Oxonmoot 2024

Over the past few years, developments in printing technology have made possible to study Tolkien’s artwork in finer detail than would have been hitherto impossible. Similarly the reproduction of some pieces in monumental format as part of the Aubusson Tisse Tolkien project has made visible in them some minute features which might otherwise have remained unnoticed. These were initially drawn to my attention by the weavers of Halls of Manwe (Taniquetil), who told me “We see faces everywhere!” I thought at the beginning that they were only mere coincidental visual illusion (or pareidolia) but, as I gradually discovered more of them in a wide range of drawings, they soon became too numerous to be mere coincidences. Moreover, some entire drawings seemed to have been drawn around such features.

Hiding features in his drawings may have appealed to his interest in riddles, including crosswords. The recent deciphering of his 1904 Rebus Letter to Father Francis Morgan shows that, already by the age of 12, Tolkien was able to make very elaborate visual puns. They shed light on a different facet of his personality, revealing another aspect of his personality, namely the joker, trickster and prankster..

This presentation will recapitulate the hidden features in Tolkien’s drawings which have been identified so far. Prepare to look at his drawings as you may never have before and to see them restored in their original glorious colours, cleaned up inasmuch as is possible from the aging of the paper which they were drawn on. It will also endeavour to explain why Tolkien inserted hidden features in his drawings throughout his life.