[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

This is probably the best place to announce to the Downs at large my shiny new M.A. (Viking and Anglo-Saxon Studies, University of Nottingham), which I've held since December.

Not only was Tolkien responsible for my interest in the area, but I found the course on the internet as a direct result of reading HoME IV: I was looking for an Old English course so that I could compare the OE versions of the earliest Annals of Beleriand with their modern English counterparts, and one of my searches turned up Nottingham's site. I'm not sure whether this is a testament to the persuasiveness of Tolkien's own enthusiasm or a sadly laughable reason for taking up a course of study, and I dread to think what J.R.R. would have made of it. Apparently, though, it's a fairly common ailment, from which many medievalists suffer.

Some might be interested to know that I posted some Tolkien Old English on a course messageboard, which coincidentally confirmed the high quality of his spurious Anglo-Saxon documents. Perhaps he'll replace Wulfstan's translation of the paternoster as an introductory text, although I hope not.