# Author name pronunciation poll: Tolkien **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632 "2011-11-11T20:01:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/1 "2011-11-11T20:01:41Z")
How do you pronounce the name of the great J.R.R. Tolkien? Poll to follow. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/2 "2011-11-11T20:14:29Z")
Despite what my friend says, about how he heard him pronounce his own name on a tape, I pronounce it: “token” like a game token. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/3 "2011-11-11T20:28:21Z")
Three syllables, with the emphasis on the first, which wasn’t an option in the poll. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/4 "2011-11-11T20:36:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Three syllables, with the emphasis on the first, which wasn’t an option in the poll. So would that be TOLL-key-in, TALL-key-in, toll-KEY-in, tall-KEY-in, or something else? ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/5 "2011-11-11T20:49:27Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > So would that be TOLL-key-in, TALL-key-in, toll-KEY-in, tall-KEY-in, or something else? The first one. Edit: Actually no. TOLL-key-en. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/6 "2011-11-11T20:53:58Z")
Other: TOLL-kane ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/7 "2011-11-11T20:57:17Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > Other: TOLL-kane I don’t see how you get that. The digraph “ei” is often pronounced like the diphthong ending “day” and “they,” but I can’t think of a single word in which “ie” is pronounced that way. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/8 "2011-11-11T20:58:24Z")
TOL-kin. Maybe just between that and TOL-keen, but closer to TOL-kin. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/9 "2011-11-11T21:03:18Z")
I voted “Other” as neither “kin” nor “ken” are correct. it’s (very approximately) TOLL - keen ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/10 "2011-11-11T21:11:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Three syllables, with the emphasis on the first, which wasn’t an option in the poll. Bah, a three-syllable-but-emphasis-on-the-first was supposed to be one of the examples for that option. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/11 "2011-11-11T21:11:19Z")
TOLL-key-uhn is how I’ve always heard it, so I voted “other.” ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/12 "2011-11-11T21:11:33Z")
According to [this thread](http://www.thetolkienforum.com/archive/index.php/t-17113.html) on The Tolkien Forum, where the same question is discussed, the prevailing consensus seems to be TOL-kin or TOL-keen (two syllables, not three, with accent on the first). Many of the posters there cite a letter written by Tolkien in which the author himself seems to clarify this. There is also a mention of standard German pronunciation, where “ie” is pronounced like English “ee” ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/13 "2011-11-11T21:17:26Z")
Stressed _Tol_, but long\* kien\*. Maybe equal stress sometimes? Actually, very like “Toll keen” come to think of it, but not separated into different words. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/14 "2011-11-11T21:28:52Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I don’t see how you get that. The digraph “ei” is often pronounced like the diphthong ending “day” and “they,” but I can’t think of a single word in which “ie” is pronounced that way. Beats me. Willful mispronunciation? Nah. What’s left of my Philly accent? Probably not. My 9th grade English teacher? Well, that was the first time I heard the name pronounced, so it must be Mr. Redican’s fault. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/15 "2011-11-11T21:34:33Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Despite what my friend says, about how he heard him pronounce his own name on a tape And that was? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/16 "2011-11-11T22:18:37Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > And that was? Throat-Warbler Mangrove. (Come on, you knew _someone_ was going to do it.) I say TOL-kin, myself. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/17 "2011-11-11T23:15:35Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > And that was? He said that the professer pronounced his own name “toll-keen”. But in my 13 year old head he had a silent “L” as in Sherlock **Holmes**. And thats the way I likes it. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/18 "2011-11-11T23:16:40Z")
I’ve always pronounced it Toll-kin, but the Brits I know use Toll-keen. But then again they also say Van Goff for the painter. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/19 "2011-11-11T23:23:10Z")
TOLL-key-en. This is how it’s usually pronounced in Sweden. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632/20 "2011-11-12T00:35:15Z")
I didn’t know it was a German name. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/author-name-pronunciation-poll-tolkien/602632.md?page=2)