The Men of Dale and Laketown, and the Beornings too: A Brief History of Beorn and Bard, and other Men

So have you ever wondered how a bunch of Men ended up in Dale, Laketown and the eaves of Mirkwood, surrounded by dwarves, elves, goblins and dragons and miles of wilderness? It's actually quite an interesting story that involves a lot of migrations, wars and possibly some inbreeding . . . I'm not really sure. Anyways, jump past the break to read more:

Fridays at the Mathom-House:

Happy Friday! I meant to get this posted up last week . . . but didn't. This week's Mathom-House will be featuring the amazing illustrations of Sceithailm, who has a gallery full of amazing stuff over at deviantart.com. All of her work is great, but to me, her depictions of Middle-earth are the cream of the crop. The texturing she works into the fabrics and skin of her characters is amazing.

Jump past the break to enjoy a feast for the eyes!

Friday at the Mathom-House: Abe Papakhian

Friday is here again folks, and this time we're enjoying the amazing illustrations of Abe Papkhian. You can check out all of Abe's work over on Deviantart.com. Continuing last week's theme of hand-drawn art, Abe's illustrations are all pencil or watercolor. Now, I'm not sure if you'll agree, but I feel like there is definitely something Brother's Hildebrandt about Abe's style. I'm a fan. Jump past the break to see even more awesome Hobbit and LOTR art.

Friday at the Mathom-House: Jian Gou

 It's a long time since we've had a good Friday at the Mathom-House around these parts, but I came across some of these amazing stained-glass illustrations by Jian Gou on theonering.net, and I couldn't resist tracking down all them and showing them off. In terms of awesome-ness, they pretty much speak for themselves, don't you agree? Read on past the break for more.