Jason: Thanks for the compliment! Tolkien’s warm feelings about Finnish are something that warm my heart every time I come across a mention; but I can’t help chuckling when I come across the Quenya month name lasse-lanta (leaf-fall) — Q. being a bit like Finnish that word is unfortunately also flawless Finnish, and translates as something like “Larry-manure”. Not what Tolkien intended, I trust!

Yup, translation and the problems of naming. Always good mind-stretchers.

One of your rhetorical questions — “I have no idea whether Rohirric names feel “a bit familiar but very old” to a modern English-native reader!” — I can answer. Yes, they do. To me and to people like me. But I may not be the best example, because in addition to having been born into Modern English, I have spent long years studying Old English and related lanaguages (and with long study comes accute awareness).

On an almost unrelated note: you are, I presume, aware of Tolkien’s interest in the Kalevala? Tolkien had very warm feelings for the Finnish language and literature.

I like your writing – you are wasted as a mathematician :-D

Just a comment – I am sure you know of Kersti Juva? Translation is an art, not a science, and one really has to be a writer of one’s own before trying to rewrite (or is it recreate) other people’s words.

I wonder why you haven’t taken linguistics up instead of maths – you’ve got quite some potential there!