Afraid of Orc Paintings? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Legate of Amon Lanc · 07-01-2010, 02:41 PM

Today I was out in the evening and when I came back, my mum was alone at home. As I entered, she came to me and said in a rather unnerved voice: "There was something looking at me over there! It was very disturbing." It turned out that "over there" was the table where my computer rests and that "something" was one of the pictures which showed at my computer as screensaver. I have basically a slideshow of John Howe's paintings as a screensaver. Naturally, I became interested in the identity of the mysterious scary looking face - the way my mother seemed scared of it seemed inadequate to the way I see John Howe's illustrations (if it was, say, H.R. Giger, I wouldn't be so surprised). It took a while to find the culprit - I had to find the particular image according to my mum's description ("it had very scary eyes and a helmet!"), but eventually I found it. It was one of the Orcs which, I believe, are used in some LotR board game, and it was indeed looking straight at me. Even when I found it, my mum did not seem to be very pleased by looking at it, and soon she left while muttering something about "going to have bad dreams for sure".

I found it rather interesting (well, mostly I found it funny, because of the - for her - unusually "serious" way my mother reacted to it) - I never thought of Orcs as particularly scary, not in the "really scary" sense. A picture of a Nazgul would be far more likely to make me feel afraid of it, even though Nazgul, as well as Orcs and actually most of fantasy creatures are so familiar objects to me that I would not be scared of them even if I was in a more fearful mood than I usually am.

But it made me think. Is there any visual depicition of Lord of the Rings (Hobbit, Silmarillion etc.) characters, creatures or even places, which make you afraid, or seem scary to you, at least a bit? (Or seemed so to you e.g. when you were younger?)

I would prefer to talk primarily about paintings here, even though I am suspecting that quite many people might mention something from the movies here. But anything goes - I am just curious now. So let's talk about any visual depictions of the abovementioned things (we already had some threads where we talked about what scared us in the books themselves as written, so let's leave that out for now and talk only about real pictures).

The Might · 07-04-2010, 05:23 AM

I never had a problem with orcs or trolls either, somehow the fact that they were so common and basically often just cannon fodder made them less frightening.

More unique creatures however did seem dangerous - for example the Watcher in the Water or Shelob/Ungoliant. I never really was a big fan of krakens or spiders.

And to honour our forum's theme, which kid wouldn't be scared after seeing this representation of a wight?

Marroc Underhill · 09-21-2010, 09:20 AM

I can't really think of any Tolkien-inspired paintings that have "scared" me, but the previously posted interpretation of the Barrow-Wight from the Fellowship of the Ring has always been a favorite of mine; it's just so... perfect. The setting, the atmosphere, the Wight itself. It's such a cold painting.

I just happened to be toward the end of the Fog on the Barrow-Downs chapter at the moment!

Rune Son of Bjarne · 09-22-2010, 05:32 AM

Personally I find this a bit scary.

Galadriel · 09-22-2010, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Might

I never had a problem with orcs or trolls either, somehow the fact that they were so common and basically often just cannon fodder made them less frightening.

More unique creatures however did seem dangerous - for example the Watcher in the Water or Shelob/Ungoliant. I never really was a big fan of krakens or spiders.

And to honour our forum's theme, which kid wouldn't be scared after seeing this representation of a wight?

This picture creeped me out a bit, but not enough to 'scare' me. I'm generally not afraid of painting from the Tolkien universe (though I admit, sometimes the verse itself scares me. Huan...*shudder*).

07-01-2010, 02:41 PM	#1
Legate of Amon Lanc A Voice That Gainsayeth Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: In that far land beyond the Sea Posts: 7,431	Afraid of Orc Paintings? Today I was out in the evening and when I came back, my mum was alone at home. As I entered, she came to me and said in a rather unnerved voice: "There was something looking at me over there! It was very disturbing." It turned out that "over there" was the table where my computer rests and that "something" was one of the pictures which showed at my computer as screensaver. I have basically a slideshow of John Howe's paintings as a screensaver. Naturally, I became interested in the identity of the mysterious scary looking face - the way my mother seemed scared of it seemed inadequate to the way I see John Howe's illustrations (if it was, say, H.R. Giger, I wouldn't be so surprised). It took a while to find the culprit - I had to find the particular image according to my mum's description ("it had very scary eyes and a helmet!"), but eventually I found it. It was one of the Orcs which, I believe, are used in some LotR board game, and it was indeed looking straight at me. Even when I found it, my mum did not seem to be very pleased by looking at it, and soon she left while muttering something about "going to have bad dreams for sure". I found it rather interesting (well, mostly I found it funny, because of the - for her - unusually "serious" way my mother reacted to it) - I never thought of Orcs as particularly scary, not in the "really scary" sense. A picture of a Nazgul would be far more likely to make me feel afraid of it, even though Nazgul, as well as Orcs and actually most of fantasy creatures are so familiar objects to me that I would not be scared of them even if I was in a more fearful mood than I usually am. But it made me think. Is there any visual depicition of Lord of the Rings (Hobbit, Silmarillion etc.) characters, creatures or even places, which make you afraid, or seem scary to you, at least a bit? (Or seemed so to you e.g. when you were younger?) I would prefer to talk primarily about paintings here, even though I am suspecting that quite many people might mention something from the movies here. But anything goes - I am just curious now. So let's talk about any visual depictions of the abovementioned things (we already had some threads where we talked about what scared us in the books themselves as written, so let's leave that out for now and talk only about real pictures). __________________ "Should the story say 'he ate bread,' the dramatic producer can only show 'a piece of bread' according to his taste or fancy, but the hearer of the story will think of bread in general and picture it in some form of his own." -On Fairy-Stories

07-04-2010, 05:23 AM	#2
The Might Guard of the Citadel Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Oxon Posts: 2,205	I never had a problem with orcs or trolls either, somehow the fact that they were so common and basically often just cannon fodder made them less frightening. More unique creatures however did seem dangerous - for example the Watcher in the Water or Shelob/Ungoliant. I never really was a big fan of krakens or spiders. And to honour our forum's theme, which kid wouldn't be scared after seeing this representation of a wight? __________________ “The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike.” Delos B. McKown

09-21-2010, 09:20 AM	#3
Marroc Underhill Haunting Spirit Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: In The Deep Places Of The World Posts: 61	I can't really think of any Tolkien-inspired paintings that have "scared" me, but the previously posted interpretation of the Barrow-Wight from the Fellowship of the Ring has always been a favorite of mine; it's just so... perfect. The setting, the atmosphere, the Wight itself. It's such a cold painting. I just happened to be toward the end of the Fog on the Barrow-Downs chapter at the moment! __________________ Hail to the Lords of Angmar, for we are the true power!