Tolkien research


The works of J. R. R. Tolkien have generated a body of research covering subjects such as Tolkien as a writer of fantasy, Old English literature and Tolkien's invented languages.

Biography and letters

Tolkien's constructed languages, Quenya and Sindarin, the languages of Elves, have inspired linguistic research. Parma Eldalamberon and Vinyar Tengwar are published by the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship of the Mythopoeic Society a non-profit organization. The Vinyar Tengwar and Parma Eldalamberon material published at an increasing rate during the early 2000s is from the stock of linguistic material in the possession of the appointed team of editors, consisting of photocopies sent them by Christopher Tolkien and notes taken in the Bodleian library around 1992. An Internet mailing list dedicated to Tolkien's languages, called tolklang, has existed since November 1, 1990.
Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on the History of Middle-Earth, a book edited by Verlyn Flieger and Carl F. Hostetter, contains a number of essays on topics such as the conceptual evolution of Sindarin or "The Growth of Grammar in the Elven Tongues."
In 2003, linguist and fantasy author Helmut W. Pesch published a comprehensive book on Tolkien's Elvish languages in German. It includes etymologies and grammar of Quenya and Sindarin as well as a dictionary for both languages.
A 2009 book by linguist Elizabeth Solopova, Languages, Myth and History: An Introduction to the Linguistic and Literary Background of J. R. R. Tolkien's Fiction gives an overview of the linguistic traits of the various languages invented by Tolkien and the history of their creation.
In April 2016, Dimitra Fimi and Andrew Higgins published A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages, which included a longer, edited version of Tolkien's essay of the same name reconstructed from manuscripts and notes held by the Bodeleian Library. The book also contains manuscripts of the essay, an introduction, and a newly published "Essay on Phonetic Symbolism."

Literature

Books

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