Rowns,

My wish list is growing quite large as well. As my birthday falls close to Christmas and my family give me money for my books, I have the tough task of trying to work out which books get priority on my list.

At the moment I am looking at: A Question of Time, Tolkien Studies 3 Parma Eldalamberon 6,7 and 11 (yes, I'm falling way behind), and last of all the Tolkien Encyclopedia.

I'm not sure about the Encyclopedia though as I have heard good and bad reviews for this book, especially considering the price!! Can anyone recomend this book?

Hope everyone gets what they wish for!!
Cheers
Dior

Just sharing for fun, this is what I have on my wish list right now (with a reasonable chance that a family member might get me - it's a whole separate list that I would like to get myself if money were no object...)

p.s. - reading this list should show you all just how far behind I am this year what with family and job...

• The History of the Hobbit boxed set


• The Company They Keep


• The Tolkien Encyclopedia


• The Lord of the Rings 1954-2004: Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder


• J.R.R. Tolkien: Six Decades of Criticism (Bibliographies and Indexes in World Literature)


• J.R.R. Tolkien: An Audio Portrait of the Author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings


• J.R.R. Tolkien - An Authorized Film Portrait


• J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances: Views of Middle-earth


• Perilous Realms: Celtic And Norse in Tolkien's Middle-Earth


• Tolkien's Modern Middle Ages (The New Middle Ages)


• Root And Branch


• Tolkien Through Russian Eyes


• Ents, Elves, And Eriador


• Inside Language


• Roots and Branches


• The Plants of Middle-Earth

w00t! #3 - hard to beat that, since I still hold the opinion that #1 and #2 went to the obvious. Make you wish you had ordered two copies Stu?

Adding a bit more flexibility to the discussion forums - created a separate category for more discussion topics - particularly, I wanted to start using the forums as a good place to ask content related questions - where to find additional information, sources for topics we may be writing articles or books about, etc.

To inaugurate the Research Questions forum, here is what I am looking for help on:

Can anyone provide leads on prior articles, books, websites, newsgroup discussions, etc. that discuss what Saruman and Radagast are (since Tolkien never makes it clear to my knowledge if they are Maiar or not)?

Direct discussion of the question and possible answers is of course welcome here too - no need to to have sources for your opinions!