I've always liked the artwork on this card, but I have to admit... I can't place it in the LotR world.

Apparently it's a statue that's been around a long time. But where? Why? What's it represent?

Given the quote, I'm guessing it's a statue of an elf in Lothlorien, but I don't recall any such reference, so maybe I'm way off. Plus, it seems odd on the forest floor rather than in the treetops.

I love identifying artwork in this game within LotR, but this has me stumped. Is it a monument to someone or some event? Or merely artistic liberty without a specific reference and I'm overthinking it?

2 hours ago, JYoder said:

Given the quote, I'm guessing it's a statue of an elf in Lothlorien,

The background and the quote most definitely put me in mind of Lothlorien, but yes I cannot place exactly in the books this image. It could be a statue of Maedhros (his hands burned by the Silmaril to reflect the missing hand of the statue) but it seems too thin of a connection

2 hours ago, JYoder said:

Or merely artistic liberty without a specific reference and I'm overthinking it?

I would go for this explanation.

With the reference to the fall of Nargothrond and both bow and sword, I was put in mind of Beleg Strongbow, friend of Turin Turumbar (who was instrumental in the fall of Nargothrond). But even if Galadriel know Beleg before leaving Doriath, it's still just my fancy. The quote is taken from Galadriel speaking about Celeborn, "the wisest of the Elves of Middle-earth, and a giver of gifts beyond the power of kings" -- she's merely saying how long she has been with him and how they worked together.

Galdriel completely overshadows her husband, of course, and it was she who bears the ring. She immediately follows her sentence about Celeborn's greatness and uncounted years fighting together by informing the fellowship that it was *she* who summoned the White Council and that *her* design was for Gandalf to lead it. But then, if you're married to Galadriel, letting her take the lead may be proof indeed that you *should* be accounted the wisest of all the Elves of Middle-Earth. After all, he has Galadriel, and she only has Celeborn. But at long last the long defeat came home to Celeborn the wise as well:

"Kinsman, farewell! May your doom be other than mine, and your treasure remain with you to the end!"

For some reason I've always associated that image with Ithilien, as it seems to invoke similar imagery to the broken statue that Frodo and Sam come across at the Cross-roads of the Fallen King on their way to Mordor. The Long Defeat also applies to the gradual erosion of Gondor's hold on its surrounding lands following the Kin-strife and the Great Plague in the middle of the third age.

10 hours ago, Alonewolf87 said:

The background and the quote most definitely put me in mind of Lothlorien, but yes I cannot place exactly in the books this image. It could be a statue of Maedhros (his hands burned by the Silmaril to reflect the missing hand of the statue) but it seems too thin of a connectio

Maedros had his RIGHT hand cut off (because he was chained by Morgoth and while beeing rescued, they were not able to cut the chain).

Beleg (or Mablung for that matter) would be a good guess - both Sindarin (not Noldor) heroes - they would be fit for statue in Lothlorien. And Galadriel na Celeborn were in Doriath often to know them.

And the setting and surrounding forrest always made me think its Lorien.

Btw it IS one of the best artworks (slow fading of the Leves - represented by overgrown statue).

50 minutes ago, OlorinCZ said:

Maedros had his RIGHT hand cut off (because he was chained by Morgoth and while beeing rescued, they were not able to cut the chain).

Oh right, that also happened to him, totally forgot. Lot of hand cutting going around in the First Age

To anyone interested, I wrote the artist. His response is below, but basically, it was artistic license, as suspected...

Wow, this is a very old piece but if I remember correctly I think i did not get much context to it. We usually dont for regular pieces like that. The statue is of an elf and the location being Lothlorien is correct i believe. But in terms of the Lore im not really sure. I personally did not base it on anyone in particular.

But perhaps his subconscious did! Haha

I like Dale's explanation personally. Both Galadriel and Celeborn would surely have known Beleg Strongbow, and I can imagine that they would have wanted to set up a memorial for him. I love these references to older histories.

On 3/12/2020 at 5:22 PM, dalestephenson said:

Galdriel completely overshadows her husband, of course, and it was she who bears the ring. She immediately follows her sentence about Celeborn's greatness and uncounted years fighting together by informing the fellowship that it was *she* who summoned the White Council and that *her* design was for Gandalf to lead it. But then, if you're married to Galadriel, letting her take the lead may be proof indeed that you *should* be accounted the wisest of all the Elves of Middle-Earth. After all, he has Galadriel, and she only has Celeborn. But at long last the long defeat came home to Celeborn the wise as well:

"Kinsman, farewell! May your doom be other than mine, and your treasure remain with you to the end!"

Tolkien never got to really flesh out Celeborn as a character, though, I think it's safe to say he didn't mismatch couples that weren't already doomed. (Sorry, Turin) He's a character of great(inserted?) lineage(kinsman of Thingol), that doesn't really get fleshed out on the back end. Regardless, being the grandfather of the queen of Gondor and father-in-law to Elrond bears some weight. Heck, even the Gaffer is honored through his son. It's through his martial leadership that Lorien is defended and Dol Guldur successfully assaulted for Galadriel to Nenya-nuke its core to bring healing to Mirkwood. He's also the giver of gifts, right? I highly doubt Galadriel is like a mom buying Celeborn stuff to give to his sister and dad for Christmas. I would say(off the top of my head) the one gift Galadriel presented independently from him was the blessing to Gimli. Even though we get very little information about him, we have to assume there's a reason he's a match for Galadriel. I just finished rereading the appendices. Celeborn is ridiculous in the movies.