<p>I have read <i>Beowulf and The Critics</i> and that particular quotation is very apt. It not only expresses Tolkien's view of translated work but goes back to Owen Barfield's similar point in <i>Poetic Diction</i> , a work that greatly influenced Tolkien. There is a thread for discussion of non English versions of LotR and The Sil in the Langauge forum. It has been rather heavily weighted toward the Germanic languages. We would love to have someone weigh in from the Russian text. <BR><BR><BR>BTW, this book is available from Amazon </p>