When you said, she was Swedish, I was surprised, because I remembered seeing a lot of the Moomins in Helsinki, so I looked her up on Wikipedia. And apparently both is kind of right. She was born in Helsinki and of Finnish nationality, but her native tongue was Swedish.
either way, she made bilbo look like he's late for his stepson's birth in a nazarene manger or like he's got some real tough negotiations after lunch with a burning bush after which hes gotta get in touch with his special fx guy to see about splitting a sea or similar body of water in half , or somethin hahaha
"I'll make it indubitably simple, starting with first One Valinor, second Two Trees, ... Then Three Silmarils, ... No I think I'll start with just with Eru Iluvatar, "The One!" Or wait, ... Maybe just _One ring to Rule them All..._ Yeah that'll make a simple little story!"
And to this day, he is the only aspect of the book I'm not totally sure how Tolkien really wanted it to have looked. When I read the books, I picture him as a lanky, black thing with eel-like skin that crawls around on all four like how Spider-man crawls up walls, and has giant yellow-green eyes and facial features that are equal parts childish and decrepit old man-ish. Almost like a swamp monster version of the movie character, but not quite.
My thoughts exactly. I did not realise Gollum was even supposed to be humanoid at all until I read in Lotr that he was supposed to be related to Hobbits. I always pictured him more frog like.
Yeah, even though it's far too large to be Gollum, it'd be an amazing creature to have in a story. It's definitely the thing that's always right behind you when you're alone and have spooked yourself out at 3 am
That illustration is so different from Tolkien's Gollum, it does not even remind of a hobbit-like creature which was the author's intention. Thank you for the fun fact!
At the time that Tolkien wrote The Hobbit, Gollum was just a mysterious creature who lived in a cave. Tolkien didn't come up with the idea that Gollum was a Hobbit until he wrote LOTR.
In fact, the re-writting of The Hobbit or the 2nd or 3rd edition was to link it up with the already published LOTR. "Riddles in the Dark" chapter was highly changed in the way Bilbo found the One Thing and the ill-tempered Gollum, as well as all chapters with the One Thing. The most important change after Gollum was when Bilbo lied to Gandalf to hide his "preciouss" from unwanted attention
@@mareksicinski3726 Well. Is description alone tje only reason we know that thing is a hobbit? If not then no op is right that is still a hobbit and that the one ring can do that to him is horrific.
@@Lampoluke I agree. The prospect of hobbits, incredibly mentally strong willed creatures that are so communal and loving being instantly corrupted by the ring is a lot more scary. It means that the corrupting power of the ring is just a matter of time for the most of creatures, with exception of the most powerful ones (the Valar, Bombadil, Eru, and probably not a lot more creatures can withstand it's power). Creating the Ring was clever and in the sense that it tricks more in the sense of being seemingly underwhelming, like a small irresistible vice.
In the first edition, Gollum is not described much, you could imagine him as you pleased. It was during the writing of TLOTR that Tolkien decided that Gollum was a hobbit, so he specified the description in the revised version, among other changes.
It's weird though... I read The Hobbit when I was 8 years old (I don't know what edition it was, but it was a wide paperback with the illustration of Smaug lying on top of the pile of treasure, it was very beat up and falling apart and could very well have been printed before the 60s idk...) and when I read the chapter Riddles in the Dark, I imagined Gollum pretty much like how Jansson drew him in this book - like a big hulking black creature with 2 big yellow eyes. I don't know why, but something about how Tolkien described him made me think he was big and wide and towered over Bilbo. Then the LOTR movies came out when I was a teen, and when I watched them for the first time I was like "uhhh... that's not how Gollum is supposed to look like." It was just so jarring to see this skinny little thing that's smaller than the hobbits. It did not make sense to me. Like, if I read Riddles in the Dark now with the image of skinny Gollum in mind, the entire chapter doesn't feel as scary or harrowing. Bilbo's fear of Gollum doesn't feel justified somehow, i don't know 🤷♀️
I love this fact, but just to note, Tove Jansson was Finnish, and her mother's tongue was swedish, one of the actual official languages spoken in Finland. She is regarded as one of the most beloved illustrators and authors of Finland.
Her mother was Swedish and her father was also Swedish, her father comes from the Swedish part of Finland, aka. Fenno-Swedish. ”Jansson” is also a Swedish surname, his and her native language was also Swedish. So she was indeed Swedish.
@@alb3598 This is like saying the people who live in the german-speaking part of switzerland are german. Tove's nationality was finnish, despite her parents or language. The people who live in the Swedish part of Finland are still Finnish.
@@alb3598Finland has two official languages, one of which is Swedish. Jansson was born in Helsinki and her father was a Swedish speaking Finn. That makes her Finnish.
This is why I love artists that make their art solely off the text description instead of just re-drawing actor faces and scenes from movies. It's amazing to see how each person imagines the story in their own way
That's a good point but you do realise that the LOTR movies hadn't even been imagined yet, so how could she draw characters based off the movies depiction of them?
@@faolan2174true. Still I mean his is more for entertainment value. Still today 99% of a books early illustrations is based on book descriptions. And in few cases additional info from the author but it’s not so coming. A bit more can be feedback from author on the illustrations after then are done / sketches. How it’s done you don’t even check the Jazza videos. 1. You read the book. 2. You start imaging the scene you know you are about to draw a bit when reading the book. 3. You sketch it out. 4. Done
Totally agree. Like the ring has transformed him into a subterranean giant that bites off the toes of little girls playing in the forest blueberries in Summertime.
