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A Soviet view of hobbits
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Steve Hayes
Dec 31, 2012, 12:24:47 AM12/31/12
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I posted something on my blog a while back about a Soviet edition of "The
hobbit", and someone has now posted a comment asking why the illustrations
depicted hobbits with hairy legs. I hope my Russian-speaking friends will
visit, and comment on my comment, to let me know if my explanation is correct!
http://khanya.wordpress.com/2010/05/29/a-soviet-view-of-hobbits/
The commenter also said that the film depicts hobbits correctly, as Tolkien
described them. I wouldn't know about that, as I haven't seen the film.
What I do know is that neither the Soviet illustrations, nor the posters I
have seen for the films, coincide with the pictures i see in my head when I
read Tolkien's books.
--
Steve Hayes
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/LITMAIN.HTM
http://www.goodreads.com/hayesstw
http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/Methodius
hobbit", and someone has now posted a comment asking why the illustrations
depicted hobbits with hairy legs. I hope my Russian-speaking friends will
visit, and comment on my comment, to let me know if my explanation is correct!
http://khanya.wordpress.com/2010/05/29/a-soviet-view-of-hobbits/
The commenter also said that the film depicts hobbits correctly, as Tolkien
described them. I wouldn't know about that, as I haven't seen the film.
What I do know is that neither the Soviet illustrations, nor the posters I
have seen for the films, coincide with the pictures i see in my head when I
read Tolkien's books.
--
Steve Hayes
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/LITMAIN.HTM
http://www.goodreads.com/hayesstw
http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/Methodius
Oleg Smirnov
Dec 31, 2012, 2:51:13 PM12/31/12
to
Steve Hayes, news:6482e8p3qic99fe8a...@4ax.com
> I posted something on my blog a while back about a Soviet
> edition of "The hobbit", and someone has now posted a
> comment asking why the illustrations depicted hobbits
> with hairy legs. I hope my Russian-speaking friends will
> visit, and comment on my comment, to let me know if my
> explanation is correct!
>
> http://khanya.wordpress.com/2010/05/29/a-soviet-view-of-hobbits/
>
> The commenter also said that the film depicts hobbits
> correctly, as Tolkien described them. I wouldn't know
> about that, as I haven't seen the film.
>
> What I do know is that neither the Soviet illustrations,
> nor the posters I have seen for the films, coincide with
> the pictures i see in my head when I read Tolkien's books.
Perhaps the hairy legs is just a creative solution of
the illustrator artist (I've never read Tolkien, so I can
not say how it might be related to the original text).
One of commenters there has noticed that the hobbit in
the book looks very similar to Yevgeny Leonov, a Soviet
movie actor, who was very popular in the 70s and 80s.
http://img12.nnm.ru/2/1/3/3/1/cd0b18319b561b9ba49f5b063df.jpg
http://filmin.ru/1072-dzhentlmeny-udachi.html (a movie).
The Soviet aesthetics was changing throughout different
Soviet periods. The term 'Bolshevik' in your post is not
very relevant, the Bolsheviks ended before WW2. The book
was issued in 1988, that was the very end of the SU, the
heyday of Perestroika and the breath of collapse.
> I posted something on my blog a while back about a Soviet
> edition of "The hobbit", and someone has now posted a
> comment asking why the illustrations depicted hobbits
> with hairy legs. I hope my Russian-speaking friends will
> visit, and comment on my comment, to let me know if my
> explanation is correct!
>
> http://khanya.wordpress.com/2010/05/29/a-soviet-view-of-hobbits/
>
> The commenter also said that the film depicts hobbits
> correctly, as Tolkien described them. I wouldn't know
> about that, as I haven't seen the film.
>
> What I do know is that neither the Soviet illustrations,
> nor the posters I have seen for the films, coincide with
> the pictures i see in my head when I read Tolkien's books.
the illustrator artist (I've never read Tolkien, so I can
not say how it might be related to the original text).
One of commenters there has noticed that the hobbit in
the book looks very similar to Yevgeny Leonov, a Soviet
movie actor, who was very popular in the 70s and 80s.
http://img12.nnm.ru/2/1/3/3/1/cd0b18319b561b9ba49f5b063df.jpg
http://filmin.ru/1072-dzhentlmeny-udachi.html (a movie).
The Soviet aesthetics was changing throughout different
Soviet periods. The term 'Bolshevik' in your post is not
very relevant, the Bolsheviks ended before WW2. The book
was issued in 1988, that was the very end of the SU, the
heyday of Perestroika and the breath of collapse.
Steve Hayes
Jan 1, 2013, 12:02:40 AM1/1/13
to
On Mon, 31 Dec 2012 23:51:13 +0400, "Oleg Smirnov" <ve...@gde.ru> wrote:
>Steve Hayes, news:6482e8p3qic99fe8a...@4ax.com
>
>> I posted something on my blog a while back about a Soviet
>> edition of "The hobbit", and someone has now posted a
>> comment asking why the illustrations depicted hobbits
>> with hairy legs. I hope my Russian-speaking friends will
>> visit, and comment on my comment, to let me know if my
>> explanation is correct!
>>
>> http://khanya.wordpress.com/2010/05/29/a-soviet-view-of-hobbits/
>>
>> The commenter also said that the film depicts hobbits
>> correctly, as Tolkien described them. I wouldn't know
>> about that, as I haven't seen the film.
