This is the second edition of this work, which was originally written before much of the 10 volumes of The History of Middle-Earth, based on Tolkien’s extensive unpublished notes and material and edited by Tolkien’s son Christopher, were published. So this second edition is extensively updated, and provides a tremendous amount of insight into the linguistic and theological roots that deeply inform Tolkien’s work.

The main idea of the book is to examine the key position that language plays in the construction of and philosophy behind Tolkien’s legendarium of Middle-Earth. This is hardly a new notion in Tolkien criticism, but Flieger’s exegesis on this topic is both extensive and detailed, and she shows the marvelously layered intricacy of JRRT’s methods. Flieger also examines the important influence that Owen Barfield’s ideas about the relationship between language, meaning, and myth played in the development of Tolkien’s own ideas about language, and how this greatly influenced Tolkien’s writing and myth creation.

Barfield’s basic idea was simple, but affected Tolkien profoundly: language, humanity’s perception of the world, and myth are necessarily related, and inextricably linked. Myth, in particular, is not an “accident of language” as some have claimed, but a direct reflection of humanity’s view of its relationship to the natural and supernatural worlds. Barfield argued that the process of the development of words into more specialized forms traces the development (and fragmentation) of human consciousness, and working backwards one can point towards an ancient semantic unity of thought and concept. This greatly influenced Tolkien’s professional and philological work, and also enormously impacted Tolkien’s recreational writing.

As a result of this line of inquiry, Flieger examines in detail the role that the idea of light plays in Tolkien’s mythology and languages, showing how ideas of unity and fragmentation of light and darkness are played out both in both the mythos and the development of Tolkien’s languages. This analysis is particularly interesting, and I’m blown away by the many-layered sophistication that Tolkien incorporated into his methods. Light and its fragmentation and dimunition — the first light of creation, the light of the Pillars and Two Trees, of the stars, and then the sun and moon — play central roles in the creation of Middle-Earth, and in Tolkien’s languages we see a similar arc from primary, brighter forms where notions of light and shining are central, to “dimmer” forms that reflect a fading from an initial unity.

The book also heavily incorporates material from two of Tolkien’s most important essays: “On Fairy Stories” and “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics” which are some of the best sources for understanding Tolkien’s philosophy and ideas about both language and fantasy.

Flieger is also adept at the use of her own language, and her prose at times is quite beautiful and moving. This book is ultimately a manifesto answering the question “Why does Tolkien matter?”. I am quite impressed with both her scholarship and eloquence.