@@ezekielbrockmann114 Yeah, damn. Thats a description and a half. The picture really reminds me of some of the swedish trolls depictions. Which kinda matches it too XD
The tree-like head is kinda dumb, but the feet dangling into the water really reminds me of the animated Hobbit, whose amphibian looking Gollum I regard as the definitive version.
As a Swede, I never liked moomin. Always found the illustration boring. I liked all of Astrids work tho. Especially The lionheart brothers. The theme song is so good, when I hear it, it cuts my heart reminding me of my childhood But I dont see Tove Jansson changing her illustration style with the hobbit. Looks just like moomin
@@vipr1142 never knew she was behind Lionheart Brothers. I remember watching the movie at school and Ronja Røverdatter in literature class. None of us really spoke swedish though, so we asked if we could have it dubbed, the teacher said no and we had to deal with it XD
It is wild to me thinking that not only did Astrid Lindgren, Towe Jannson and J.R.R Tolkien were alive during the same time, but they had enough contact with each other for this to happen
Both are legendary. Astrid Lindgren is not only the Pippi longstocking lady, she's written many books that are considered classics, that have turned into many classic movies and tv series - she's a household name in Sweden. Tove Jansson, who was finland-swedish(which in her case meant a swedish-speaking minority in Finland. the term can also mean Finnish people living in Sweden who speak with the finland-swedish dialect). Both Astrid Lindgren's creations and the Moomins were a childhood staple for swedes 😊.
Astrid was also an editor in a publishing house, her view on what a good children book looks like has changed children literature not only in Sweden but in many other countries ❤
I find this interesting, mostly because when I and a friend read "The Hobbit" in high school, we also had two very different images in our heads. I saw Gollum as small and emaciated, and she saw Gollum more as Janssen did although not as tall. So even with that change, the misconception could still persist even today.
My first mental image of Gollum while reading the Hobbit was like Don Rosa's interpretation of Iku-turso: zestedesavoir.com/media/galleries/6078/64f09a09-fcf0-4d75-81a0-7595bffad8c4.jpg (Though obviously not kaiju sized).
Hahaha! 😂 Yessss! That’s where I have seen that head! No wonder it didn’t feel so scary to me! 😅 Thanks Sesame! It looks like a cranky elongated version of them!
Lots of confusion about her, which is understandable. You would think that including a world famous Swedish author in the statement "Sweden's most famous authors" would be correct but it isn't.
Sucks that you do such incredible work drawing and put so much effort into refining your craft, only for the author to see your work and think "God, that description was bad, wasn't it?" How common is this version of the hobbit, it looks great
@@cybercrasherstv outdated and I imagen worth a lot. Writing a book is a lot of effort. So he could have forgotten to update his appearance to the newly updated version of HIS story. There are likely many iterations before a story is completed.
The original 60's edition is not impossible to get hold of, but expect to pay anywhere between 800 and 2000 dollars for it. A re-release of the same edition was printed in limited numbers in the 90's. I paid 150 dollars for my 90's edition a few years ago, but it's not uncommon to see these listed for upward of 1000 dollars as well. Don't know if anyone actually pays that much, but I rarely see listings for less.
I actually read the original version of the hobbit when I read the book the first time, so I was very confused when I watched the film and he was just a little skinny guy.
@@mredd888 No, there are plenty of Finns who don’t speak Swedish. I once had an interview with an official who couldn’t speak either English or Swedish. Fortunately, I had a Finnish girlfriend who could speak Swedish, could translate for me.
He didn’t say anything about where she was from. He said she was one of Sweden’s most beloved authors, which is factually correct. She wrote in Swedish, and was obviously more popular in Sweden than Finland because of that.
Tolkien didn’t necessarily think of Gollum as hobbit-sized when The Hobbit was published in 1937. But by 1960 he had written The Lord of the Rings, in which Gollum is described as hobbit-like. If Jansson had read both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, she would have seen that Gollum was hobbit-sized. But the first Swedish translation of The Lord of the Rings was made by Åke Ohlmarks in 1959-1961, so it may not have been available to Jansson in 1960. And even if it was, it wasn’t the book Jansson had been asked to illustrate.
The pictures are so characteristically hers it's heart warming))) It's like this Bilbo is a distant cousin of Freken Snork's))) And Golum is related to Morra. Tove Jansson is not Swedish, she is Finnish. It's just that for some people in Finland the mother tongue is Swedish. So she wrote in Swedish. I love Astrid Lindgren and Tove Jansson.
Considering sketches can take as little as a minute, there's a possibility it wasn't as long as one might think, and for someone who does sketch a lot, this isn't that much, but I suppose when people do their craft long enough patience in it is just second nature.
Thank you for this post, I knew Tove J was Finnish but never realised that Astrid L was Swedish, a fun fact learnt today. Just proves that most authors take note of what is happening in the publishing world via their editor or agent, this certainly clarified Gollum for JRRT's readership (and probably Peter Jackson)
What is another layer of interesting: many of the fragmented myths and legends in real life are bad at timelines, describing appearances (by some accounts Gilgamesh was 18ft tall), and the idea of characters being interpreted wildly off model because of a lack of... mythological style guide? Would make sense.