>>
>> What I do know is that neither the Soviet illustrations,
>> nor the posters I have seen for the films, coincide with
>> the pictures i see in my head when I read Tolkien's books.
>
>Perhaps the hairy legs is just a creative solution of
>the illustrator artist (I've never read Tolkien, so I can
>not say how it might be related to the original text).
The English text describes hobbits as having furry feet.
>Steve Hayes, news:6482e8p3qic99fe8a...@4ax.com
>
>> I posted something on my blog a while back about a Soviet
>> edition of "The hobbit", and someone has now posted a
>> comment asking why the illustrations depicted hobbits
>> with hairy legs. I hope my Russian-speaking friends will
>> visit, and comment on my comment, to let me know if my
>> explanation is correct!
>>
>> http://khanya.wordpress.com/2010/05/29/a-soviet-view-of-hobbits/
>>
>> The commenter also said that the film depicts hobbits
>> correctly, as Tolkien described them. I wouldn't know
>> about that, as I haven't seen the film.
>>
>> What I do know is that neither the Soviet illustrations,
>> nor the posters I have seen for the films, coincide with
>> the pictures i see in my head when I read Tolkien's books.
>
>Perhaps the hairy legs is just a creative solution of
>the illustrator artist (I've never read Tolkien, so I can
>not say how it might be related to the original text).
I suspect that when the illustrator read the text in Russian, he or she
understood it as meaning hairy legs because Russian does not stress the
distinction between "legs" and "feet" as English does.
>One of commenters there has noticed that the hobbit in
>the book looks very similar to Yevgeny Leonov, a Soviet
>movie actor, who was very popular in the 70s and 80s.
>http://img12.nnm.ru/2/1/3/3/1/cd0b18319b561b9ba49f5b063df.jpg
>http://filmin.ru/1072-dzhentlmeny-udachi.html (a movie).
is there! I wonder if the characrters he played were at all hobbit-like?
>
>The Soviet aesthetics was changing throughout different
>Soviet periods. The term 'Bolshevik' in your post is not
>very relevant, the Bolsheviks ended before WW2. The book
>was issued in 1988, that was the very end of the SU, the
>heyday of Perestroika and the breath of collapse.
previous regime as "the Bolsheviks". They never called them "communists", just
Bolsheviks.
Oleg Smirnov
Jan 2, 2013, 8:34:42 PM1/2/13
to
Steve Hayes, news:lsq4e8dilpgmjkfre...@4ax.com
Such option is quite possible.
>> One of commenters there has noticed that the hobbit in
>> the book looks very similar to Yevgeny Leonov, a Soviet
>> movie actor, who was very popular in the 70s and 80s.
>> http://img12.nnm.ru/2/1/3/3/1/cd0b18319b561b9ba49f5b063df.jpg
>> http://filmin.ru/1072-dzhentlmeny-udachi.html (a movie).
>
> The second one was a bit too long to watch, but yes, the
> physical resemblance is there!
Just for case if someone would want to imbue with the
Soviet life of 70s. It was one of the most popular
comedy films. It inspired folklore, some is still alive.
> I wonder if the
> characrters he played were at all hobbit-like?
Leonov fits to hobbits' type through his rather short
stature and some baggy corpulence. His character in
the movie is a minder in a kindergarten for very small
children. And once circumstances force him to become
brave adventurer dealing with hardcore criminals.
But I don't think the illustrator was too scrupulous.
>> The Soviet aesthetics was changing throughout different
>> Soviet periods. The term 'Bolshevik' in your post is not
>> very relevant, the Bolsheviks ended before WW2. The book
>> was issued in 1988, that was the very end of the SU, the
>> heyday of Perestroika and the breath of collapse.
>
> When I visited Russia in 1995, most of my Russian friends
> referred to the previous regime as "the Bolsheviks". They
> never called them "communists", just Bolsheviks.
It's likely most of your friends are from the Orthodox
community. A part of clergy and some regular believers
have a manner to say it deliberately to emphasize their
commitment to the old Russianness. But in common usage
the term usually implies the time before the WW2.
>> One of commenters there has noticed that the hobbit in
>> the book looks very similar to Yevgeny Leonov, a Soviet
>> movie actor, who was very popular in the 70s and 80s.
>> http://img12.nnm.ru/2/1/3/3/1/cd0b18319b561b9ba49f5b063df.jpg
>> http://filmin.ru/1072-dzhentlmeny-udachi.html (a movie).
>
> The second one was a bit too long to watch, but yes, the
> physical resemblance is there!
Soviet life of 70s. It was one of the most popular
comedy films. It inspired folklore, some is still alive.
> I wonder if the
> characrters he played were at all hobbit-like?
stature and some baggy corpulence. His character in
the movie is a minder in a kindergarten for very small
children. And once circumstances force him to become
brave adventurer dealing with hardcore criminals.
But I don't think the illustrator was too scrupulous.
>> The Soviet aesthetics was changing throughout different
>> Soviet periods. The term 'Bolshevik' in your post is not
>> very relevant, the Bolsheviks ended before WW2. The book
>> was issued in 1988, that was the very end of the SU, the
>> heyday of Perestroika and the breath of collapse.
>
> When I visited Russia in 1995, most of my Russian friends
> referred to the previous regime as "the Bolsheviks". They
> never called them "communists", just Bolsheviks.
community. A part of clergy and some regular believers
have a manner to say it deliberately to emphasize their
commitment to the old Russianness. But in common usage
the term usually implies the time before the WW2.
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