Tove Jansson's criticised illustrations of Tolkien's The Hobbit

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When Tove Jansson was asked to illustrate J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit in 1960, she was thrilled. The result was a rare Swedish-language edition which has never before been published in English – until now! In September 2026, Tove Jansson’s illustrations will be available in an English edition of The Hobbit for the first time, published by HarperCollins.

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In 1960, Tove Jansson, Moomin creator and one of the most beloved authors and illustrators in the Nordics,  was asked to illustrate the new Swedish translation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. The request came from the Swedish children’s book author Astrid Lindgren, who at the time was a publisher at Rabén & Sjögren. She wrote: ‘God bless you for Toffle!! But who will comfort Astrid if you don’t agree to the proposal I’m now going to make to you?’

Tove Jansson was known worldwide as an author, illustrator, cartoonist, and painter with an enormous body of work, but she also illustrated the books of other well-known authors. One of her most significant commissions was the creation of the illustrations for Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark in 1958. The proposal to illustrate the book came from the editor Åke Runnquist, and it was the starting point of a meaningful collaboration and friendship. Runnquist asked Jansson to illustrate another of Lewis Carroll’s books in 1965, namely Alice in Wonderland, and, even though she was at that time busier than ever, she could not resist the temptation to accept the proposal.

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“… this will be the children’s book of the century, and will live long after we are dead and buried.”

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In 1960, Astrid Lindgren wrote to Tove Jansson, asking her to illustrate J.R.R Tolkien’s The Hobbit, noting what an event combining the work of two such literary giants would be: “… this will be the children’s book of the century, and will live long after we are dead and buried.”

Jansson did not hesitate to take on making the illustrations for Tolkien’s classic. Bilbo – en hobbits äventyr, illustrated by Tove Jansson, was published two years later. As Boel Westin writes in her book Life, Art, Words, the Tolkien project was a unique collaboration between two of the internationally most famous children’s book authors from the Nordics, working on a beloved title by an internationally acclaimed author. It was a book neither Jansson nor Lindgren had written; Jansson illustrated, and Lindgren served as editor.

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She drew every character 20 to 60 times in a freehand manner before she was satisfied.

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Jansson told Lindgren she wanted to keep the illustrations for the Tolkien book separate from the style she had developed for her own Moomin world. ‘I have tried to free myself from my “Moomin style” with its careful line-drawing and painstakingly filled surfaces,’ Jansson wrote to Lindgren. She strived to interpret Tolkien’s characters freely and did not sketch with pencil beneath the felt pen, as she was used to doing in her Moomin illustrations. When she drew Tolkien’s characters, she made up to sixty different versions of every character before she was satisfied. As an illustrator, Jansson trusted that the advanced printing techniques of the 1960s would guarantee that her method of glueing together different drawings to make the illustrations would not be visible in the final book.

In her illustrations in Bilbo – en hobbits äventyr, Jansson concentrated on the landscapes; she was not as interested in the characters of the story. She even made some of the characters especially tiny to elevate the landscapes. The illustrations consisted more of her impressions of the story than of literal repetition, which many Tolkien fans found unsatisfying. According to them, Jansson overlooked many of the central characteristics of the characters. This was one of the reasons why the book did not become so popular, even though the editor, Astrid Lindgren, had sensed that the book would be the children’s book of the century.

The unanimity between Tolkien’s text and Jansson’s inner world was clearly a reason for her concentration on the story’s landscapes and locations in her illustrations. Jansson saw an opportunity to illustrate the horror of the story, as she liked to dramatise catastrophes. In the full-page illustrations, Jansson relied on her familiar style. Still, she edited the pictures many times to avoid too much similarity with the Moomin illustrations. However, readers found the illustrations more Jansson-like than truly Tolkien-like.

One character Tove interpreted in her own distinct way was Gollum, who also played a central role in Tolkien’s Ring trilogy. Jansson, as well as some other illustrators of other editions, drew  Gollum as a rather large character (see image below). In later editions of the book, Tolkien ensured that Gollum was described as a smaller creature. 

Jansson drew Gollum as massive in size. She drew the character with a wreath, an accessory she often wore herself, for example, for her birthdays.

Tove Jansson’s illustrations for the Swedish translation of The Hobbit were also used in the Finnish translation Hobitti – eli Sinne ja takaisin. That is why Tove Jansson wrote in 1992 to the chairman of the Finnish Tolkien Society: ”For me it was an adventure to get the chance to illustrate The Hobbit.”

First English edition with Jansson’s illustrations in September 2026

Coinciding with the 90-year celebration of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, HarperCollins is publishing the story paired with Tove Jansson’s illustrations in English for the first time. 

The new landmark edition will be published in the UK on 24th September 2026, and in the US on 6th October 2026. 

The Hobbit was first published in 1937 and The Lord of the Rings in 1954–5. Each has since gone on to become a beloved classic of literature, and an international bestseller in more than 80 languages, collectively selling more than 150,000,000 copies worldwide.

Read more about Tove Jansson’s illustrations for Alice in Wonderland.