"This thesis is a critical analysis of Tolkien's Elvish. This critical analysis is motivated in the same way as critiques of other aspects of literary art, such as plot, characterization, and structure. The latter are subject to critical evaluation precisely because they are a part of the writer's creative art. Elvish is also the product of the artist's creativity. The fact that Tolkien is a trained philologist and distinguished language scholar and has obviously lavished much time and effort on Elvish make this created language a valid area for analysis and criticism...in view of the extent of the available data, all that can be attempted here is a description of Elvish morphology and syntax in light of both the evidence and Tolkien's comments about it."--leaves 1-5