Tolkien's first job, on returning home from World War I, was as an assistant on the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary. He later said that he had "learned more in those two years than in any other equal part of his life." The Ring of Words reveals how his professional work on the OED influenced Tolkien's creative use of language in his fictional world.
Here three senior editors of the OED offer an intriguing exploration of Tolkien's career as a lexicographer and illuminate his creativity as a word user and word creator. The centerpiece of the book is a wonderful collection of "word studies" which will delight the heart of Ring fans and word lovers everywhere. The editors look at the origin of such Tolkienesque words as "hobbit," "mithril, "Smeagol," "Ent," "halfling," and "worm" (meaning "dragon"). Readers discover that a word such as "mathom" (anything a hobbit had no immediate use for, but was unwilling to throw away) was actually common in Old English, but that "mithril," on the other hand, is a complete invention (and the first "Elven" word to have an entry in the OED). And fans of Harry Potter will be surprised to find that "Dumbledore" (the name of Hogwart's headmaster) was a word used by Tolkien and many others (it is a dialect word meaning "bumblebee").
Few novelists have found so much of their creative inspiration in the shapes and histories of words. Presenting archival material not found anywhere else, The Ring of Words offers a fresh and unexplored angle on the literary achievements of one of the world's most famous and best-loved writers.

"You are a curse, Peter Pan," Hook says, drawing nearer. "Your carelessness has ruined countless lives. Everything you touch turns to madness and that madness must end." Peter Pan doesn't know right from wrong and he doesn't care. Night after night, for untold years, Peter Pan flew into children's rooms and took them to a far away land with the promise of endless adventure. That is until one night in Port Royal, when Peter meets James Hoodkins and sets events in motion that create his greatest enemy: Captain James Hook. This prequel to the iconic novel, Peter Pan, written by J. M. Barrie, tells the life of the man who becomes the symbol for piracy around the world. Captain James Hook has reason and wit behind his seething hatred for Peter Pan. If only someone would listen...