2022 Tolkien Calendar Speculation: A Middle-earth Traveller

 

Aside from thinking about and speculating which Tolkien books are coming out next year (whether they be completely new or new editions of existing work), I also ponder what the calendar will be: who the artist is, what the 'theme' is, and which (if any) book it's related to.

If not for the illustrated edition of Unfinished Tales that had come out this year, I was willing to bet that the calendar would be themed after John Howe's most recent (English! and Tolkien!) art book called A Middle-earth Traveller.



I'm standing firm by that for the 2022 calendar. It's not exactly known when Prime's Middle-earth series is set to debut; though John Howe is the lead conceptual artist on the project. Making the calendar for that year be based off his book would generate (more) interest in Howe's artwork, as well as the Prime series because of it.



Alan Lee has two art books out, for both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, which also got calendars themed after them. John Howe's latest art book hasn't been seen in calendar form yet. That could be another reason why A Middle-earth Traveller could be selected.

Even though it's a few years off ,the 2009 calendar was based off the 2004 illustrated edition of The Silmarillion, for example, it's the perfect time to do it.




It is also not yet known what the 'big' Tolkien book will be in 2021, for the calendar to follow. By 'big Tolkien book' I am referring to it coming out in standard hardback, collector's edition, and having a calendar related to it for the following year. If there isn't anything that would be appealing for the sake of a calendar, then A Middle-earth Traveller could fill that spot.



There are also a decent selection of colour images in the book which could work out for each month of the year. For the most part, these images aren't labelled, so I'm describing what they depict Some notable examples for contenders are:

- the new image of Gandalf, which is the cover of A Middle-earth Traveller could be used as the cover of the calendar itself, and appear inside for one of the months.
- A Hobbit's Dwelling (Bag End). Not a new image but, one in the book that could be used
- Rhosgobel, because it's always neat to see various artwork of it
- Fleeing from Shelob, specifically for October
- Taniquetil, another sight that's always worth seeing
- Gandalf and Bilbo with an Eagle (Gwahir?) standing at the edge of the eyrie
- The Lonely Mountain ("I want to see mountains again.....mountains, Gandalf!")
- The Long Lake
- Glaurung (death of Glaurung? The one of him breathing fire), not a new image, but a great depiction of a dragon. Dragons are John Howe at his very best
- The Woodland Realm (two images on the same page can be used)
- Angmar, as I've always loved to see the North depicted
- Gundabad, because a) it's in the North (see above) and b) because John Howe also specializes in sinister fortresses
- The Sea of Rhun, there are two images on the same page that could be used
- the image of the Nazgul flying away from Barad-dur, which was first seen in The Art of The Return of the King
- Lonely Capes & Wild Shores chapter 13 image at the top
- Cape Forrostar, as you can never get enough Numenor. This image would tie into the Prime series perfectly



It's also entirely possible that some images that don't appear within A Middle-earth Traveller itself could be added to the calendar, such as Smaug the Golden, Edoras, The Argonath, Smaug Over Esgaroth, to name a few 'calendar-worthy' images. After all, Ted Nasmith's depiction of Taniquetil appears in the 2021 calendar, which is themed after the illustrated edition of Unfinished Tales, however that image does not appear in the book.



John Howe is one my favourite Tolkien artists, along with Ted Nasmith and Alan Lee. Who I like 'best' depends on the image, really. For the time being, there isn't a 'calendar-worthy' Tolkien book coming out in 2021, combined with the fact that Howe is involved with the Prime series would make his art book a great contender for the 2022 calendar.

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