Image via The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The announcement that JRR Tolkien would be releasing a new novel later this year didn’t exactly excite many diehard Tolkienists, if only for the fact that The Fall of Numenor will not actually involve any new writing material from The Lord of the Rings author. But you never look a horse gift in the mouth, and the fact that we’re getting 11 new illustrations from Alan Lee is as regal a gift as the one Thorin gave Bilbo at the end of The Hobbit.
Alan Lee has long been revered as one of the finest cartoonists to portray Middle-earth, with many fans holding him on par with John Howe. Both Lee and Howe worked with Peter Jackson to direct The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, not to mention that we’ve seen his work on every illustrated version of The Legendary, whether set in the Third Age or as early as The Silmarillionchronologically the first book involving the creation of the world at the hands of Eru Ilúvatar.
Now, thanks to Weekly entertainment, we have a first look at some of the artwork that will appear in The Fall of Numenor. Check them out below.
Lee also made a statement about returning to Middle-earth.
“It is a pleasure to be able to explore the Second Age in greater detail and learn more about those dark and ancient events, alliances and catastrophes that ultimately led to the stories of the Third Age that we know best. had the opportunity to work on The Lord of the Rings and The HobbitI tried to imbue the images and designs with an appropriate antiquity, a layering of history and echoes of those older stories, and The Fall of Numenor proved a perfect opportunity to dig a little deeper into Middle-earth’s rich history.
Describing the fall of the titular kingdom of Men, this new novel is a collection of writings involving the Second Age of Middle-earth, and how Sauron the Deceiver brought about the end of Númenor, thus paving the way for the creation of Gondor and Arnor. .
The Fall of Numenor releases November 10.