Definitive Ranking of Lord of the Rings Book Covers

[@markharc7615]

1:35 I love those crazy covers.

[@scottlovesmoviestoomuch]

I actually like the “Super Sexy Geralt of Rivia” version because it seems to be going for an old renaissance painting style with its chiaroscuro lighting and oil medium, and those old classic paintings had weird, unnatural poses and staging all the time.

[@eshansachintha5441]

It has been 2 years since you did this video, two whole RoP seasons are over now and i doubt what you think about the show rn. But i should say among hundreds and many more reviews and comments about all the hatred on the RoP covers, some literally wanting to tear them off on shelves, you were the only single person i saw who appreciated the covers artistically even giving them a love it rank. I know my books and i've seen so much of tolkien covers and honestly they look good to me. I recently bought the new TT & ROTK and they look amazing, and despite the major backlash i never felt them less worthy. The movie tie-ins' were hated as much as these when they were released, but they were the cheapest and that's how Tolkien's books, not movies, were embraced by younger generations. Not the expensive Deluxe of hefty collectors. Those tv tie-in covers got something unique that i enjoy and never felt it on seeing the movie covers before. Galadriel, High king Gilgalad is already there, Elendil could've been used for Adar which is justifiable but its all armour, weapon and the artistry no faces so people should really keep the show hatred aside when buying books. The artist Barbara Remington neither had read the books nor she knew she was working on Tolkien's books when she drew the cover arts for the 1960 Ballantine first paperback set. Tolkien had even expressed his dislike on her first sketches, saying they were "Lion Books". But her covers on the books are a work of art, people love it yet never say they are character irrelevant.

[@halwakka504]

My absolute favourite cover is the one that uses the John Howe illustration of Gandalf striding along a path in the rain.

[@tristenm1526]

To make the list even longer, I think that they actually made two different versions of those minimalist mostly-black covers. One version seems to be shorter and thicker with the details made in a gloss finish, while another is thinner with the details in gold (you showed this one) and a pop of color on the spines. And to think of all the covers of the Hobbit, the Silmarillion…wow

[@leighs966]

I'm a huge Lotr fan and i absolutely loved this video! Some of these are a huge WTF?! LOL and others are so so beautiful. I'm in the UK and have some editions not shown here though they're probably mostly variants of some you showed like the classic ring symbol and different movie artwork. Any future Lotr related videos you might do would be very welcome!!

[@englishnerd5580]

I appreciate that! Glad you enjoyed the video 😊

[@gybod9166]

Great video! Such a good subject to speak on. The first copy I read was my dads from the 70s and you put it in the blandness category. It's the one of the Nazgul on horseback and I remember the cover on that was in terrible condition as well!

[@englishnerd5580]

Thanks! There’s something awesome about the particular book you read first, though, isn’t there? Even if the cover is a little bland 😂

[@samueluddin9931]

9:17 what annoys me the most is that the cover art is all from the hobbit.The hobbiton picture is from the beginning of the hobbit, the eagle is from the scene when bilbo, Gandalf and the dwarves are saved from the orcs, that river is actually the scene when the dwarves are in barrels but most of the picture. Oh and btw this is all art from Tolkien himself, but still a very strange choice.

[@lisarichards1956]

I have the one with the ring wraithe that you said was your first copy. Paperback. I found it at the thrift store with an old rubber band around it to hold the pages in. I had to take it home with me, lol.

[@i_do_stuff_ig]

The danish cover with the weird goblin things are probably supposed to be Ghân-buri-Ghân and the Drúadan

[@AndruWProWrestling]

I love the vintage covers. I have the DVDs of the animated LOTR and Hobbit 70s movies

[@cathchung12]

Missed the Methuen Canadian prints; somewhere between that's nice and bland for me. Enjoyed the video a lot!

[@englishnerd5580]

Thanks! I figured there might be a couple more I didn’t find. 😆

[@marcoreali5197]

What edition is the one at 21:30?

[@JordanReese]

My wife and I were cracking up during the abort! Section!

[@englishnerd5580]

So glad you liked it, Jordan!

[@stefanraab9803]

What is your favourite lord of the rings book?Mine is the two towers!

[@englishnerd5580]

Ooh! Tough to say… I might have to agree with you, though Return of the King is hard to beat!

[@randomer5555]

These covers show how terrible the films could have been

[@englishnerd5580]

Absolutely! No wonder Tolkien didn’t want the books to be made into movies.

[@halwakka504]

@@englishnerd5580 He clearly didn't want the books to be made into movies because Ian McKellen wasn't old enough.

[@SwegDawgs]

bruh movie covers ain't it. i want something old and artsy and creative

[@halwakka504]

Yeah. The books with movie covers feels like cheap merchandising. It's more than fantastic if some people got into reading LOTR for the first time simply because they liked the movies and saw the book with the movie cover but I don't want it sitting on my bookshelf when there are so many beautiful works of art out there.