MIDDLE-EARTH TIMELINE
Languages, Myths and History: An Introduction to the Linguistic and Literary Background of J.R.R. Tolkien's Fiction is a short book by Elizabeth Solopova, an Oxford philologist and medievalist and co-author of The Keys of Middle-earth. It was published by North Landing Books in New York in June 2009.
Written for students and new readers, it gives brief introductions to the languages and literatures that mattered most to Tolkien as a writer and scholar: Old Norse, Old English, Gothic and Finnish. For each one, Solopova explains how it influenced Tolkien's invented languages and his fiction.
A short guide to the old languages and literatures, from Old English to Finnish, that lie behind Tolkien's fiction.