The Red Book of Westmarch (Archives)

Language
The word “Hobbit” in The Oxford English Dictionary
06.04.10 | Kunochan | Permalink | Speak, friend and comment!

I have fulfilled a lifelong dream, and acquired my very own (digital) copy of the complete Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Ed. Of course, the very first word I looked up was “hobbit,” which is famously included in this edition. I hereby reproduce the pertinent parts of the entry…
Language
Tolkien word of the day: ‘mathom’
08.11.09 | Kunochan | Permalink | Speak, friend and comment!

A mathom is an item, usually received as a gift, which has no genuine use, but cannot be thrown away because it is too valuable, or because the gift-giver will be offended.
News
Harvard prof to teach Tolkien course this summer
06.02.09 | Kunochan | Permalink | Speak, friend and comment!

Harvard University, America’s Best College if you believe US News & World Report, will host a Tolkien-based course this Summer. The class, entitled “Tolkien as Translator: Language, Culture & Society in Middle Earth,” will be taught by Anthropology Lecturer Dr. Marc Zender of the University’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
Web Links
You can have Periannath.com when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers
10.17.08 | Kunochan | Permalink | Speak, friend and comment!

Tolkien Enterprises, the folks who own the worldwide exclusive film, stage and merchandising rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, which The Professor sold off in 1968 for the bargain bin price of £10,000, are cracking down on cybersquatters holding onto domain names featurng the word “hobbit.”