Lesson Plans for Secondary School Educators The study of
languages and how they change over time. J.R.R. Tolkien was one
of the greatest philologists who ever lived. Philology literally
means "love of words." The characters of ancient Germanic
alphabets. Because they were cut into wood or scratched on
stone, runes are thin and angular. Early Anglo-Saxon texts were
written in runes. A descriptive word or phrase added to a
person's name. Early in The Hobbit, Bilbo acquires the epithet
Burglar. The dwarf Thorin bears the epithet Oakenshield. A vast
family of languages, spoken by about half the world's
population. English belongs to the Indo-European group. The
language spoken in many parts of Britain from about A.D. 450 to
1150. Old English is also known as Anglo-Saxon. The only
complete epic poem to have survived in Old English. It tells of
the mighty warrior Beowulf, who protects his people by killing
the water monster Grendel, then Grendel's mother, and finally a
ferocious dragon. Tolkien was one of the world