Lord of the languages: Prof teaches with Elvish, Orkish
Meha Verghese
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: Features
"What Tolkien does is that he loves all these ancient stories and poems in Northwest European languages, and he takes words and story plots from them and integrates them into his own stories and his own languages that he makes up," Russom said. As an example, he cited the kings of the Rohirrim - a fictional people - who have names that are Old English words for kings.
Russom said he uses Elvish and Orkish both inside and outside the classroom. "All this mental exercise is useful," Russom said. "I'm sure I can think better because I do this recreationally."
Russom has published several articles on Tolkien, and one of his essays, "Tolkien's Versecraft in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings" was published in a collection of essays on Tolkien's work. Russom has also compiled a dictionary of the Elvish language.
Russom's love of Tolkien's writing begs the question: What does he think of the recent movie adaptations of the "Lord of the Rings?" Though he thought the movies were "a little too heavy on the battle scenes," Russom said he liked the films.
"I thought it was a good way to take important parts of the plot and make a movie out of them that was quite true to the original," he said.
Russom said the popularity of Tolkien's work allows him to reach a wide audience. "I can use books like that to get to a very large audience with technical stuff like poetic meter," he said.
Students said they find Russom a knowledgeable teacher whose enthusiasm is infectious.
"I love him - he's my thesis adviser and he's wonderful," Denslow said.
"I thought that he was so informed and engaged in his subject matter that you couldn't help but get sucked in," said Julia Horwitz '08, who took a class with Russom her sophomore year.
Horowitz and Denslow, her roommate at the time, applied information about Elvish from Russom to their Old English studies. "It helped a lot," Horwitz said. "It also fed our inner nerds."
"It's fascinating to hear (Russom) speak, because he has an encyclopedic knowledge of every conceivable antecedent to Old English literature," Brady said.
Russom said he uses Elvish and Orkish both inside and outside the classroom. "All this mental exercise is useful," Russom said. "I'm sure I can think better because I do this recreationally."
Russom has published several articles on Tolkien, and one of his essays, "Tolkien's Versecraft in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings" was published in a collection of essays on Tolkien's work. Russom has also compiled a dictionary of the Elvish language.
Russom's love of Tolkien's writing begs the question: What does he think of the recent movie adaptations of the "Lord of the Rings?" Though he thought the movies were "a little too heavy on the battle scenes," Russom said he liked the films.
"I thought it was a good way to take important parts of the plot and make a movie out of them that was quite true to the original," he said.
Russom said the popularity of Tolkien's work allows him to reach a wide audience. "I can use books like that to get to a very large audience with technical stuff like poetic meter," he said.
Students said they find Russom a knowledgeable teacher whose enthusiasm is infectious.
"I love him - he's my thesis adviser and he's wonderful," Denslow said.
"I thought that he was so informed and engaged in his subject matter that you couldn't help but get sucked in," said Julia Horwitz '08, who took a class with Russom her sophomore year.
Horowitz and Denslow, her roommate at the time, applied information about Elvish from Russom to their Old English studies. "It helped a lot," Horwitz said. "It also fed our inner nerds."
"It's fascinating to hear (Russom) speak, because he has an encyclopedic knowledge of every conceivable antecedent to Old English literature," Brady said.