And these ”Swedish speaking areas of Finland” descend from Swedes. Jansson, her father’s surname is a Swedish surname. You’re also completely disregarding the fact that her mother was also Swedish from Stockholm. Why are you so desperate to lie that she is Finnish when she is Swedish?
@@alb3598 All areas of Finland descent from Sweden, swedish is our second national language, my Grandfathers father was swedish but still most of my blood comes from Karelia and Keski-suomi. Swedish surnames are extremely common in Finland I know hunderds of people who has swedish surname but is 100% finnish. Plus Tove was born and died in Helsinki which is the Capital of Finland. He lived big part of her life in the Turku archipelago which is still part of Finland. Any finnish person can back me up on this.
@@alb3598 Many Fenno-Swedes are actually descendants of Finns who linguistically assimilated to the Swedish speaking population during the 1600s and 1700s. Fenno-Swedes also speak their own form of Swedish, which is influenced by Finnish in tone and vocabulary. Everything about Fenno-Swedes makes them unique to Finland, which is why they're FENNO-Swedes and not just Swedes. And if you were to tell the many Fenno-Swedish people who were involved in Finnish nationalism in the 1800s that they were just Swedes, they would be insulted. The only exception to this is Åland and in fact, Åland was the only Swedish speaking region of Finland that wanted to join Sweden in any significant degree when Finland gained independence from Russia in 1917.
@@alb3598Fenno-swedes of Finland are not Swedish, they are Finnish. I don't understand why you are arguing this. Yes her mother was Swedish but Tove was born and lived in Finland her whole life.
Honestly, more than anything I want to give this version of Gollum a big big hug! That's an inspired interpretation in this day and age. The illustrations in general are quite beautiful and take me back to my own childhood where my grandma read Astrid Lindgren to me, probably with illustrations from the same artist.
I would not say that the artist succeeded in her mission to draw that much differently. Although, I think I prefer these illustrations above all others I have ever seen.
Still crazy how many artists drawing Gollum after the addition of only a few more adjectives managed to come up with basically the same design for him. You can see how all the interpretations of the Balrog were very different, but somehow Gollum basically looks the same across those same artists.
Have you seen the Hobbit edition produced in the USSR? In the post-Soviet space, this publication has gained a cult status. It also had unique illustrations
Just because someone is born in a specific country doesn’t make them ethnically that. Her father was a Finno-Swedish with a Swedish surname(Swedish descendants from back when Sweden owned Finland, still speaking and ethnically Swedish) and her mother who was a Swedish from Sweden.
@@alb3598 “Ethnicity” doesn’t matter. Citizenship, birthplace, and upbringing do. She was a Finnish citizen, born in Finland, brought up and educated in Finland, and speaking the Finnish dialect of Swedish. Those are the things that made her the person she was, not her ancestors. I don’t understand why you keep saying she was Swedish, but it’s time to stop.
@@alb3598This isn’t the US. We don’t claim our ancestors nationality over here, Tove Jansson was a Swedish Speaking Finish person. She lived in Finland and had a Finish passport.
1) That these two got together is amazing and wonderful but 2) how did Lindgren (not the author of the Hobbit) get to ask Jansson to do the drawings. And her drawings are very much Moominville still.
Lindgren worked in a publishing house, in fact she was editor-in-chief (her position in documents was literature consultant, but it was to avoid different rumours). It was her idea to make such edition.
Hey!! Randomly seen few of your shorts lately, and all of a sudden here you are now talking about our national treasure, Jansson ❤️❤️❤️ I had no idea Tove had such impact on the actual LotR lore! How awesome! (Greetings from Finland ^^)
That's not quite right. Bilbo finds the Ring while stumbling around in the dark, just as in the final version. When Bilbo wins the riddle contest (with the controversial "riddle" of "What have I got in my pocket?"), Gollum leads him out of the caves. In the final version, after losing the game Gollum realizes he's lost his Ring and Bilbo must have it, after which he attacks him. Bilbo escapes by putting on the Ring and becoming invisible.
We had a TV series in Finland based on The Lord of the Rings, it was called The Hobbits. In one scene when Gollum turns to the camera we can see in all his glory his err krhm balls. If anything, it was actually the scary Gollum and he was played by a chubby man who also played Aragorn :D Unfortunately, the full series can be found here on UA-cam.
Her mother is Swedish from Sweden and her father Fenno-Swedish(Swedes that live in the Swedish part of Finland). So saying that she is isn’t Swedish but that she is Finnish is a lie.
@@alb3598 I'm Finnish. So I know bit more about our culture than you. Some of my ancestors come from shores of Lake Ladoga but that doesn't make me Russian descent. Tove's mother is Swedish but doesn't make Tove Swedish. She never had dual citizen ship. And her father is finlandssvenskar. Last time his ancestors were considered Swedish were when Finland was under the Swedish rule.
I wish there was a special edition of this version of the Hobbit in English so I can have it with Tove's illustrations! I absolutely love her art style.🥰❤️
"Trying to break free of the Moomin style" ah ja.... if you showed me this artstyle unprepared I would be immediately like: "This looks like a Moomin version of Frodo!" 😂
I'm swedish and I am well aware of Tove Janssons illustrations, I wasn't aware that Astrid Lindgren was the editor for the translation however. I am awfully tempted to learn how to make AI that sounds like Astrid Lindgren and have her read the hobbit. My entire childhood was of Astrid reading her books and her very distinct voice calms me in an almost sleeper agent way.
