Tolkien and the 'other' N-word ;)

[Alcarillo]

Originally Posted by Cailín

I always thought Elvish mostly resembled Finnish and Tolkien did not appreciate Celtic languages, but I guess I was wrong.

Not entirely wrong, Cailín. Sindarin is the language that sounds like Welsh, and Quenya is the language that sounds like Finnish. They're both beautiful languages.

Before I read Tolkien I didn't know what argent, or sable, or chalcedony meant, and some words I hadn't even heard of before. Bilbo's song in Many Meetings had some wonderful words, like habergeon and carcanet and flammifer, great vocabulary-filling words that sound old and noble. I always thought that Tolkien's poetry included some of his loveliest language.