The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary (original 2006; edition 2006)

by Peter Gilliver (Author)

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The Ring of Words describes the powerful and unique relationship between Tolkien's creative use of language in his fictional works and his professional work on the Oxford English Dictionary. Tolkien's earliest employment was as an assistant on the staff of the OED, and he later said that hehad 'learned more in those two years than in any other equal part of [his] life'.Here three authors, themselves senior editors of the OED, engage directly with Tolkien's language and his fictional world. Two discursive sections explore Tolkien as a lexicographer and his creativity as a word user and creator; while the main section of the book is made up of individual 'wordstudies' which explore words found in Tolkien's fiction in terms of their origins, development, and significance in his fictional world. Words such as 'hobbit', 'attercop', 'precious', 'Smeagol', and 'waybread' are explored in fascinating detail.The Ring of Words offers a new and unexplored angle on the creative world of one of our most famous and well-loved writers, presenting new archive material for the first time.… (more)

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Member:	wcs53
Title:	The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary
Authors:	Peter Gilliver (Author)
Info:	Oxford University Press (2006), Edition: 1st, 256 pages
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The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary by Peter Gilliver (2006)

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One of the most intelligent books ever written about Tolkien; up there with Shippey's The Road to Middle-Earth.

sonofcarc | May 24, 2021 |

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. (

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inge87 | Jun 26, 2016 |

A view of Tolkien's life and work by three philologists from the OED. The details of Tolkien's work on the dictionary at the OUP from 1918-1925 were of interest, but the main part of the book is an alphabetical list of words selected by the philologists from Tolkien's writing; this part is probably better as a reference than to read straight through. Unlikely to appeal to anyone who has never read The Lord of the Rings. (

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Thruston | Aug 24, 2015 |

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. (

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Chris_El | Mar 19, 2015 |

A slender, but interesting little volume, which, in spite of the title, is far more about Tolkien's use of language than about the OED. Tolkien's short career with the OED is covered, with interesting discussion of particular words that he worked on, but the bulk of the book treats our his philological expertise affected his use and coinage of words to give the appropriate flavor to the fantasy worlds he created. It is, perhaps, a little disconcerting to see the full-gunned philological treatment normally reserved for older and greater writers extended to a work of fantasy literature, but whether your interest is in Tolkien or in the history of English, this section is entertaining and enlightening. (

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sjnorquist | May 15, 2014 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Peter Gilliver	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Marshall, Jeremy	—	main author	all editions	confirmed
Weiner, E. S. C.	—	main author	all editions	confirmed
Bettman/Corbis	Tolkien Photo on cover	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Edmund Weiner	—	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Hammond, George	Designer	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Howe, John	Illustration of Dragon Frame on jacket	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Stevenson, David	Cover designer	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Mythopoeic Awards (Finalist – Inklings Studies – 2007)

Mythopoeic Awards (Finalist – Inklings Studies – 2008)

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Canonical title

The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2006

People/Characters

J. R. R. Tolkien

William Morris (1834-1896)

Henry Bradley (philologist)

Charles Talbut Onions

Robert Burchfield

(show all 7 items)

Important places

University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Oxfordshire, England, UK

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Bright is the ring of words
When the right man rings them,
Fair the fall of songs
When the singer sings them.
Robert Louis Stevenson

Dedication

First words

Preface
Nay, I have worried at whiles even over the tongues of Men, but Melo take them! they shift and change, change and shift, and when you have them are but a hard stuff whereof to labour songs or tales.
(Rúmil, in The Book of Lost Tales; HME I.47)
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes J. R. R. Tolkien as 'writer and philologist'.

Quotations

Last words

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Winchester, Simon

Hammond, Wayne G.

John Garth

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (6)

Tolkien's legendarium

▾Book descriptions

The Ring of Words describes the powerful and unique relationship between Tolkien's creative use of language in his fictional works and his professional work on the Oxford English Dictionary. Tolkien's earliest employment was as an assistant on the staff of the OED, and he later said that hehad 'learned more in those two years than in any other equal part of [his] life'.Here three authors, themselves senior editors of the OED, engage directly with Tolkien's language and his fictional world. Two discursive sections explore Tolkien as a lexicographer and his creativity as a word user and creator; while the main section of the book is made up of individual 'wordstudies' which explore words found in Tolkien's fiction in terms of their origins, development, and significance in his fictional world. Words such as 'hobbit', 'attercop', 'precious', 'Smeagol', and 'waybread' are explored in fascinating detail.The Ring of Words offers a new and unexplored angle on the creative world of one of our most famous and well-loved writers, presenting new archive material for the first time.

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