I was looking at the Bodleian exhibition catalog Tolkien Maker of Middle-earth and some high-resolution photos for it, while working on a few articles that will be posted here soonish, and I noticed a trivial but fun little detail. I had to look through The Art of the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull to confirm. I don't have permission to share any Tolkien original artwork here, so bear with me or find a copy of the two books to follow along.

If you look at The Fire Writing (MoMe #154, p. 343 and Art of LotR #7, p. 23), also visible as the fifth image in the Exhibition review article on Apollo, you will see that the paper is just transparent enough to give a hint of a tree on the reverse. Comparing with his other artwork, you can see (based on not only the tree but the ink spill near the bottom of the Fire Writing image) that the other side of the sheet has "The White Tree and stars, and trials for the Ring inscription" (Art of LotR #183, p. 228). Too bad we weren't able to see both sides in the exhibition!


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Tolkien Maker of Middle-earth on Amazon.com
Tolkien Maker of Middle-earth on Amazon.co.uk


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The Art of the Lord of the Rings on Amazon.com
Art of the Lord of the Rings on Amazon.co.uk