Linguistic puns, riddles, and jokes in LotR, etc.

[Rumil]

I think there are two sides to Tolkien's liguistic riddles and name meanings.

First of all, the meaning of the name in the 'invented' languages of Middle Earth, which I'd imagine those into learning Sindarin etc. could clarify.

Secondly, and more mysteriously, is the question of why Tolkien chose the words he did for his invented languages. I feel that they tend to convey some meaning on (what is for us poor non-philologists) a subconcious level. Sindarin, especially, often has words which seem to convey a meaning before you find out what their Tolkien definition is, perhaps this is due to its partial derivation from Welsh, (for me anyway!). I think that one of Tolkien's greatest skills was to invent names and words which sound 'right', I'm sure that many of us have read lesser works of fantasy or sci-fi where the names seem faintly ridiculous, or have tried to write RPG scenarios which suffer from the same problem.