Aelfwine wrote:

So, I don't want to derail the thread, but suffice it to say that while I developed an interest in Tolkien, linguistics, and Tolkienian linguistics long before I had any notion of working for NASA (and in fact linguistics preceded Tolkien), or even in becoming a professional computer programmer, I did enter university (1983) with a plan to seek a degree in Physics, which before I graduated became a degree in Computer Science. That, and being in the right place at the right time, is how I ended up working at NASA.

Me neither but thank you. I am always fascinated how people end up where they do. Especially two subjects as diverse as Tolkien and NASA.

I don’t mind if the topic gets derailed ?. I also think it’s fascinating to combine Science with Languages/Tolkien.

onthetrail wrote:

Hey Urulókë, maybe you should interview Carl he has a book coming out so I've heard.

Hmmmm, Mayyyyyybeeeeee.......

?

Ligandil wrote:

Thanks to Trotter for the help!

I have an additional question, for anyone who would like to help out:

Does anyone know any Old Norse/Icelandic grammars Tolkien might have used/be familiar with, especially as a student, or alternatively during his professor years?

Trotter checked for Guðbrandur Vigfússon and George Bayldon in Tolkien's Library, but there were no entries. Thanks in advance!

From Tolkien's Library:

• 262. Buckhurst, Helen T MacMillan. An Elementary Grammar of Old Icelandic. London: Methuen and Col Ltd. 1925. (Source: Philology: General Works VI 1927 for 1925 p. 57 n. 13.)
  
• 813. Gordon, Eric Valentine. An Introduction to Old Norse. London, Oxford University Press, 1927. (From Tolkien's personal library. Also, note: 'For help in preparing the apparatus of the book I am indebited especially to Professor J.R.R. Tolkien, who read the proofs of the Grammar and made valuable suggestions and corrections.')
  
• 1022. Holthausen, Ferdinand. Altislädisches Elementarbuch. Series: Lehrbuch der altisländischen Sprache, 1. Weimar: Emil Felber, 1895. (In Tolkien's personal Celtic library, preserved in the Weston. Annotated by JRRT). (@aelfwine already mentioned)
  
• 1772. Noreen, Adolf Gotthard. Altislädische und altnorwegishe Grammatik. (Tolkien's personal Celtic library in the Weston) (@aelfwine already mentioned)
  
• 2595. Zoëga, Geir T.; Richard Cleasby and Guðbrandur Vigfússon (Edited by). A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1910. (Source: note in A Middle English Vocabulary)
  

From the Supervisor and Examiner 1929-1960 section of Tolkien's Library:

• 9. Buckhurst, H. M. (St Hugh College). The Historical Grammar of Old Icelandic (Supervisor, JRRT).
  

There may be more hiding in here, but that's what I could find this evening.

Wonderful, Urolókë, this was incredibly helpful! Of course, now I remember E.V. Gordon from Carpenter's biography! I should have remembered him! (Trotter, seems Vigfússon did appear after all, but just in another entry ).

Really, huge thanks to all! This made my day!