"How does one pronounce Tolkien?"

[davem]

Originally Posted by Mnemosyne

davem, by "marketing" I meant such things as adaptations with an audio component and/or settings of Tolkien songs, not simply telling people to pronounce things "your way"--things that actually make money off the notion that this adheres to Tolkien in the details.

I'm still intrigued as to why 'correct' pronunciation is so important - much more so than imagery - after all, Tolkien did produce illustrations of Middle-earth, for TH, LotR & The Si, but no-one seems to bother if an illustrator goes their own way & ignores Tolkien's own imagery in favour of their own. Take a look at these which were issud as a stamp set a few years ago: http://www.norphil.co.uk/2004/2004im...trblokbull.jpg

Check the second row - pic 1 is Orthanc, pic 3 is Barad-dur, pic 4 is Minas(Mynas ) Tirith. That's how Tolkien visualised those places. Should we be bound by them, & make ourselves see those places in the way he depicted them? I'd say, no, because while they may have worked for Tolkien they won't work for most of his readers. If its ok to visualise a place in the story in your own way, then why is thee an issue with pronouncing the names in your own way?