HOME | DD
aautio — Sketch: Idril
Published: 2007-01-19 00:24:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 4757; Favourites: 37; Downloads: 69
Redirect to original
Description
Idril Celebrindal, Daughter of Turgon“But fairer than all the wonders of Gondolin was Idril, Turgon's daughter, she that was called Celebrindal, the Silver-foot, whose hair was as the gold of Laurelin before the coming of Melkor.”
-- J. R. R. Tolkien: The Silmarillion, chapter 15: Of the Noldor in Beleriand
My second attempt at sketching Idril Celebrindal, princess of Gondolin, daughter of Turgon, wife of Tuor, mother of Eärendil, etc. etc...
This was a small character sketch done for a bigger illustration idea I've had kicking around in my mind for some time now. It's quite rough and still not exactly like I picture Idril, but I thought it could stand on its own as a concept, so I worked it into a deviation. It also served as an exercise in digital colouring.. oh boy, do I have a lot to learn of that..
HB pencil and Photoshop.
Related content
Comments: 11
Oh, I just read the story of Tuor from the Unfinished Tales and there is a part when Tour and Voronwë where at the gate of Gondolin with Elemmakil. Elemmakil said that he recognised Tuor as a Man from Tuors eyes. Not from the shape(IMO), but something in his eyes told Elemmakil, that Tuor is a man and not elven.
And something about the soul...Fëanors body burned/turned to ashes etc. (dunno how it was written in english)..because the fire (his spirit?) in him burned so brightly/fierce.
So...what i'm trying to say, that I agree with you 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I agree that we are in agreement!
Like you, I also don't believe the eyes of Elves and Men were physically different. But by their eyes Elves could be recognized from Men: Tolkien mentions many times "the elven-light in their eyes" etc -- I take that as meaning a glimpse of the power of the elven fëa.. something that you could almost perceive, but was not physical but "of the soul." (So I don't believe elven eyes were literally luminous, either!) 
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
very nice! beautiful.
but I don't agree with you about those ears
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you!
Hhmm.. I never thought Elves would look much different from Men and I always wondered if they should have different ears. In common fantasy stories there tends to be all kinds of elves, usually with outrageous ears.. and I've never been a huge fan of that. But I believe Tolkien mentioned elven ears being "leaf-shaped" so I suppose that would be the reason they're usually portrayed as slightly pointed and I've done so too..
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
where? I have tried to look for a clear or as clear as possible explanation about the appearance of elves. I have always seen elves as to be more than men, like men but still more beautiful, handsome, (now some finnish, because of my lack of skill in english, I assume you are finnish
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yes, I agree with you: I don't think Quendi were physically much different from Atani, jut somehow more beautiful, more "perfect" in a way.. I believe the main difference was in their "soul", fëa, and not their bodies. You can find in HoME (probably in the Athrabeth, IIRC) the notion that they were virtually just two branches of the same race, since they could produce fertile offspring.
To answer your question: I think that in the Etymologies of Elvish (published in HoME 5) he wrote a note in the description of the stem *LAS (usually meaning "leaf") that elven ears were leaf-shaped and more pointed than human ones (although the validity of this notion has been questioned). Supporting this would also be the fact that during his lifetime Tolkien approved of the artwork done for his books featuring pointy-eared elves without a word. I don't see any reason to really overdo that little difference, though.
Also, I think there's been almost as much debate over this issue as the infamous "Do Balrogs have wings?" (Well, of course they do, but let's not get started on this one, ok.. 
(ja kyllä joo, olen suomalainen.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Wings and things
hmm..I will have to find that note somewhere and I hope I do.
But still, great job with these drawings!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