Love all three of them. Lindgren and Jansson are two very, very big rolemodels of female writers for me. They are so underrated. Most people don't realize that some books for children are as deep and serious as only few books for adults are. ❤
I remember watching the Hobbit movie after reading the book and being extremely surprised at the way Gollum was depicted. The book doesn’t describe him very well, I completely understand the misinterpretation the artist had.
That thing that emerges from the forest in the moomins scared the hell out of me as a kid. Her illustration style definitely has a creepiness to it imo
Hey everyone - so sorry for my error in this video - Jansson is of course Finnish and not Swedish. My apologies
When you said, she was Swedish, I was surprised, because I remembered seeing a lot of the Moomins in Helsinki, so I looked her up on Wikipedia. And apparently both is kind of right. She was born in Helsinki and of Finnish nationality, but her native tongue was Swedish.
Please pin this!
The problem still remains, i.e. most people watching your short never look at the comments, i.e. they now think that Tove Jansson was Swedish.
There are many cultural Swedes who are citizens of Finland
either way, she made bilbo look like he's late for his stepson's birth in a nazarene manger or like he's got some real tough negotiations after lunch with a burning bush after which hes gotta get in touch with his special fx guy to see about splitting a sea or similar body of water in half , or somethin hahaha
Then Tolkien thought "damn, whatever I write next, I should describe things in so much detail to avoid getting misinterpreted like that again"
"I'll make it indubitably simple, starting with first One Valinor, second Two Trees, ... Then Three Silmarils, ...
No I think I'll start with just with Eru Iluvatar, "The One!"
Or wait, ... Maybe just _One ring to Rule them All..._ Yeah that'll make a simple little story!"
Apparently Amazon was not convinced anyway 😂.
@@SigynRegnugh…
Pls don’t reminds me of rings of power…
And there’s a part 2 😰!
And to this day, he is the only aspect of the book I'm not totally sure how Tolkien really wanted it to have looked. When I read the books, I picture him as a lanky, black thing with eel-like skin that crawls around on all four like how Spider-man crawls up walls, and has giant yellow-green eyes and facial features that are equal parts childish and decrepit old man-ish. Almost like a swamp monster version of the movie character, but not quite.
My thoughts exactly. I did not realise Gollum was even supposed to be humanoid at all until I read in Lotr that he was supposed to be related to Hobbits. I always pictured him more frog like.
"...to break free of her Moomin style." *the front cover shows Bilbo drawn in a distinctly Moomin style*
Never said it was a successful attempt
And on top of that, her attempt at drawing Gollum looks like it could be related to the Groke.
Smaug looks awesome.
Bilbo looks adorable haha
@@LordBrittish I came here to say this. He has almost Roald Dahl-style children's book villain energy. I love it!
The large Gollum is so unsettling 😬
The obunga version of gollum
Yeah, even though it's far too large to be Gollum, it'd be an amazing creature to have in a story. It's definitely the thing that's always right behind you when you're alone and have spooked yourself out at 3 am
@@Emppu_T. The Bubba version of gollum
it looks more like a Barrow wight creature 🥹😅
It looks like the Minecraft Warden.
"Trying to break free of her Moomin-style"? I love those illustrations but they look exactly like the Moomins.
My thoughts exactly 😂
Yeah... If she was trying to do that, she failed.
Actually, they remind me of Hans Arnold and "Matulda och Megasen" ...
@@dirgniflesuoh7950"uhhmmm achshually" 😂😂😂
Totally agreed. If that was the aim, she didn't meet the brief. But Tolkein? this is tenuous at best.
That illustration is so different from Tolkien's Gollum, it does not even remind of a hobbit-like creature which was the author's intention. Thank you for the fun fact!
It reminds Morra from the Moomin world
At the time that Tolkien wrote The Hobbit, Gollum was just a mysterious creature who lived in a cave. Tolkien didn't come up with the idea that Gollum was a Hobbit until he wrote LOTR.
In fact, the re-writting of The Hobbit or the 2nd or 3rd edition was to link it up with the already published LOTR. "Riddles in the Dark" chapter was highly changed in the way Bilbo found the One Thing and the ill-tempered Gollum, as well as all chapters with the One Thing.
The most important change after Gollum was when Bilbo lied to Gandalf to hide his "preciouss" from unwanted attention
Did you listen to the video?
Wait, Gollum used to be a Hobbit?
The dwarves and Smaug look like Samurai Jack characters.
That was my thought, too!
Samesies!
Smaug is distinctly moomin style tho
That’s not how time works. You meant to say, ”Some of the Samurai Jack characters look like Tove Jansson designs.” Since she was decades ahead I mean.
@@Korligan1 You're right, but you know what I meant.
It didn’t even occur to me that these three amazing authors were contemporaries, amazing
Yes! Me too!!
I dont know where Tove Jansson changed her style.
All those illustration looks just like moomin.
Them, C.S. Lewis of course, and (my favorite) Mervyn Peake.❤
@@littlecatthewolfhoundalso Edward Eager and Betty MacDonald.
Drop your phone a d pick up a book
To be fair, the idea that the One Ring could corrupt a hobbit to be *that fucking monstrosity* is perhaps even scarier than canon Gollum.
