Holy cow, I was just describing this passage to my wife yesterday; Tolkien the philologist, writing something of himself into the story. A scholar and apparent

Holy cow, I was just describing this passage to my wife yesterday; Tolkien the philologist, writing something of himself into the story. A scholar and apparently a very careful, deliberate thinker, Tolkien was no ass. But wow I bet he was locked in a room full of them from time to time.