Bookish Things: The Ring of Words

In keeping with posts related to J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, I decided to have a look at some interesting books relating to etymology, philology and language. To start with –

The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary byP. Gilliver, J. Marshall and E. Weiner

The book opens with a quote by Robert Louis Stevenson:

Bright is the ring of words

When the right man rings them,

Fair the fall of songs

When the singer sings them.

Courtesy of OUP

Anyone who has read Tolkien’s works will know of the superb way in which language is used throughout his works. For those (like me) who suddenly found a new world of etymology opened to them, the giddy joy of finding words Tolkien used in other texts is a simple pleasure. As a Tolkien fan, for example, reading the Anglo-Saxon poem “Crist” is a sure way of becoming addicted to the Old English corpus. 

Overview

The book’s first two chapters cover “Tolkien as Lexicographer” and “Tolkien as Wordwright” and examines the craft and care with which Tolkien approached his work. It also gives an insight to the world of lexicography and what it is that lexicographers do*. The bulk of the book, however, is spent on Word Studies. These are given in alphabetical order, and each given ample space for references to Tolkien’ work and other literary sources.

But, whether or not you are an admirer of Tolkien’s work; The Ring of Words, is a delight to anyone who is interested in etymology. The words covered in the book range from elf and dwarf to dwimmerlaik and ruel-bone. The work does not only cover words found in the books regarding Middle-Earth, but also from his other fiction. Blunderbuss, for example, is also included in the word studies. The book’s language is easily accessible, though it may be more interesting to those who are somewhat familiar with Tolkien’s legendarium. Gilliver, et al. have compiled a book for lay readers as well those already familiar with the history of English and other Germanic languages. It is hardly a “stuffy academic” book.

Want to know more?

If you would like to know more about this book, head on over to Oxford University Press or iTunes and download the podcast.

Further reading:

For more about Tolkien’s creation of Middle-Earth, I highly recommend Tom Shippey’s The Road toMiddle-Earth: How J.R.R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology, and John Garth’s Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold ofMiddle-Earth.

* Lexicographers do not spend their time trying to keep new words from entering dictionaries, for example.

Books:Gilliver, J., J. Marshall and E. Weiner. (2006). The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the OxfordEnglish Dictionary. Oxford University Press.

Shippey, T. (2003).The Road toMiddle-Earth: How J.R.R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology. Houghton Mifflin.

Garth, J. (2003).Tolkien andthe Great War: The Threshold of Middle-Earth. HarperCollins.