No it isn’t
It’s not a monstrosity and it’s not corrupted, it’s just a troll in the style of Scandinavian folklore
Gollum is scarier as a rotten fish-person, than a troll.
@@mareksicinski3726 Well. Is description alone tje only reason we know that thing is a hobbit? If not then no op is right that is still a hobbit and that the one ring can do that to him is horrific.
@@Lampoluke I agree. The prospect of hobbits, incredibly mentally strong willed creatures that are so communal and loving being instantly corrupted by the ring is a lot more scary. It means that the corrupting power of the ring is just a matter of time for the most of creatures, with exception of the most powerful ones (the Valar, Bombadil, Eru, and probably not a lot more creatures can withstand it's power).
Creating the Ring was clever and in the sense that it tricks more in the sense of being seemingly underwhelming, like a small irresistible vice.
I'd fuck it
In the first edition, Gollum is not described much, you could imagine him as you pleased. It was during the writing of TLOTR that Tolkien decided that Gollum was a hobbit, so he specified the description in the revised version, among other changes.
I imagined him as a kind of lizard man
@@Danka42 That’s basically how they depict him in the old Hobbit cartoon by Rankin/Bass
It's weird though... I read The Hobbit when I was 8 years old (I don't know what edition it was, but it was a wide paperback with the illustration of Smaug lying on top of the pile of treasure, it was very beat up and falling apart and could very well have been printed before the 60s idk...) and when I read the chapter Riddles in the Dark, I imagined Gollum pretty much like how Jansson drew him in this book - like a big hulking black creature with 2 big yellow eyes. I don't know why, but something about how Tolkien described him made me think he was big and wide and towered over Bilbo.
Then the LOTR movies came out when I was a teen, and when I watched them for the first time I was like "uhhh... that's not how Gollum is supposed to look like." It was just so jarring to see this skinny little thing that's smaller than the hobbits. It did not make sense to me. Like, if I read Riddles in the Dark now with the image of skinny Gollum in mind, the entire chapter doesn't feel as scary or harrowing. Bilbo's fear of Gollum doesn't feel justified somehow, i don't know 🤷♀️
I love this fact, but just to note, Tove Jansson was Finnish, and her mother's tongue was swedish, one of the actual official languages spoken in Finland. She is regarded as one of the most beloved illustrators and authors of Finland.
i heard "sent between two of swedens most famous authors" and immidiately knew they were going to incorrectly assume Tove was swedish
As a finn it really hurt my ear but its kinda understandable tbh…
Her mother was Swedish and her father was also Swedish, her father comes from the Swedish part of Finland, aka. Fenno-Swedish. ”Jansson” is also a Swedish surname, his and her native language was also Swedish. So she was indeed Swedish.
@@alb3598 This is like saying the people who live in the german-speaking part of switzerland are german. Tove's nationality was finnish, despite her parents or language. The people who live in the Swedish part of Finland are still Finnish.
@@alb3598Finland has two official languages, one of which is Swedish. Jansson was born in Helsinki and her father was a Swedish speaking Finn. That makes her Finnish.
This is why I love artists that make their art solely off the text description instead of just re-drawing actor faces and scenes from movies.
It's amazing to see how each person imagines the story in their own way
That's a good point but you do realise that the LOTR movies hadn't even been imagined yet, so how could she draw characters based off the movies depiction of them?
Thank you, I'm an artist, and I don't like having to copy someone else's version or vision. I create what's in me - not copy someone.
You should check out Jazza. He's done several videos about drawing characters specifically based on their descriptions.
Jazza
@@faolan2174true. Still I mean his is more for entertainment value. Still today 99% of a books early illustrations is based on book descriptions. And in few cases additional info from the author but it’s not so coming. A bit more can be feedback from author on the illustrations after then are done / sketches.
How it’s done you don’t even check the Jazza videos.
1. You read the book.
2. You start imaging the scene you know you are about to draw a bit when reading the book.
3. You sketch it out.
4. Done
That first version of Gollum is terrifying!
Totally agree. Like the ring has transformed him into a subterranean giant that bites off the toes of little girls playing in the forest blueberries in Summertime.
@@ezekielbrockmann114Blimey, that's one heck of an image you've dreamt up there!
@@ezekielbrockmann114 Yeah, damn. Thats a description and a half.
The picture really reminds me of some of the swedish trolls depictions. Which kinda matches it too XD
The tree-like head is kinda dumb, but the feet dangling into the water really reminds me of the animated Hobbit, whose amphibian looking Gollum I regard as the definitive version.
@@ezekielbrockmann114lol I read that as “bites off the toes of little girls like they’re blueberries” 😂
I love the illustrations in this, especially with the dwarves it reminds me off the old medieval tapestry depictions.
Im guesting by attempt 60 she was just said , "F it guess it is the Moomin of the rings now. "
Or that was just her art style.
Today i learned that Tove made that Gollum sketch... and now i wanna watch Moomin again 😂
As a Swede, I never liked moomin. Always found the illustration boring.
I liked all of Astrids work tho.
Especially The lionheart brothers.
The theme song is so good, when I hear it, it cuts my heart reminding me of my childhood
But I dont see Tove Jansson changing her illustration style with the hobbit.
