The anatomy of Glaurung

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by skip spence

I pretty much agree to that. Tolkien isn't the greatest illustrator the world has known though, and it is hard to picture that creature actually flying.

I suppose things hinge on what one wants in an illustrator.

Tolkien's artwork doesn't belong to the realistic tradition but to the Arts and Craft Movement. Think of the Pre-Raphaelite artists. The art belongs to a tradition of romantic idealism rather than to documentary realism.

So, for me, I rather like the quirkiness of his drawings. His Smaug captures Smaug's lust for his hoard and that's all that matters there, in my opinion. And there's a primitiveness to his Glorund that is quite anthropologically intriguing as I see it even though the drawing isn't in perspective.

Maybe Tolkien's dragons aren't terrifying, but they are satisfying in their own way.