Tolkien Calendar 2010

The 2010 Tolkien Calendar by Ted Nasmith depicts scenes from the Third Age of Middle earth. The artwork is colorful and very beautiful, a nice change from the magnificent but somewhat somber calendars of the last two years. Nasmith excells in depicting mountains and cloudscapes, and he is at his peak here. I especially like the cover depiction of Rivendell and the center fold out picture of The Pillars of the Kings. Nasmith's depictions of homelier landscapes is also admirable. I enjoyed January's Green Hill Morning and February's Last Sight of Hobbiton for their visions of the Shire. Just as lovely is September's Frodo and Haldir in Lothlorien, with a wide landscape of golden mallorns stretching for miles.

Several of the paintings in this calendar are repeats from previous years, but they are still very beautiful and well worth seeing again. I will enjoy using this calendar, as will all lovers of Middle earth.

Out of all the esteemed artists who have created images of J.R.R. Tolkien's work, Ted Nasmith is probably in the top five somewhere.

Heck, he'd probably be higher on the list if it weren't for John Howe and Alan Lee, because his paintings of Middle Earth are lushly detailed, and rich with light and colour. And the "Tolkien Calendar 2010" focuses on the events at the end of the Third Age (aka, "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit"), filling these pictures with clouds and mountains, light and shadow, armies and hobbits.

It begins with a beautiful, light-filled picture of the hobbits setting out across the Shire's rolling green hills, and proceeds through a series of striking, haunting outdoors images -- the hobbits and Aragorn wandering across the countryside by night; a pair of wizards walking past a vast grey mountain range; Boromir's boat falling over a white waterfall, with his friends watching from the middle of the wide river; and Haldir showing Frodo...Read more

This calendar is beautiful. Ted Nasmith really captures Middke-earth and its characters. Each month a beautiful drawing, my favorite is december, a drawing all in tones of blue and some white for the moon and its reflection, a real genious conception.

There is a poster in the middle of the Argonath, with an important detail: Isildur and Anarion are both carrying axes, as Tolkien described in the book (The two towers), and not swords, as Peter Jackson worngly portrayed in the movie.

A must-have.