Looks just like moomin
@@vipr1142 never knew she was behind Lionheart Brothers. I remember watching the movie at school and Ronja Røverdatter in literature class. None of us really spoke swedish though, so we asked if we could have it dubbed, the teacher said no and we had to deal with it XD
well that Gollum certainly looks a lot like The Bleak (I think that was it's name)
Fun fact, I always found the moomin horrifying 😂
It is wild to me thinking that not only did Astrid Lindgren, Towe Jannson and J.R.R Tolkien were alive during the same time, but they had enough contact with each other for this to happen
Amazing to think that people actually used to write letters?!?! Blows my mind 🤦♂️
Both are legendary. Astrid Lindgren is not only the Pippi longstocking lady, she's written many books that are considered classics, that have turned into many classic movies and tv series - she's a household name in Sweden. Tove Jansson, who was finland-swedish(which in her case meant a swedish-speaking minority in Finland. the term can also mean Finnish people living in Sweden who speak with the finland-swedish dialect). Both Astrid Lindgren's creations and the Moomins were a childhood staple for swedes 😊.
Astrid was also an editor in a publishing house, her view on what a good children book looks like has changed children literature not only in Sweden but in many other countries ❤
Oh yes, Astrid Lindgrens books are well known in Finland too, they were among my favourite stories as a kid!
Astrid was a fucking legend
Moral of the story: Character development is important, but physically appearance should never be neglected.
I knew Gollum was a Sasquatch the whole time😂
I find this interesting, mostly because when I and a friend read "The Hobbit" in high school, we also had two very different images in our heads. I saw Gollum as small and emaciated, and she saw Gollum more as Janssen did although not as tall. So even with that change, the misconception could still persist even today.
My first mental image of Gollum while reading the Hobbit was like Don Rosa's interpretation of Iku-turso: zestedesavoir.com/media/galleries/6078/64f09a09-fcf0-4d75-81a0-7595bffad8c4.jpg
(Though obviously not kaiju sized).
Original Gollum looks like the aliens on Sesame Street.
"Yep, yep, yep, yep."
Hahaha! 😂 Yessss! That’s where I have seen that head! No wonder it didn’t feel so scary to me! 😅 Thanks Sesame! It looks like a cranky elongated version of them!
😂😂😂
I'm glad someone else remembers those XD
Yipyipyipyip - Radio!
a small correction Tove Jansson was Finnish but her mother tongue was Swedish
Lots of confusion about her, which is understandable. You would think that including a world famous Swedish author in the statement "Sweden's most famous authors" would be correct but it isn't.
She is finnish-swedish. The minority group in Finland. Finns but with swedish mothertounge. Source: i am one.
Came here to say this as well
Trust me, nobody cares.
@@BrassAmbassador And no one asked you
Tove Jansson also did amazing illustrations for a new edition of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland.
Sucks that you do such incredible work drawing and put so much effort into refining your craft, only for the author to see your work and think "God, that description was bad, wasn't it?"
How common is this version of the hobbit, it looks great
Damn developer nerfing content
I don't understand, she made him realize that that his vague description could be misleading to what he had into his mind.
@@lulu111_the_cool and now her work became outdated as a result
@@cybercrasherstv outdated and I imagen worth a lot.
Writing a book is a lot of effort. So he could have forgotten to update his appearance to the newly updated version of HIS story. There are likely many iterations before a story is completed.
The original 60's edition is not impossible to get hold of, but expect to pay anywhere between 800 and 2000 dollars for it. A re-release of the same edition was printed in limited numbers in the 90's. I paid 150 dollars for my 90's edition a few years ago, but it's not uncommon to see these listed for upward of 1000 dollars as well. Don't know if anyone actually pays that much, but I rarely see listings for less.
I actually read the original version of the hobbit when I read the book the first time, so I was very confused when I watched the film and he was just a little skinny guy.
She is/was finnish-swedish (Finlandssvensk). The Swedish speaking minority group in Finland. Finns but with swedish mothertounge. Source: i am one.
Do most people in other parts of Finland know Swedish as well? Or is it very much only that minority group you are part of?
@@mredd888i think it's one of the official languages of finland actually
@@mredd888 No, there are plenty of Finns who don’t speak Swedish. I once had an interview with an official who couldn’t speak either English or Swedish. Fortunately, I had a Finnish girlfriend who could speak Swedish, could translate for me.
He didn’t say anything about where she was from. He said she was one of Sweden’s most beloved authors, which is factually correct. She wrote in Swedish, and was obviously more popular in Sweden than Finland because of that.
@@SnailHatan Simo Häyhä was one of USA's most beloved snipers
Tolkien didn’t necessarily think of Gollum as hobbit-sized when The Hobbit was published in 1937. But by 1960 he had written The Lord of the Rings, in which Gollum is described as hobbit-like. If Jansson had read both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, she would have seen that Gollum was hobbit-sized.
But the first Swedish translation of The Lord of the Rings was made by Åke Ohlmarks in 1959-1961, so it may not have been available to Jansson in 1960. And even if it was, it wasn’t the book Jansson had been asked to illustrate.
That was so interesting, thanks
The pictures are so characteristically hers it's heart warming))) It's like this Bilbo is a distant cousin of Freken Snork's))) And Golum is related to Morra.
Tove Jansson is not Swedish, she is Finnish. It's just that for some people in Finland the mother tongue is Swedish. So she wrote in Swedish.
I love Astrid Lindgren and Tove Jansson.
