From the early days of #Tolkien illustration the innovative, colourful images of Hugo awarding winning fantasy/sci fi elder Tim Kirk shine out like Gondorian beacons. Here's one of my favourites, Frodo, Sam and Gimli peering into the starry depths of Mirrormere (c.1974).

On my Substack Release the Wargs now, short tales of creeping RPG horror from 18th century Cornwall...💀 open.substack.com/pub/joelmerr...

Seeds of Cornish Horror

I’ve lived in Cornwall on and off for most of my life and a few years ago took it upon myself to write a sourcebook for the Call of Cthulhu RPG which would (I quote from my own blurb) ‘afford players ...

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Hitting the alcohol markers again...Mordor Orc Archer, quick and blocky colour sketch 💀 👁️#Tolkien

Saruman in Orthanc as Treebeard and Quickbeam look on. No wait, this is pole-dwelling Luke the Stylite from the c. 11th century book Menologion of Basil II. #Tolkien

Bored Éowyn waits for Théoden to snap out of it. No wait, this is the King and Queen from the 12th century Lewis chess set. #Tolkien

Available to read now on my Substack Release the Wargs - The Power of Mordor? Reading Roger Garland’s Battle of Pelennor Fields. It's an oldie, but a goodie 😉 #Tolkien open.substack.com/pub/joelmerr...

The Power of Mordor?

Reading Roger Garland’s Battle of Pelennor Fields.

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The Black Riders party post-Weathertop. No wait, it's Dance of Death by Michael Wolgemut (1493). #Tolkien

Quick alcohol marker sketch for an upcoming painting - Hedgerow Mage with Spider Accomplice🕷️🕸️

And the award for Creepiest Dragon of the Day goes to... Glaurung (1981) by the late, great Roger Garland. If you're old enough you'll remember this one from the cover of the 1982 Unfinished Tales paperback by Unwin. A truly weird and icky Great Worm emerges from a sphincter-like gate #Tolkien 😱

Besides fantasy I used to paint a lot of wildlife, and this is a subject I'm hoping to return to now that I've got a bit more time to flex the old paintbrushes. Here's one I did for a commission, a Bengal Tiger (oils on canvas) with a particularly intense, Derren Brown-like gaze. Look into my eyes 😵‍💫

Read about Sergei Iukhimov's weird and wonderful faux-art history of Middle-earth on my Substack now. In a quick excerpt from my book we discuss The Bilbo Book, the Dushanchik family of Tower Hills and the Sauron-loving Murderers (among others!). joelmerriner.substack.com/p/the-bilbo-...

The Bilbo Book and Other Stories

Sergei Iukhimov's Art History of Middle-earth

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On the subject of new projects I'll be kicking off my Substack Release the Wargs! shortly where I'll be combining my customary #Tolkien art history rambles with snippets of fiction, book updates and random fantasy art stuff. First post should be up soon, subscribe if you can stand the howling 🐺🤪

So, after nearly ten years I've officially left HE teaching. It's been good, but it's time for a change. Luckily I've got some exciting new projects to throw myself into. Firstly, I'm writing a new book, a (🤞) funny tale about '80s fantasy fandom called Chaotic Good Guy...1/2 (Art: John Blanche)

It's Angus McBride #Tolkien time again and as always our man creates a killer MERP cover image. From Mount Gundabad (1989) we have this awesome Big Boss Guy complete with ravening orc hordes and💀face horse. Loving the jaunty pose btw, plus this season's must-have helm & sunglasses combo 🕶️ #Tolkien

The paperback version of my book Illustrating The Lord of the Rings in the Soviet Bloc is available to pre-order on Amazon now www.amazon.co.uk/Illustrating... Sadly the PB release date isn't until 18th March 2027 (🤪) but in the meantime here's some Yassen Panov to get you in the mood #Tolkien

For Friday, a question... Which Nazgûl are you? (I'm top right at the back, if you're asking 😜💀) Art by the awesome Allan Curless (c.1979)

Thrilled to have been shortlisted for best book category for my book Illustrating The Lord of the Rings in the Soviet Bloc 😄

Tolkien Society@tolkiensociety.org · 4mo ago

We are pleased to announce the shortlists for #Tolkien Society Awards 2026. If you're a member, vote now! Our panellists have chosen the shortlists, and now members will choose the winner of the Best Article, Artwork, Book and Online Content awards. www.tolkiensociety.org/2026/04/vote...

