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kpjt_books's review against another edition
4.0
Really great insight into Tolkien and his work at the OED. I continue to enjoy discovering the depth and breadth of Tolkien's interests in language as well as how he has touched the English language in so many ways.
tukuvwi's review
4.0
This is a delightful little book. The bulk of the text is taken up by a number of "word studies" of words coined, revived, or notably used by Tolkien in his fiction. My only complaint is that many of the word studies were too short, but then I have a lot of patience for etymological discussions.
mhall89446's review
4.0
An enjoyable book overall. The section on Tolkien's work on the OED was a bit dry, but the glossary/dictionary section of the book was fascinating on how Tolkien took Old english and Middle English words and incorporated them into the LOTR, The Hobbit, and other works.
jsjammersmith's review against another edition
4.0
While this book was slightly difficult to actually read as one coherent text, I still see a tremendous value in this book. Peter Gilliver has dug into the works of Tolkien, unearthing every individual word to find it's character. While the first two sections are dedicated to understanding Tolkien and the importance of his philology, the rest of the text takes the time to find the origin of every unusual phrase and word. What this does is contextualize and influence the Lord of the Rings and the universe it's connected to. Some might argue this lessens Tolkien's aura by demonstrating a lack of originality, but I would argue against this. Gilliver's book demonstrates Tolkien as a great author because great authors reimagine the world and reality.
While not entirely original, The Lord of the Rings is a reimagining of language and linguistics to create new cultures out of words and ideas that had been long abandoned or ignored before Tolkien found them. The Ring of Words is a great boon to Tolkien fans, because it affirms what we all knew which was that the "Old Professor" was creating something out something which had come before.
While not entirely original, The Lord of the Rings is a reimagining of language and linguistics to create new cultures out of words and ideas that had been long abandoned or ignored before Tolkien found them. The Ring of Words is a great boon to Tolkien fans, because it affirms what we all knew which was that the "Old Professor" was creating something out something which had come before.
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