Brandon Sanderson, author of the Cosmere series and a scholar of J.R.R. Tolkien, presented the annual Tolkien lecture at Oxford this year and posted the recording online.

During his weekly podcast, Sanderson said he found a previously unseen sketch of Helm's Deep on the back of a student paper while grading over the summer. He explained that Tolkien wrote the sketch after noting that the paper should not be wasted, adding that the drawing appeared as the student’s writing took up half the page.

Tolkien taught at Oxford beginning in 1925 as a fellow of Pembroke College. While serving as a professor, he wrote The Hobbit and the early portions of The Lord of the Rings, with The Hobbit published in 1937.

Illustrated editions of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion are currently available for purchase, providing readers with access to Tolkien’s drawings and sketches.