One for Tuesday - Thingol presents the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin to sulky kid Túrin by Denis Gordeev (c. 2010). In a typically rich Gordeev composition, it's the fabrics, surfaces and gilded metals that really shine. Some great facial expressions too, but watch that slippery floor folks! #Tolkien

For my new book project I've been revisiting my first encounter with #Tolkien art. It came via his own Death of Smaug (c. 1936), as seen on a 1967 Hobbit bought at my school jumble in 1981. No blurb on this cover, just a list of epic Unwin titles such as D.H. Fink Release from Nervous Tension 😁 📚💙

A bit of Sunday Nerdery for you - recurring medieval motif I-IV Notre-Dame - rose window pattern accents (c. 1250) Edward Johnston - decorative page border (1906) #Tolkien - Glorund sets forth to seek Túrin border (1927) Moe Szyslak - Icelandic jumper in The Saga of Carl (2013)

Every now and again I feel obliged to repost David E. Alter Jr's brilliant 1982 pic Bilbo's Great Adventure. Like a cross between a Victorian neo-medieval tapestry and an 8-bit platform game it condenses the whole story of The Hobbit into one image. My fave #Tolkien detail...that awesome little Bard

Here's one I've been writing about this week, from the heady fantasy days of 1986 it's John Sibbick's iconic old school cover pic for #Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st edition. Depicting a gang of adventurers storming the Temple of Khorne it's chock full of in-jokes, including Sibbick's severed head 💀

Honoured to be asked to co-write a chapter for this with the brilliant @mariebreta.bsky.social. 😄

Prof. Dimitra Fimi@dimitrafimi.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Submitted today! Following a few years of rigorous peer-review and working with my co-editor @lukebshelton.bsky.social and many Tolkienists! - 44 chapters - 46 Tolkien scholars globally - over 280K words overall Still tons of work to do as proofs arrive, but feels like a moment to celebrate. ☺️

In the introduction to my book I talk a bit (well, quite a lot) about Balrog iconographies, comparing/contrasting examples of the winged and wingless varieties. Falling firmly into the latter camp is this one: Paul Raymond Gregory's two-and-a-half metre wide epic oil painting Khazad-dûm #Tolkien 🔥

Joan Wyatt's Hall of Edoras (c. 1979) has always intrigued me. Of course it has echoes of Beorn's Hall by #Tolkien, and that medieval hall prototype sketch from E.V. Gordon's book...but bloody hell if it doesn't look a lot like Hubert Robert's design for the Grand Galerie of the Louvre (1796) too😲😉

It's Friday! To celebrate that fact here's a classic piece of '80s #Tolkien awesomeness courtesy of Inger Edelfeldt - Scouring of the Shire (c. 1983). Also known as Don't F**k with Hobbits, it depicts a mangy, tattered Saruman in a doomed face-off with Frodo, Gríma and assorted Halfling hard-nuts.

Yes, I've posted it before (and before that) but I care not! Galloping full pelt from MERP Gorgoroth (1990) come Angus McBride's breakneck Nazgûl trio. Glimmering armour, billowing cloaks, malevolent red-eyed horses and a female Ringwraith about to hack off your head. "This - is - Mordor!" #Tolkien

A bit off-topic for me, but hey you know how it is, every now and again somebody asks you to paint them an albino lion. This is one I knocked out in oils a few years back when I did such things. Yes, I know his eyes aren't pink but I just got too wrapped up in his hair to give a damn about that...🦁🎨

Working on a new book proposal at the mo...a semi-perilous dungeon-crawl through ‘70s & ‘80s fantasy art in the unreliable company of a wide-eyed teenage wannabe-artist fanboy (me) and a wizened bearded academic (also me). To put you in mind of that era, here's Jimmy Cauty's 1976 classic #Tolkien

Angus McBride's 1997 pic An Unexpected Party (made for Iron Crown's Middle-earth Puzzles set), has the retro styling of an old Saturday matinee film. I feel like it shouldn't be my cup of tea, but then I get lost in the detail and the awesome McBride-ness and it's just too cool not to love #Tolkien