I am re-reading Father Christmas Letters right now! There is also the Arktik language spoken by the folk of the North Pole that seems to be inspired by Tolkien’s development of the Elvish languages esp. Quenya in the 1930’s. In one letter A sample of Arktik is seen in one of the letters: Mára mesta an ni véla tye ento, ya rato nea, which the Polar Bear translates as "Good-bye until I see you next, and I hope it will be soon". Another sample of Arktik was published in 2019 in the deluxe version of the Letters from Father Christmas, dating from 1929: Raiqe! Telkume kiryandon nolo. This phrase is still open to interpretation- Raiqe seems to mean angry or even the exclamation for damn! See more here https://tolkienlistsearch.herokuapp.com/message/5e9c3605acad32fd587a3ac9.
Excellent post! Just a quick note about the one thing in it that I can confidently comment on:
You do give the proper Elvish stress rules - the penultimate syllable is stressed when it's considered long (i.e. it contains a long vowel, a diphthong, or is closed by a consonant cluster), but you don't apply it correctly. "hiruva", "airea" and "Amanar" all have an open short vowel in the penultimate syllable, and thus the stress is shifted to the ante-penultimate: HI-ru-va, AI-re-a, A-ma-nar 😉
That was beautifully elegant, poignant, and well presented. While I knew of such tales, I have not had the pleasure of reading them. So you brought me something new this Mother's Night. That sense of wonder that our beloved Professor bestowed upon his children, and the world. Thank you for this. Within this, I can kind of see my current circumstances as being eucatastrophic, and thus, not only more bearable, but almost, an adventure of mine own. Kind of like those few moments on the road, when Bilbo, or even Frodo, misses home. While no home I have, I know, somewhere out there, it already sits, waiting for me, with its attendant spirits of land and pantry and hearth, awaiting its first gift of bread, cream and honey.
I am re-reading Father Christmas Letters right now! There is also the Arktik language spoken by the folk of the North Pole that seems to be inspired by Tolkien’s development of the Elvish languages esp. Quenya in the 1930’s. In one letter A sample of Arktik is seen in one of the letters: Mára mesta an ni véla tye ento, ya rato nea, which the Polar Bear translates as "Good-bye until I see you next, and I hope it will be soon". Another sample of Arktik was published in 2019 in the deluxe version of the Letters from Father Christmas, dating from 1929: Raiqe! Telkume kiryandon nolo. This phrase is still open to interpretation- Raiqe seems to mean angry or even the exclamation for damn! See more here https://tolkienlistsearch.herokuapp.com/message/5e9c3605acad32fd587a3ac9.
In this extended literary game, where do Tolkien's personal fanboy influences fit in? I've heard he modeled his goblins on George MacDonald's.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_and_the_Goblin
Excellent post! Just a quick note about the one thing in it that I can confidently comment on:
You do give the proper Elvish stress rules - the penultimate syllable is stressed when it's considered long (i.e. it contains a long vowel, a diphthong, or is closed by a consonant cluster), but you don't apply it correctly. "hiruva", "airea" and "Amanar" all have an open short vowel in the penultimate syllable, and thus the stress is shifted to the ante-penultimate: HI-ru-va, AI-re-a, A-ma-nar 😉
Excellent post. My first posting to Substack Last Year explored how Tolkien rendered Merry Christmas in Elvish as well with an alternative to the one mentioned in the letter above https://open.substack.com/pub/drandrewhiggins/p/dr-andrew-higgins-elvish-musings?r=2chv14&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay. Andy
That was beautifully elegant, poignant, and well presented. While I knew of such tales, I have not had the pleasure of reading them. So you brought me something new this Mother's Night. That sense of wonder that our beloved Professor bestowed upon his children, and the world. Thank you for this. Within this, I can kind of see my current circumstances as being eucatastrophic, and thus, not only more bearable, but almost, an adventure of mine own. Kind of like those few moments on the road, when Bilbo, or even Frodo, misses home. While no home I have, I know, somewhere out there, it already sits, waiting for me, with its attendant spirits of land and pantry and hearth, awaiting its first gift of bread, cream and honey.