Bestiaries (A book of beasts, “bēstiārium” from Latin “bēstia” meaning “beast, animal”) were medieval books about animals following a long tradition of animal literature from the Classical period onwards. They had chapters on real and imaginary beasts, and their purpose was to both entertain and also teach Christian morals to the reader.
The Middle-earth Bestiary will provide information about where animals appear in the works/adaptions of J.R.R. Tolkien's world and what context they appear in. From the talking fox incredulously watching the group of Hobbits walking through the Shire in The Fellowship of the Ring to Sadoc Burrows declaring Elanor “Nori” Brandyfoot being part-squirrel in The Rings of Power, I hope to eventually provide a resource for fans and scholars to explore the animal kingdom in Middle-earth.
This will be an ongoing series published as individual blogs for each animal, creature or monster. This page will form a hub for you to easily find all the entries and new content as it is published.
To get an idea of how the blog series will potentially look, please check the link below to the work I did for the Tolkien Trewsday "Animals" theme (Week 13, 23 May 2023) where I provided a quick A to Z of the season 1 animals in Amazon Studio's "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power". I also created a sample for "Swan".
Middle-earth Bestiaries: Quick Links
📜 Tolkien Trewsday: A Middle-earth Bestiary: naming the animals in Tolkien’s works and adaptions
The Middle-earth Bestiary: A to Z
Entries coming soon! An ongoing series.
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