The Ring of Words describes the powerful and unique relationship between Tolkien's creative use of language in his fictional works and his professionalwork on the Oxford English Dictionary. Tolkien's earliest employment was as an assistant on the staff of the OED, and he later said that he had 'learnedmore in those two years than in any other equal part of [his] life'. Here three authors, themselves senior editors of the OED, engage directly with Tolkien'slanguage and his fictional world. Two discursive sections explore Tolkien as a lexicographer and his creativity as a word user and creator; while the mainsection of the book is made up of individual 'word studies' which explore words found in Tolkien's fiction in terms of their origins, development, andsignificance in his fictional world. Words such as 'hobbit', 'attercop', 'precious', 'Smeagol', and 'waybread' are explored in fascinating detail. TheRing of Words offers a new and unexplored angle on the creative world of one of our most famous and well-loved writers, presenting new archive materialfor the first time.