Peter Gilliver

The Ring of Words is a book in three parts, with the first two focusing on Tolkien's work on the Oxford English Dictionary and on his own personal word-creation respectively, and the third being essentially a kind of glossary detailing some of the more obscure words he used and those that he essentially created or gave new meaning so. It sounds like three books squished in one, but it works surprisingly well. This is a book that would appeal to anyone with an interest in the OED, the history of the English language, dictionary creation, and word and language creation, as well as Tolkien fans. If you fall into any of those groups, I can highly recommend this book.… (more)

A book divided into three parts. The first talks about Tolkien's time working with the Oxford English Dictionary. It sets the scene for the second part that talks about his work as a wordsmith. Or, as the book terms his word skills, "wordright". Finally the the last chapter lists 100 words of the most interesting words Tolkien used (in the author's opinion of course) and a brief overview on where the word comes from and how Tolkien used it.

I thought the biography/work on the Oxford dictionary section a bit skimpy. I'd say this is really only for people who are interested in Tolkien and also very interested in philology.… (more)