World famous author of The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien is going to be remembered through the Pride in Bournemouth lions project, as artist Elanor McBay brings his epic adventure novels to life through a life size statue of a lion.

The lion, called SilmarilLION, sponsored by the Miramar Hotel, will be the latest edition to Pride in Bournemouth, an exciting and imaginative public arts project which raises money for the Born Free and Julia’s House charities.

Tolkien spent much of his vacation time at the Miramar Hotel in Bournemouth, so it was only fitting that the lion was a tribute to the author.

David Bailey general manager of the Miramar Hotel said: “We are delighted to be involved in this exciting project for Bournemouth – it is not only a great creative opportunity for the town but offers businesses like ourselves the chance to participate and showcase the heritage of our beautiful hotel to a wide audience.“

Local artist and cartographer, Elanor McBay, was a natural choice when it came to choosing an appropriate person to create the Tolkien lion.

Named after a flower from The Lord of the Rings novel and being an avid reader of Tolkien’s works it gave Elanor the passion to make the lion into something special.

“My interest and experience with cartography has brought me to work on the Miramar lion. The project creates a perfect fusion of my love for maps, art and literature. Elanor said: “I'm very excited about this project and can't wait to see the lion complete. I am going to have a lot of fun and it's all for a good cause as next year Bournemouth's Pride will be auctioned off in aid of the Born Free Foundation and Julia's House.”

The SilmarilLION is named after the epic history novel ‘Quenta Silmarillion’, which was never published in Tolkien’s lifetime. His son, Christopher Tolkien, organised his father’s unpublished material into a single volume called Silmarillion, which was finally published in 1977.

The statue is currently being painted in the public lounge of the Miramar Hotel and will be on display at the hotel throughout the project.