PSA: Cover reveal today

[Jon Hodgson]

The newsletter is sent out to whoever is on the mailing list. If you weren't on it when the newsletter went out, you've sadly missed it. But a person heading to our website or FB page, or here around 5pm will get caught up.

[Banazîr Galbasi]

And now the cover is posted to the main page. It's stunning! One question: why does the guard standing at
(I presume) King Thengel's left side look so whey-faced and...ominous? Compared to the other figures in the painting, he looks like he just crawled out of a barrow. Is this related to the book's content, or am I reading too much into a stylistic choice by the artist?

[fbnaulin]

What a cover!
I need this book in my shelf ASAP.

[Curulon]

And now the cover is posted to the main page. It's stunning! One question: why does the guard standing at
(I presume) King Thengel's left side look so whey-faced and...ominous? Compared to the other figures in the painting, he looks like he just crawled out of a barrow. Is this related to the book's content, or am I reading too much into a stylistic choice by the artist?

It could be that he's Aragorn in the guise of Thorongil, or simply an artist decision?

[Otaku-sempai]

It could be that he's Aragorn in the guise of Thorongil, or simply an artist decision?

That might well be Aragorn, though Horselords of Rohan suggests that the Rohirrim knew him as The Eagle. The name Thorongil might have come later, in Gondor.

[Banazîr Galbasi]

It could be that he's Aragorn in the guise of Thorongil, or simply an artist decision?

That might well be Aragorn, though Horselords of Rohan suggests that the Rohirrim knew him as The Eagle. The name Thorongil might have come later, in Gondor.

Aragorn first served King Theoden in T.A. 2957, when he was 25 or 26. The figure in the illustration seems to have a weathered face. My guess is that it's not him, unless the game's timeline advances significantly in the Rohan products (does it? I don't own Horse-lords of Rohan yet).

[farinal]

Holy ....! This cover left me speechless. It's too damn good. WOW! Great great great work.

[Curulon]

It could be that he's Aragorn in the guise of Thorongil, or simply an artist decision?

That might well be Aragorn, though Horselords of Rohan suggests that the Rohirrim knew him as The Eagle. The name Thorongil might have come later, in Gondor.

Aragorn first served King Theoden in T.A. 2957, when he was 25 or 26. The figure in the illustration seems to have a weathered face. My guess is that it's not him, unless the game's timeline advances significantly in the Rohan products (does it? I don't own Horse-lords of Rohan yet).

It does, yeah. 2960.

[Majestic]

Yes, that is an amazing cover. While I also love Mr. Hodgson's work, this is equally excellent!

[Otaku-sempai]

Aragorn first served King Theoden in T.A. 2957, when he was 25 or 26.

No, he didn't. Théoden did not become King of Rohan until TA 2980. According to Horselords of Rohan, Aragorn rode with his father King Thengel starting when Théoden was no more than nine years old. Tolkien never revealed the precise years when Aragorn served his errantry in Rohan (unless it was in the expanded Tale of Years found in The Peoples of Middle-earth). We just know from him that it couldn't have been earlier than 2957 and must have been before he served under Ecthelion of Gondor. But it was certainly long before Théoden came to power.

The figure in the illustration seems to have a weathered face. My guess is that it's not him, unless the game's timeline advances significantly in the Rohan products (does it? I don't own Horse-lords of Rohan yet).

Much time spent outdoors can weather a person's appearance prematurely. But what we see on the cover might just reflect an artistic choice on the part of Mr. Manley. However, if you want to posit that it's someone other than Aragorn son of Arathorn, the person might be an agent in the service of Saruman. I doubt that Grima Wormtongue was the first.