Not much is said about where Bilbo is headed when he leaves the Shire – Bilbo shares with Gandalf that he needs a holiday – probably a permanent one – and explains his feelings due to his extended lifespan. Bilbo doesn’t seem to attribute this to his ownership of the ring at this point. Gandalf however suspects, and agrees with Bilbo that his plan to leave the Ring is probably for the best. There’s a great line in this passage of text which is present in the movies:
I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.
This exchange between Bilbo and Gandalf also contains one of my favourite lines of the entire story. Ian Holm delivers this perfectly in the movies:
I want to see mountains again, Gandalf, mountains; and then find somewhere where I can rest.
I think it’s probably my love of the mountains that makes this statement stand out to me.
Later in the story, we find out that Bilbo heads to Rivendell, then on to The Lonely Mountain. He then returns to Rivendell to work on his memoirs and live out his days in peace and quiet. In the movies, Bilbo states he wanted to go on to visit the Dwarves in Erebor, but he couldn’t make it any further – I think this is done to emphasise Bilbo’s age catching up with him now he no longer possesses the ring.
For this short entry into The Tale of Years, I’ve decided to focus on the next entry in the Chronology of the Westlands. The entry reads:
Bilbo becomes a guest of Elrond, and settles in Rivendell.
The miniature I’ve decided to paint for this post is Elrond, Master of Rivendell. It was released in 2008 alongside a new sculpt of Gandalf (Rivendell Gandalf) and The Three Hunters (Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli). The five sculpts have become quite desirable in their metal material in recent years as Out of Production miniatures; Games Workshop recently made The Three Hunters available again as Warhammer World Exclusives.
The first noticeable thing with this mini is that it looks different. I think this is partially scale – he’s quite a bit larger than others in the range – and the actual sculpt doesn’t seem to be based on the movies as much as the earlier Elrond sculpts. The same can be said for the Gandalf sculpt and The Three Hunters. I think once GW moved into War of the Ring the movie aesthetic was partially discarded.
That’s not to say they aren’t nice minis – Elrond was a great mini to paint and looks great in the cabinet.
