Bilbo's Last Song by J. R. R. Tolkien

Goodreads: Bilbo's Last Song

Series: None

Published: 1990 (in book form)

Source: Borrowed

Summary: Bilbo reflects on his final journey through Middle-earth.  Illustrated by Pauline Baynes.

Review: I love Tolkien's alliterative verse, but have always thought his other poetry needed a little work.  Bilbo's final song does not prove the exception.  Written in rhyming couplets, it strikes me as pretty, but also as a little repetitive and not very original.  The illustrations provided by Pauline Baynes (who also illustrated C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia) really give the book its re-readability.

The book includes two sets of illustrations: the large ones on the right-hand pages follow Bilbo's final journey to the Grey Havens while the small insets on the bottom follow Bilbo's adventures of The Hobbit.  The amount of detail is absolutely stunning.  Baynes brings the spirit of Middle-earth to life, suggesting the beauty of its landscapes, the homeyness of its Hobbit holes, and the nobility of its Elves.  Looking at the illustrations is like losing one's self in Middle-earth.

While the volume itself is small, the quality of the illustrations make the book well worth the cover price.  I love to open this work every now and then, as it allows me to relive, through pictures, both Bilbo's former adventures and his last.  Every journey through Middle-earth feels like a journey in which I come home--and Baynes' illustrations make that journey even more enchanting.