Tolkein
From Tolkien Gateway
- "My name is TOLKIEN (not -kein)"
- ― J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 165.
A lot of people misspell "Tolkien" as Tolkein. This was already the case in Tolkien's time; several passages in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien show Tolkien's frustration about the matter.
Origin
Tolkien himself found one possible reason, in Letter 324, for this common mistake: association with yiddish. The name "Tolkien" is German of origin ("tollkühn" = "foolhardy"). At the time, Jewish names were often associated with German; as such, some people might have molded it after the German "-stein".
Notable occurences
- The poem "Goblin Feet" is written by a mister Tolkein.[1]
- More advertisers chose "Tolkein" as their keyword on Google Adwords than "Tolkien" - because the former is cheaper.[2]
