Eric Valentine Gordon (1896 – 1938) was a philologist who studied at Oxford University (1920) and taught at Leeds University (1922-1931) and Manchester University (1932-1938). He compiled many Germanic texts in their original language into book format. One of his prime works, published first in 1927 and then frequently reprinted over the years, was "An Introduction to Old Norse." Gordon worked with J. R. R. Tolkien several times on various scholastic works and published books, including A Middle English Vocabulary and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, while Tolkien was teaching at Leeds University. Philology is the study of ancient texts and languages. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... University Tower, University of Leeds The University of Leeds (United Kingdom) is amongst the largest of British universities and the most popular by applicants, with 52,444 applicants in 2003 for 7,228 places (UCAS). ... University of Manchester Motto: Cognitio Sapientia Hvmanitas Knowledge, wisdom, humanity. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... John Ronald Reuel Tolkien CBE (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) is best known as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. ... Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th century alliterative romance recorded in a single manuscript, which also contains three other pieces of an altogether more Christian orientation. ... University Tower, University of Leeds The University of Leeds (United Kingdom) is amongst the largest of British universities and the most popular by applicants, with 52,444 applicants in 2003 for 7,228 places (UCAS). ...

The Viking Club and other things

Gordon also began the Viking Club with J. R. R. Tolkien. In this club they would read Old Icelandic sagas (and drink beer) with students and faculty, and invent original Anglo-Saxon songs. A collection of these was privately published as the book Songs for the Philologists. Most of the printed editions were destroyed in a fire and only 14 or so books are said to exist. The Old Icelandic language was the most prominent of the Old Norse languages. ... The Norse sagas or Viking sagas (Icelandic: Íslendingasögur), are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, about migration to Iceland, and of feuds between Icelandic families. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... Songs for the Philologists is a collection of poems by E.V. Gordon and J. R. R. Tolkien as well as traditional songs. ...

In 1938 Gordon had joined George Leslie Brook (1910-1987) for an edition of Layamon's Brut for the Early English Text Society, but Gordon died that year. Layamon, or Laȝamon (using the archaic letter yogh), was a poet of the early 13th century, whose Brut (c. ... Brut, about the mythic Brutus of Troy, is a Middle English poem compiled and recast by the priest Layamon. ... The Early English Text Society is an organization to reprint early English texts, especially those only available in manuscript. ...

Bibliography

• 1922 A Middle English Vocabulary
• 1925 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, co-edited with J.R.R. Tolkien, Oxford University Press, 211 pp.; Revised edition 1967, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 232 pp.
• 1927 An Introduction to Old Norse, Revised edition 1956, revised by A.R. Taylor; Reprinted 1981, Oxford University Press, USA; 2nd edition
• 1936 Songs for the Philologists, with J.R.R. Tolkien et al.
• 1937 Battle of Maldon
• 1953 Pearl

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th century alliterative romance recorded in a single manuscript, which also contains three other pieces of an altogether more Christian orientation. ... J. R. R. Tolkien in 1916. ... Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ... Songs for the Philologists is a collection of poems by E.V. Gordon and J. R. R. Tolkien as well as traditional songs. ... J. R. R. Tolkien in 1916. ... The Battle of Maldon took place in 991 near Maldon beside the River Blackwater in Essex, England, during the reign of Ethelred the Unready. ... Pearl is a Middle English alliterative poem written in the late 14th century. ...

See also

• Songs for the Philologists

Songs for the Philologists is a collection of poems by E.V. Gordon and J. R. R. Tolkien as well as traditional songs. ...

External links

• Oxford University Website
• Manchester University Website
• University of Leeds Website