A review by jsjammersmith
The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary by Peter Gilliver, Edmund Weiner, Jeremy Marshall
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.