Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Books

First Look: ‘Flora of Middle Earth: Plants of Tolkien’s Legendarium’ by Walter Judd and Graham Judd

As you know, few settings in literature are as widely known or celebrated as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth. The natural landscape plays a major role in nearly all of Tolkien’s major works, and readers have come to view the geography of this fictional universe as integral to understanding and enjoying Tolkien’s works. And in laying out this continent, Tolkien paid special attention to its plant life; in total, over 160 plants are explicitly mentioned and described as a part of Middle-Earth. Nearly all of these plants are real species, and many of the fictional plants are based on scientifically grounded botanic principles.

In Flora of Middle Earth: Plants of Tolkien’s Legendarium (Oxford, August 15 2017), botanist Walter Judd gives a detailed species account of every plant found in Tolkien’s universe, complete with the etymology of the plant’s name, a discussion of its significance within Tolkien’s work, a description of the plant’s distribution and ecology, and an original hand-drawn illustration by artist Graham Judd in the style of a woodcut print. Among the over three-thousand vascular plants Tolkien would have seen in the British Isles, the authors show why Tolkien may have selected certain plants for inclusion in his universe over others, in terms of their botanic properties and traditional uses. The clear, comprehensive alphabetical listing of each species, along with the visual identification key of the plant drawings, adds to the reader’s understanding and appreciation of the Tolkien canon.

About the Authors

Walter S. Judd is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biology, University of Florida. His research focuses on the systematics and evolution of the flowering plants. He has published over 200 refereed articles and has described numerous new species of plants.

Graham Judd holds an MFA in Printmaking, and received a Jerome Foundation Fellowship for Emerging Printmakers at Highpoint Center for Printmaking. He currently teaches at Augsburg College and Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

DISCLAIMER

Forces of Geek is protected from liability under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and “Safe Harbor” provisions.

All posts are submitted by volunteer contributors who have agreed to our Code of Conduct.

FOG! will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement.

Please contact us for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content.

SOCIAL INFLUENCER POLICY

In many cases free copies of media and merchandise were provided in exchange for an unbiased and honest review. The opinions shared on Forces of Geek are those of the individual author.

You May Also Like

Reviews

Art by Dan DeCarlo  Edited by Bill Morrison Published by Fantagraphics   Innocence and Seduction: The Art of Dan DeCarlo is not a brand-new...

Reviews

By W.R. Miller Forewords by Robert Greenberger, Joe R. Lansdale, Andrea Romano, Jerry Beck Published by BearManor Media   I’ve just gone through all...

Interviews

Journalist and author Ray Richmond has been covering television as a critic and columnist since 1978 for such outlets as The Hollywood Reporter, Daily...

Contests

Packed with exclusive content, this fully illustrated tome is a comprehensive behind-the-scenes look at the creative process of bringing a god and his worlds...