The Complete Tolkien Companion - anyone have it? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

**The Saucepan Man** · 07-23-2003, 07:11 AM

Lindil, I have Tyler's Complete Tolkien Companion. I would describe it as a very good reference book, far superior to the Illustrated Tolkien Encyclopedia by David Day, which I also have. But, as Iarwain said, while it is good for looking up facts - who someone is, what they did etc (and, as such is very useful for the Quiz Room [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] ), it does not really go any deeper than that. It does deal with one or two theories concerning the world of Middle-earth, the Tom Bombadil debate for example, but it really only scratches the very outer layer of the surface in this regard.

One drawback that it does have as a reference book is that there is practically no cross-referencing back to the Books themselves.

Hope that this helps. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

07-23-2003, 07:11 AM	#5
The Saucepan Man Corpus Cacophonous Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: A green and pleasant land Posts: 8,390	Lindil, I have Tyler's Complete Tolkien Companion. I would describe it as a very good reference book, far superior to the Illustrated Tolkien Encyclopedia by David Day, which I also have. But, as Iarwain said, while it is good for looking up facts - who someone is, what they did etc (and, as such is very useful for the Quiz Room [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] ), it does not really go any deeper than that. It does deal with one or two theories concerning the world of Middle-earth, the Tom Bombadil debate for example, but it really only scratches the very outer layer of the surface in this regard. One drawback that it does have as a reference book is that there is practically no cross-referencing back to the Books themselves. Hope that this helps. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] __________________ Do you mind? I'm busy doing the fishstick. It's a very delicate state of mind!