tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2239062544101975016.post9004484471977638358..comments2024-03-27T21:39:23.192-07:00Comments on Sacnoth's Scriptorium: Just How Long is LotR Anyway? (word counts)John D. Rateliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12324926298336489295noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2239062544101975016.post-54401412467303088602017-05-07T18:03:55.472-07:002017-05-07T18:03:55.472-07:00Thanks to all who commented. Maybe Tolkien's a...Thanks to all who commented. Maybe Tolkien's asking a mathematical colleague to work it out would have spared a lot of bother to Unwin and Tolkien alike. Though to be fair this was before the days of and other handy do-the-math calculators.<br /><br />More to the point, after making this post I was sent* the unofficial but reliable result of 478,492 without Appendices and 526, 172 with them. <br /><br />So, anyone who wants to say in a general way 'half a million words' is not that far off.<br /><br />--John R.<br /><br />*(many thanks to A.!)John D. Rateliffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12324926298336489295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2239062544101975016.post-64018232664269296542017-04-28T23:19:03.785-07:002017-04-28T23:19:03.785-07:00But 927 x 12 x 8 is 88992! For some reason Tolkien...But 927 x 12 x 8 is 88992! For some reason Tolkien multiplied by 8 instead of 48. Maybe he was trying to estimate the average total for each of the 6 books of LOTR (since 6 * 8 = 48).<br /><br />Andrew McCarthyATMachinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15341546353974246136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2239062544101975016.post-40027540157117667832017-04-25T12:34:05.529-07:002017-04-25T12:34:05.529-07:00I posted that same observation last week, but it n...I posted that same observation last week, but it never showed up as a comment here. I said Tolkien must have been bad a math. ;)Jason Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05809154870762268253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2239062544101975016.post-87652433775868094272017-04-23T09:44:07.807-07:002017-04-23T09:44:07.807-07:00But 927x48x12 = 533952. That is close to the 600K ...But 927x48x12 = 533952. That is close to the 600K estimate. Oedipushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464325934290072025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2239062544101975016.post-6797538361725665952017-04-17T11:20:42.441-07:002017-04-17T11:20:42.441-07:00By his own calculations on that sheet,* Tolkien w...<i>By his own calculations on that sheet,* Tolkien worked it out to roughly 89,000 words.<br />*927 typed pages, 48 lines per page, twelve words per line = 88, 992 words (approx.)</i><br /><br />Er ... Tolkien was obviously better at literature than at math! 927 x 48 x 12 ≠ 88, 992 words. No, the actual product of those numbers is 533,952, which turns out to be a very close estimate of the actual length of the book.Jason Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05809154870762268253noreply@blogger.com