Middle English 'Losenger': Sketch of an etymological and semantic enquiry is the title of a paper delivered by J.R.R. Tolkien at the Congrès Internationale de Philologie Moderne, held at the University of Liège from 10 to 13 September 1951.[1]
The paper is an investigation of the Middle English word (of French origin) 'losenger'.[note 1] Tolkien traces the etymology of the word in Geoffrey Chaucer's Legend of Good Women and in various Proto-Germanic languages.[2]
In 1953, the essay was published in Essais de philologie moderne (1951), the collection of the conference proceedings, and in an offprint (Middle English 'Losenger': Sketch of an etymological and semantic enquiry).[3]
In 2024, the essay was reprinted in full in Tolkien on Chaucer, 1913-1959.
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Notes
- ↑ Losenger: A flatterer; a deceiver; a cozener. (Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. 1913, C. & G. Merriam Co.)
References
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, “II. Reader's Guide,” in The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (2006), p. 82
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, “II. Reader's Guide,” in The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (2006), p. 586
- ↑ An Illustrated Tolkien Bibliography, at Tolkienbooks.net