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The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-Earth

ruth s. noel

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The same delight that led Tolkien to invent fourteen different languages and assorted alphabets for his Middle-earth dwellers now leads many of his fans to puzzle out translations for the Rohirrim's battle cries and to write their love letters in Elvish.

Here is the perfect handbook for all such enthusiasts as well as for serious students of language. It includes a full account of Tolkien the linguist, as well as telling how to write all the languages, with guides to grammar and pronunciation, and a complete dictionary of the fourteen languages.

Here is a book to deepen and enhance our enjoyment of those classics of Middle-earth, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.

Ruth Noel teaches remedial and developmental reading in Riverside, California. She is the author of The Mythology of Middle-earth, on the relation between The Lord of the Rings and European myth in general. "The author is convincing and fascinating as she connects Tolkien's fantasies with the hallowed myths of other cultures." - Publishers Weekly

207 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1974

This edition

Format
207 pages, Paperback
Published
May 28, 1980 by Houghton Mifflin Company
ISBN
9780395291306
ASIN
0395291305
Language
English

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About the author

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ruth s. noel

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Ruth Helen Swycaffer Noel (born 1947) has written two books relating to J.R.R. Tolkien's works; The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth and The Mythology of Middle-earth. She has also written science-fiction novels under the name Atanielle Annyn Noel.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 83 votes)
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83 reviews All reviews
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Moomochi
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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I ordered this book and bought it from barnes and noble a long time ago. I remember enjoying it and that I did learn a lot more about the languages of Middle-Earth. I thought of it again the other day and tried to find it but could not. I would like to read it again.
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Tteeny
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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Another addition to my Tolkien nerd’s collection! Not as good as, I thought it would be. It was a bit too short, the basis is good but I was hoping for something more intense, bigger dictionary, better explanation on the grammatical elements and other stuff like that. For a very specific audience and even then, could have been better.
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YetaiChu
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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Very useful from a linguistic perspective. I wouldn't recommend it to someone who's just looking for an Elvish dictionary as this book is a little more technical.
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-vanja-
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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This book would probably appeal more to language enthusiasts. It concentrates mostly on the Elvish languages, with passing references to the languages of men and the hobbits; there is also a very brief chapter on Tolkien's creation of these languages.
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Sangkuang77GG
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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You can get most of the information on this book from the Appendices in The Return of the King and The Silmarillion (can I just add how delighted I am by the fact that George R.R. Martin is referring to his work on the the Targaryen family history as the GRRMarillion? Brilliant). However, if you want a pocket-sized overview of the languages of Middle Earth, including a brief dictionary - because who does not want a pocket-sized collection of some of Tolkien's linguistic efforts? - this will do.
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AmbreBrou
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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This only has a little of the data that's not in the appendix of Silmarillion.
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