I personally love her depiction, it looks so cool
"Sketched each character between 20 & 60 times" I could never before I gave up & cried
Considering sketches can take as little as a minute, there's a possibility it wasn't as long as one might think, and for someone who does sketch a lot, this isn't that much, but I suppose when people do their craft long enough patience in it is just second nature.
Thank you for this post, I knew Tove J was Finnish but never realised that Astrid L was Swedish, a fun fact learnt today. Just proves that most authors take note of what is happening in the publishing world via their editor or agent, this certainly clarified Gollum for JRRT's readership (and probably Peter Jackson)
I love Tove Jansson and the moomins. Her illustrations wasnt that popular at the time though but I love them
Really didn’t expect the Moomin Gollum timeline, but apparently I’m in it.
What is another layer of interesting: many of the fragmented myths and legends in real life are bad at timelines, describing appearances (by some accounts Gilgamesh was 18ft tall), and the idea of characters being interpreted wildly off model because of a lack of... mythological style guide? Would make sense.
Tove Jansson was Finnish but was from swedish speaking area of Finland.
And these ”Swedish speaking areas of Finland” descend from Swedes. Jansson, her father’s surname is a Swedish surname. You’re also completely disregarding the fact that her mother was also Swedish from Stockholm. Why are you so desperate to lie that she is Finnish when she is Swedish?
@@alb3598 All areas of Finland descent from Sweden, swedish is our second national language, my Grandfathers father was swedish but still most of my blood comes from Karelia and Keski-suomi. Swedish surnames are extremely common in Finland I know hunderds of people who has swedish surname but is 100% finnish. Plus Tove was born and died in Helsinki which is the Capital of Finland. He lived big part of her life in the Turku archipelago which is still part of Finland. Any finnish person can back me up on this.
@@alb3598she was Finnish.
@@alb3598 Many Fenno-Swedes are actually descendants of Finns who linguistically assimilated to the Swedish speaking population during the 1600s and 1700s. Fenno-Swedes also speak their own form of Swedish, which is influenced by Finnish in tone and vocabulary. Everything about Fenno-Swedes makes them unique to Finland, which is why they're FENNO-Swedes and not just Swedes. And if you were to tell the many Fenno-Swedish people who were involved in Finnish nationalism in the 1800s that they were just Swedes, they would be insulted. The only exception to this is Åland and in fact, Åland was the only Swedish speaking region of Finland that wanted to join Sweden in any significant degree when Finland gained independence from Russia in 1917.
@@alb3598Fenno-swedes of Finland are not Swedish, they are Finnish. I don't understand why you are arguing this. Yes her mother was Swedish but Tove was born and lived in Finland her whole life.
"Old Gollum, the small slimy Gollum."
Really love this channel. Great content but it’s the enthusiastic delivery that really make them special. Thanks for the enjoyment.
Honestly, more than anything I want to give this version of Gollum a big big hug! That's an inspired interpretation in this day and age. The illustrations in general are quite beautiful and take me back to my own childhood where my grandma read Astrid Lindgren to me, probably with illustrations from the same artist.
The best illustrations for Tolkien is imho still those made by the Danish princess and later monarch Queen Margrethe…
I would not say that the artist succeeded in her mission to draw that much differently. Although, I think I prefer these illustrations above all others I have ever seen.
Had no idea one of my favorite children's authors also illustrated the Hobbit! Bilbo looks so cute!!
Still crazy how many artists drawing Gollum after the addition of only a few more adjectives managed to come up with basically the same design for him. You can see how all the interpretations of the Balrog were very different, but somehow Gollum basically looks the same across those same artists.
It’s cool that they got the actor who plays Gollum to give us some insight into the character’s history.
Have you seen the Hobbit edition produced in the USSR? In the post-Soviet space, this publication has gained a cult status. It also had unique illustrations
Those illustrations though.... Blimey
As a Scandinavian Tolkien fan, this book is the literal holy grail.
To the artstyle, it’s “her” style, not just moomin style, but her own style in my opinion.
I have read all of these books, as a kid.
Interesting to hear the behind the scenes information. Thank you.
Jansson's Gollum looks like the Groke with legs.
We have become so used to the looks of Gollum that it's hard to imagine any other way it could be.
Suomi is disappointed over mentioning Tove Jansson as Swedish...
Tove Jansson was from Finland wasn't she? Part of the swedish speaking minority but still Finnish I think.
Just because someone is born in a specific country doesn’t make them ethnically that. Her father was a Finno-Swedish with a Swedish surname(Swedish descendants from back when Sweden owned Finland, still speaking and ethnically Swedish) and her mother who was a Swedish from Sweden.
@@alb3598 “Ethnicity” doesn’t matter. Citizenship, birthplace, and upbringing do. She was a Finnish citizen, born in Finland, brought up and educated in Finland, and speaking the Finnish dialect of Swedish. Those are the things that made her the person she was, not her ancestors. I don’t understand why you keep saying she was Swedish, but it’s time to stop.
@@alb3598 Alb how can you be so stupid and ignorant? You embarrass yourself.
@@alb3598This isn’t the US. We don’t claim our ancestors nationality over here, Tove Jansson was a Swedish Speaking Finish person. She lived in Finland and had a Finish passport.
1) That these two got together is amazing and wonderful but 2) how did Lindgren (not the author of the Hobbit) get to ask Jansson to do the drawings. And her drawings are very much Moominville still.
Lindgren worked in a publishing house, in fact she was editor-in-chief (her position in documents was literature consultant, but it was to avoid different rumours). It was her idea to make such edition.
