

Gwaihir rescues Gandalf from Orthanc





Gwaihir rescues Gandalf from Orthanc

79.3 x 59.3 cm, 1999

The 2001 Tolkien Calendar, HarperCollins Publishers, 2000

The scene where Gwaihir resues Gandalf from the dizzy heights of Orthanc is one of my favorites (I'm talking about the scene, not my try at it.) It is eerie and poetic and deserves several paintings.

I've recently had people complain that gwaihir is "unauthentic" because he is too big. I must have missed the passage where Tolkien specifies his wingspan...

But, if Thorondor had a wingspan of 20 fathoms, which is 120 feet, then Gwaihir seems rather modest compared to his illustrious ancestor.



The Tolkien Library - The Lord of the Rings: Appendix (Spain) Keywords: File size: 54.1 KB

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