Durin! And the winner is…

In a not so distant past I launched a contest to label a true Dwarven ale with the Deathless name of “Durin!”.

Durin!

I asked artists (and beer-lovers alike) to design a front and back label for this delicious ale, and I must say that I was certainly not disappointed.

Obviously (let’s be honest here folks) the main drive for our artists/beer-lovers was the chance to get their hands on a fine selection of Durin!, with their very own labels printed on them.

Receiving no less than eleven entries by artist from all over the world this has truly been a delight and tremendous honor. A grand dwarven thank you for all those artists that sent in their fabulous art-work!

Saying that picking a winner was an extremely challenging task would be a huge understatement, hence this taking a bit longer then I had originally planned.

However, without further ado… the winner of our Durin! Label Contest is…

Matthew James Aldridge from the UK!

His winning front label:

Durin!

And backlabel:

Durin! Backlabel

Matthew is an extremely talented English 3D Artist who (as we can see) does tremendous 2D work as well. The details on the design, without making it over-complex nor blinding the viewer, draw in all who take a glance at it. Stunning work!

More info on Matthew and his artwork can be found on his site: http://matthewjamesaldridge.co.uk

Matthew, congratulations my friend, you can expect an email soon so we can finalize the details and get your selection of Durin! to your doorstep. Don’t hesitate to share with us your view on this delicious Dwarven ale.

Again, to all artists that entered the contest, thank you again so much…. and those beer-lovers that want their chance for their own selection of Durin!… stay tuned my friends.

About The Dwarrow Scholar

My fascination with Tolkien began early, with a battered copy of The Hobbit given to me by my uncle. I read it obsessively, then reread it, and when I was old enough to own a Walkman, I even recorded my own cassette version so I could listen to it while cycling to school. Long before the internet made information easy to find, I spent countless hours in libraries, hunting down anything I could about Tolkien and, in particular, his Dwarves. That early fascination never really went away. Over the years it developed into a sustained and structured engagement with Tolkien’s legendarium, especially the Dwarvish languages and cultures. Under the name The Dwarrow Scholar, I focus primarily on Neo-Khuzdul, Tolkien’s notes on Dwarves, and the careful expansion and teaching of those ideas in a way that respects both the source material and linguistic plausibility. Through www.dwarrowscholar.com , I publish articles, reference material, and language resources, and I also give structured lessons in Neo-Khuzdul to students. What began as fandom gradually grew into long-term research, teaching, and writing. When I am not working on Neo-Khuzdul or answering questions from fellow Tolkien enthusiasts, I enjoy time with my wife and son, revisiting well-worn Tolkien paperbacks, learning languages, watching a good film, or unwinding with games like The Lord of the Rings Online and other Dwarf-adjacent distractions.

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