An Introduction to Old Norse, by E.V. Gordon. Second edition (1957). Tolkien read the proofs and made suggestions/corrections to the text, and is thanked by Gordon in the Preface. Gordon was once Tolkien's student, and later became friends and collaborators, together they published their Sir Gawain and the Green Knight edition in 1925.

I was looking for a textbook on Old Norse, and Urolóke pointed out this one, so thank you!

Plus, this same copy was previously owned by Murray Gell-Mann, 1969 Physics Nobel Prize and father of the quark model ! I absolutely geeked out when I found this copy: Old Norse, Tolkien and Physics combined!

Since joining this site, it has been a pleasure to see some of these rare and unusual books...

Received two beautiful single prints from Ted Nasmith yesterday. 'the ships of the faithful' and 'last sight of Hobbiton'. The ships in 'ships' might be a tad too viking-ish but its still one of my favourite pieces by Ted.

Second impression (1924), but still nice to have. Nice overall condition.

Unbelievable condition!

Entshelm wrote:

Unbelievable condition!

Yeah, I bought it sight unseen and it was classed as "good", so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised.

First Swedish edition LotR -59,-60,-61. Quite rare to see with preserved dust jackets.

Very interesting! What do they get 'reverse translated' into, going from that language to English??

Side note: I like how translation can SLIGHTLY be different. Example - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in French was "Reliques de la Mort", which translates to "Relics of Death." Because of that, I thought that they were another name/expression for the horcruxes (IE, "Prisoner of Azkaban" is Sirius)

Well “saga” can mean fairytale but also saga as in the Icelandic sagas (more epic story). So my translation would be
The saga of the Ring
The saga of the two towers
The saga of the return of the king

Confusingly both “The Felloship of the Ring” and the complete “The Lord of the Rings” are referred to as Sagan om ringen.

Very nice looking set. Congrats. Still on my want list.