Paul Nolan Hyde was a professor of linguistics at Brigham Young University when this was written. Introduced to J.R.R. Tolkien's works in 1966, Hyde has produced many essays on both the legendarium and the field of expertise of Tolkien, Old and Middle English. Hyde is probably best known for his column "Quenti Lambardillion" in Mythlore and several contributions to a Vinyar Tengwar.