least AN interpretation even if not exactly as he saw his creations. Since he was a more than competent amateur artist himself it was likely that he would have stronger feelings about the illustrations than someone more disinterested in the medium.