TCG Letter #211

The Return of the King was published 20 October 1955. Irritated by the Times Literary Supplement review of 25 November 1955, Mr. Masson, a librarian at the University of Leeds, had written a reply, published in the TLS 9 December 1955.

Tolkien also discusses various points of interest concerning Elvish historical philology. Tolkien says that "the ‘languages’ have, of course, changed quite as much as the world and its stories to which they belong" and answers some questions from David Masson concerning certain words (sūrĭ-, √EL, "Elendil, ‘Ælfwine’, ‘Elf-friend’ is probably < eled-nil.") and Quenya and Sindarin nouns.