[The Saucepan Man]

Lindil, I have Tyler's Complete Tolkien Companion. I would describe it as a very good reference book, far superior to the Illustrated Tolkien Encyclopedia by David Day, which I also have. But, as Iarwain said, while it is good for looking up facts - who someone is, what they did etc (and, as such is very useful for the Quiz Room [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] ), it does not really go any deeper than that. It does deal with one or two theories concerning the world of Middle-earth, the Tom Bombadil debate for example, but it really only scratches the very outer layer of the surface in this regard.

One drawback that it does have as a reference book is that there is practically no cross-referencing back to the Books themselves.

Hope that this helps. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]