Rare book by J.R.R. Tolkien held by National Library of Scotland

A recently retired member of staff got in touch with the Library to ask if we were aware that we had a very rare book by J.R.R, Tolkien in the collections. The rare item is a booklet called “Songs for the Philologists” by J.R.R. Tolkien and E.V. Gordon which was privately printed by the Department of English at University College London in 1936. This was a year before Tolkien would publish “The Hobbit” and just before he began work on “The Lord of the Rings” which was written between 1937 and 1949 and published in 1954 and 1955.

The book collects thirty poems and songs, thirteen of which were contributed by Tolkien. These include “The Root of the Boot” which in revised form appears in “The Lord of the Rings” as “The Stone Troll” where it is sung by Sam Gamgee, a friend of Frodo Baggins. The poems and songs are in modern English, Middle English, Old Norse and Latin and give an insight into Tolkien’s literary and academic interests.

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