An excellent book for those interested in J.R.R. Tolkien's created languages.

With The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-Earth Ruth Noel gives you the foundation for Tolkien's famous elven language, which I always like to proudly point out is based in Finnish. Hey, us Finns don't always have a lot to shout about!

The book also includes about a dozen other languages, such as various human tongues, the Black Speech of Mordor, high ancient tongues, common speech, etc. It takes all the words Tolkien gave us, translates them and offers some samples on how to elaborate on the fragments of the languages we have, such as verb conjugation.

Included are various glossaries, essays on Tolkien the conlanger's technique, and a Tolkien dictionary. While not for the average reader, this book is indispensable for fantasy fiction language lovers.

Ruth seems to know quite a bit about Tolkiens Middle earth. However, you can pull most of this info from the Appendices of the Trilogy. The languages and things like that can't be found in the books are in the back.

Good compilation and basic intro, but I am looking for a deeper linguistics approach. But worth the read.

Great little reference book. Love it.

És impressionant. Massa curt pel meu gust, però un dels millors llibres i diccionaris que he llegit. És molt interessant i enriquidor. I molt amè també.

Exactly like it sounds...and dry and dull unless you have an interest in learning a make-believe language. An interesting study in the creation of a language out of one man's head, but...well, how often does that really happen?

A very useful guide to Tolkien's invented languages, but is mostly a tool or study-guide rather than a work that can be enjoyably read from cover to cover. It's a good one to have on the shelf for reference if you are a Tolkien fan, but I think it is aimed at the people who are interested in the "private lang" aspect of Tolkien's work more than his stories.

This is a great read if you're interested in Tolkien's languages. If you're purely in love with his stories this will not interest you. Also, you will probably need some knowledge of linguistic terminology to fully understand it.
The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because of its inaccuracy. The book is important because it was one of the first major books to be published on Tolkien's languages, but it has since become quite outdated. Take into account that the first edition of this book was published in 1974, and the revised version in 1980. If you consider that The Silmarillion was first published in 1977, one can only imagine how much information emerged on the languages since then. Even David Salo in A Gateway to Sindarin mentions the inaccuracy of some of his data, and that book was published recently (in 2004).
Having said all that, the book still provides great insight into the languages of Middle Earth and is an interesting read for those interested in linguistics and for those who wish to know more about Tolkien's world.

This is an expansion of the appendix that is found at the back of the return of the king. It's a great description of how to properly pronounce the elven languages. A must for a Tolkien fan.

Finally finished this important, although apparently somewhat inaccurate/outdated, book. It was just reading through the dictionary portion that took forever. A lot was repeated from the appendices of LOTR, and a lot was explained nicely. Some other reviewers commented on the inaccuracies and that more recent analyses now exist. I'll have to check them out. If you enjoy language and are eager to understand all facets of Middle-earth then this is a must-read. Or if you just enjoy the way beautiful words sound and feel in your mouth!

This really gives you the idea of how the different languages come together and work in LOTR.

I see some folks calling this an "informative" read, but it isn't one for a seasoned Tolkienite. This book is terribly out of date, and is often incorrect, even when consulting sources that existed at the time of its publication. The only thing that saves it are its references for the Tengwar and Cirth. Save your money and look into David Salo's work instead. Accurate, up-to-date dictionaries like Hisweloke's Sindarin Dictionary are available online.