Bilbo and the Butterflies: A Magnificent Escape

One of the greatest joys I've found as a Tolkien illustrator is the way in which meditating on a particular scene as I research, sketch, and then paint it, is that I am gradually drawn into what is happening in the story until, for a brief time, I feel I am inside the tale. It's that experience of "being there" that I hope to give to viewers and patrons with each piece, and this painting of "Bilbo and the Butterflies" gave me the most wonderful sensation of the hobbit's palpable relief at getting out of Mirkwood into the bright and fresh air. Early viewers are saying they can almost feel the breeze and the refreshment.

It's an utterly remarkable moment of sudden freedom in J.R.R. Tolkien's ongoing themes of "recovery, escape and consolation" and a scene I feel so many folk can relate to in our own difficult Age.

Escaping tree-tangled Middle-earth, for a moment

Leaf and Branch, Water and Stone - Miriam Ellis

We know that humble hobbits don't enjoy high places, but repeatedly find themselves up towering trees, on mountain sides, and even in an eyrie at one point. What does Bilbo gain as he worriedly climbs out of the tangled forest? Or rather, what does he leave behind? The darkness, the grumbling dwarves who keep making him take all the worst risks of the adventure, the threat of shadowy monsters, the hunger and thirst, the confusion of being lost in a strange landscape - all the relatable bewilderments we encounter in one way or another along the road of life. Bilbo is not very good at climbing trees and he has to keep catching himself from falling along the way, but then...

"...at last, after a dreadful struggle in a difficult place where there seemed to be no convenient branches at all, he got near the top." - Flies and Spiders, The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien

Once he reaches the crown of the tree, he is dazzled by the brightness, heartened by the freshness, and so far away from all the cares he's left below. It's only a moment of temporary relief from his many troubles, and he has to return to all of them, but while the hobbit is there in the company of the Black Emperor butterflies and the wind and the sun, his heart is light.

Sharers in Tolkien's faith may glimpse in the scene a little vignette of how it might feel to find ourselves in the New Heavens and the New Earth, but I'd guess that any Tolkien fan in the troubled 21st century sometimes longs to be part of Bilbo's brief escape from the dark wood, to leave behind plague and war and greed and suffering and simply breathe and bask in the sun. Bilbo gains a marvelous break from stress, thanks to his climb, and are we not always looking for such moments these days?

Then, of course, he bravely climbs back down into the struggle, as we must. What a hobbit!

The Feast of the Wood-elves in Mirkwood - Miriam Ellis

There are so many scenes of release across the legendarium, whether out of the darkness of Angband, out of the pine trees beneath eagles' wings, or out of the Old Forest into Tom and Goldberry's house. Thanks to working on this painting, I've come to a new appreciation of how beautifully Professor Tolkien narrates the journey from the glass-darkly shadows of the weary world into the welcome light as Bilbo makes his courageous climb. It's pure genius and worth reading repeatedly! And though Bilbo doesn't know what he's looking at other then endless treetops, a glimpse of the roof of the Elvenking's Hall is actually there in the distance. Help is on the way in one of those "more than chance" encounters (however little the dwarves will enjoy being rescued).

The Gift of Escape through Tolkien

In On Fairy Stories, the Professor addresses the benefits of escaping from the imposed constructs of human society, and while the term "escapism" tends to have a negative connotation in our times, there is no gainsaying that millions derive value for climbing the trunk of the Tolkien tree into his special branches of Faërie.

I find this to be a healthy habit - not a flaw. In choosing what to do with the time we're given, we're inundated with marketed messaging that our primary purpose in life is to work and shop in an increasingly-utilitarian setting that has little room for awe, and wonder, and delight. I firmly believe that every person should get all the time they need for enjoying the beauty of this place we're in, and for celebrating the human arts of literature, painting, music, craft. If we are drawn into Tolkien's world because of its sheer beauty and brilliance, I see this as a mark of both a good heart and good taste!

I hope that this video short will give you a little restorative pause in your day. Just breathe and enjoy.