cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/468547
David Day's A TOLKIEN BESTIARY is a scholarly, definitive and enchantingly beautiful explanation of all the imaginary beasts, monsters, races, nations,deities, fauna and flora of J.R.R- Tolkien's fantasy worlds of Middle-earth and the Undying Lands.
David Day has identified, analyzed and described 129 separate races. Each is lucidly explained in terms of its physical appearance, language, behavior and culture. A TOLKIEN BESTIARY does not retell their stories: its purpose is to make Tolkien’s own books more accessible by identifying his living creatures and explaining their roles in his epic world.
While not the most accurate of the Tolkien Bestiaries, this one was the first, and the one with the best artwork.
Downloads for the novels:
I always loved Tolkien growing up and still have my physical copy of this. Found it in a used book store and it feels magical. The art work is beautiful and imaginative.
Back when I was in middle school, my town flooded and my family lost a lot of their possessions. This is one of the books that survived, so I'll always remember going over it to distract me from everything else going on.