Fridays at the Mathom-House: Belomlinsky

The Mathom-house it was called; for anything that Hobbits had no immediate use for, but were unwilling to throw away, they called a ‘mathom’.

–The Fellowship of the Ring; Prologue 

Yeah, I started this post like a week in advance to make sure I got it up on time. Cheating? Probably. Necessary? Definitely. 'Course, the good thing is, nobody cares if it's cheating, because today is Friday and that means two things: freedom, and great Hobbit art here at the Mathom-house!

This week we're expanding our horizons a little and looking at some great (and a little goofy) Hobbit art from the Soviet Union, as featured on the blog Real USSR (which is a fascinating blog to browse through, even if you don't consider the Tolkien-related stuff).

These illustrations were included in a Russian translation of the Hobbit (the 1971 edition, if I'm remembering correctly), and were the work of Belomlinsky, who did a bang-up job, IMO. Now, as you look through these images, you'll not that not all of them are strict interpretations of the events in the book; however, I think the artist does a good job of capturing the "feel" or "spirit" of the Hobbit . . . that fantastic element that has captivated so many of us.

So, jump past the break and enjoy a little bit of Middle-Earth, brought straight to you from Mother Russia!