The Ring Of Words

Tolkien's first job, on returning home from World War I, was as an assistant on the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary. He later said that he had "learned more in those two years than in any other equal part of his life." The Ring of Words reveals how his professional work on the OED influenced Tolkien's creative use of language in his fictional world. Here three senior editors of the OED offer an intriguing exploration of Tolkien's career as a lexicographer and illuminate his creativity as a word user and word creator. The centerpiece of the book is a wonderful collection of "word studies" which will delight the heart of Ring fans and word lovers everywhere. The editors look at the origin of such Tolkienesque words as "hobbit," "mithril, "Smeagol," "Ent," "halfling," and "worm" (meaning "dragon"). Readers discover that a word such as "mathom" (anything a hobbit had no immediate use for, but was unwilling to throw away) was actually common in Old English, but that "mithril," on the other hand, is a complete invention (and the first "Elven" word to have an entry in the OED). And fans of Harry Potter will be surprised to find that "Dumbledore" (the name of Hogwart's headmaster) was a word used by Tolkien and many others (it is a dialect word meaning "bumblebee"). Few novelists have found so much of their creative inspiration in the shapes and histories of words. Presenting archival material not found anywhere else, The Ring of Words offers a fresh and unexplored angle on the literary achievements of one of the world's most famous and best-loved writers.

Over 300 art songs of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Norway, and Sweden, with line-by-line English translations.

Roger McGough's The Ring of Words is a perfect introduction to the pleasures of poetry. His selection is wonderfully varied, drawing on classic and contemporary poets, and illustrates, if there were any doubters, just how relevant poetry is to our lives. The poems are, in one way or another, about growing up: placing ourselves in the world around us and discovering the imaginative world in our own heads. There are poems of exhilaration and poems of sadness, poems that ambush us with the unexpected (and make us think about something all over again) and poems that make us laugh out loud. Whether about secret passions or shared enthusiasms, dreams of escape or longing for home, each of the poems has its own ring of truth which will resound in readers of all ages. The book has been beautifully illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura, whose distinctive and quirky style makes the book a feast for the eye as well as the ear.

'The Fellowship of the Ring' is the first part of JRR Tolkien's epic masterpiece 'The Lord of the Rings'. This 50th anniversary edition features special packaging and includes the definitive edition of the text.|PB

The opening novel of The Lord of the Rings—the greatest fantasy epic of all time—which continues in The Two Towers and The Return of the King. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read The dark, fearsome Ringwraiths are searching for a Hobbit. Frodo Baggins knows that they are seeking him and the Ring he bears—the Ring of Power that will enable evil Sauron to destroy all that is good in Middle-earth. Now it is up to Frodo and his faithful servant, Sam, with a small band of companions, to carry the Ring to the one place it can be destroyed: Mount Doom, in the very center of Sauron’s realm.

This text reveals how his professional work on the Oxford English Dictionary influenced Tolkien's creative use of language in his fictional world. Three senior editors of the OED offer an intriguing exploration of Tolkien's career as a lexicographer and illuminate his creativity.