[Lexicog] Is it 'dwarfs' or 'dwarves'?

[Wayne Leman]

Mike, my Amer. Heritage English Dictionary lists both plurals, with no 
mention of a preference (and also no mention of Tolkien or anyone else 
introducing a new pronunciation).

Wayne
-----
Wayne Leman
Cheyenne website: http://www.geocities.com/cheyenne_language

>I have a somewhat off-topic question.
>
> My wife is doing some study of Tolkien and discovered he spelled
> 'dwarfs' wrong consistently throughout his writings.  When she told me
> that I immediately questioned it, thinking that some critic was being
> overly critical.  Well, it turns out that Tolkien admitted "the colossal
> error' in one of his letters (always go back to the sources <smile>).
>
> Well, we looked up 'dwarf' in our dictionary and discovered that it
> pluralizes 'dwarf' as 'dwarfs' and 'dwarves'.  So, we wondered, has
> Tolkien single-handedly introduced the new spelling?
>
> Would someone lookup 'dwarf' in the OED and tell me what their entry
> says regarding the origin of the plural 'dwarves'?
>
> Thanks!
>
> -- 
> Mike Sangrey



 
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