I love her illustrations!
I literally had no idea that Tov did an illustration version for the hobbit. Thats awesome!
Thats awesome, smouag. I like the illustrations. ❤
Hey!! Randomly seen few of your shorts lately, and all of a sudden here you are now talking about our national treasure, Jansson ❤️❤️❤️
I had no idea Tove had such impact on the actual LotR lore! How awesome!
(Greetings from Finland ^^)
Thank you for this fascinating history!
Originally, there were no “Riddles in the Dark” Gollum just gives the ring to Bilbo.
That's not quite right. Bilbo finds the Ring while stumbling around in the dark, just as in the final version. When Bilbo wins the riddle contest (with the controversial "riddle" of "What have I got in my pocket?"), Gollum leads him out of the caves. In the final version, after losing the game Gollum realizes he's lost his Ring and Bilbo must have it, after which he attacks him. Bilbo escapes by putting on the Ring and becoming invisible.
Swedish Gollum isn't real, it can't hurt you...
We had a TV series in Finland based on The Lord of the Rings, it was called The Hobbits. In one scene when Gollum turns to the camera we can see in all his glory his err krhm balls. If anything, it was actually the scary Gollum and he was played by a chubby man who also played Aragorn :D Unfortunately, the full series can be found here on UA-cam.
Tove Jansson is Finnish tho. Still cool story.
Her mother is Swedish from Sweden and her father Fenno-Swedish(Swedes that live in the Swedish part of Finland). So saying that she is isn’t Swedish but that she is Finnish is a lie.
@@alb3598 I'm Finnish. So I know bit more about our culture than you. Some of my ancestors come from shores of Lake Ladoga but that doesn't make me Russian descent.
Tove's mother is Swedish but doesn't make Tove Swedish. She never had dual citizen ship. And her father is finlandssvenskar. Last time his ancestors were considered Swedish were when Finland was under the Swedish rule.
I wish there was a special edition of this version of the Hobbit in English so I can have it with Tove's illustrations! I absolutely love her art style.🥰❤️
moomin-style hobbit?! i need a copy of that
Love the Moomin,love The Tolkien's books! 🥰🥰
Maybe she could have done with another 60 attempts. Not complaining though the Moomin art style kicks ass
I absolutely ADORE those illustrations!!
"Trying to break free of the Moomin style"
ah ja.... if you showed me this artstyle unprepared I would be immediately like: "This looks like a Moomin version of Frodo!" 😂
I'm swedish and I am well aware of Tove Janssons illustrations, I wasn't aware that Astrid Lindgren was the editor for the translation however. I am awfully tempted to learn how to make AI that sounds like Astrid Lindgren and have her read the hobbit. My entire childhood was of Astrid reading her books and her very distinct voice calms me in an almost sleeper agent way.
What role did Astrid Lindgren play in the Swedish publication of Bilbo?
You mean the hobbit?
She worked in a publishing house in Stockholm, it was her idea to make this edition.
Tove Jansson’s Gollum looks awesome though. It might not fit the character’s personality, but design-wise I think it looks really cool.
Thank you Mr Ballen for creating a history on the internet. History of many great sunday nights just before starting a week of work.
Behk
I'd change it too if some Mickey Finn tried to turn MY Gollum into half an ENT🤷🏼♂️🤔🤓😎✌🏼🇬🇧
My precious. Gollum. Gollum.
I love these illustrations!
Love this edition so much, it was one of my reason for learning to read when I was little, beautiful illustrations❤
Words and illustration are a powerful imaginative force.
I recognize that book cover! It's the version my dad read to me as a child. This short brought back some nice memories 😃
Thank you UA-cam recommendations for this absolute underrated gem of a video
Wow the creator of Moomin looks exactly happier than I never imagined I hoped they do
The dwarves look like medieval characters from a stained glass window.
I gotta read that book! Those illustrations look amazing!!!
Fr the big gollum in the second pic is so much scarier
I have this book! The first print from the 1960s. I inherited it from my aunt and I read it as a child. Good times :)
You:
>"Two Swedish authors"
>"Tove Jansson"
Finnish people:
>"So you have chosen death"
That's so Beautiful how her imagination shaped something so foreign to our modern gollum! He's so cool!
I've seen this version of Gollum before bjt didn't know the backstory was so cool
Love all three of them. Lindgren and Jansson are two very, very big rolemodels of female writers for me. They are so underrated. Most people don't realize that some books for children are as deep and serious as only few books for adults are. ❤
Man Smaug looks amazing in that art style.
Michael Hague's Hobbit illustrations are second to none.
That’s amazing! I never knew Tove Jansson illustrated a version of the Hobbit. I need to find that!
I remember watching the Hobbit movie after reading the book and being extremely surprised at the way Gollum was depicted. The book doesn’t describe him very well, I completely understand the misinterpretation the artist had.
Those illustrations look excellent!
Thanks for posting!
Fascinating. Thank you 😊
That thing that emerges from the forest in the moomins scared the hell out of me as a kid. Her illustration style definitely has a creepiness to it imo
For the cleverbot thing i love how hunter used his robot voice at first and when the mc says "ben" he added his little boy voice to the robot voice 😂
Marty will never be homeless, he will always have a rent free place in cyraxx’s head.
That’s super interesting. Thanks for letting us know more about certain things came to be.