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Document Type
Paper
Event Website
http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm
Start Date
31-7-2021 2:30 PM
End Date
31-7-2021 3:15 PM
Description
The Appendices to The Lord of the Rings run the gamut from royal lineages and back stories of the Kings and Stewards of Gondor and Rohan and of Dúrin’s folk (Appendix A), Hobbit family trees (Appendix C) and a general overview of the races and peoples of Middleearth (Appendix F), to the chronology of the great events of the Second and Third Ages (Appendix B); from the Shire Calendar (Appendix D) and a detailed explication of how to pronounce the Elvish languages as well as their representation by the letters of the Tengwar and runes of the Cirth (Appendix E), to Tolkien’s peculiar ‘conceit’ on the subject of translation, as though he had discovered all this material in the Red Book of Westmarch (Appendix F). While the examination of these Appendices has been the subject of endless scholarly research, it may be argued that the study of Tolkien’s invented languages presents particularly unique challenges. An in-depth study of the glossaries, indices, and imbedded author’s notes throughout the totality of Tolkien’s posthumously published writings on Middle-earth (The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and all twelve volumes of The History of Middle-earth) in addition to the Gnomish and Qenya Lexicons (published in Parma Eldalamberon 11 and 12) reveals that the languages are fundamental to the existence of Middle-earth as Tolkien conceived it. Yet this origin story is so very difficult to grasp hold of and utilize, due to the scattered nature of the raw materials and the non-user-friendly manner in which they are presented. I would like to discuss how Tolkien’s invented languages appear in all of these original sources and how I have labored to organize them over the past 19 years to create a reference resource for Tolkien scholars who don’t have the time to wade through all of the paratexts themselves.
Tech Mod: Leslie Donovan.
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Finding and Organizing Tolkien’s Invented Languages
The Appendices to The Lord of the Rings run the gamut from royal lineages and back stories of the Kings and Stewards of Gondor and Rohan and of Dúrin’s folk (Appendix A), Hobbit family trees (Appendix C) and a general overview of the races and peoples of Middleearth (Appendix F), to the chronology of the great events of the Second and Third Ages (Appendix B); from the Shire Calendar (Appendix D) and a detailed explication of how to pronounce the Elvish languages as well as their representation by the letters of the Tengwar and runes of the Cirth (Appendix E), to Tolkien’s peculiar ‘conceit’ on the subject of translation, as though he had discovered all this material in the Red Book of Westmarch (Appendix F). While the examination of these Appendices has been the subject of endless scholarly research, it may be argued that the study of Tolkien’s invented languages presents particularly unique challenges. An in-depth study of the glossaries, indices, and imbedded author’s notes throughout the totality of Tolkien’s posthumously published writings on Middle-earth (The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and all twelve volumes of The History of Middle-earth) in addition to the Gnomish and Qenya Lexicons (published in Parma Eldalamberon 11 and 12) reveals that the languages are fundamental to the existence of Middle-earth as Tolkien conceived it. Yet this origin story is so very difficult to grasp hold of and utilize, due to the scattered nature of the raw materials and the non-user-friendly manner in which they are presented. I would like to discuss how Tolkien’s invented languages appear in all of these original sources and how I have labored to organize them over the past 19 years to create a reference resource for Tolkien scholars who don’t have the time to wade through all of the paratexts themselves.
Tech Mod: Leslie Donovan.
https://dc.swosu.edu/mythcon/mc51/schedule/13
Comments
Recorded Session