| abstract | - Most texts produced to date are in Neo-Quenya, since Quenya is by far the most well-attested language in published Tolkien material. The first substantial post-Tolkien attempt to write an Eldarin text may be Björn Fromén's Neo-Quenya poem Valinorenna, appearing in the pioneering Tolkien-linguistic work An Introduction to Elvish (1978, edited by Jim Allan). One version of the poem was in existence already by 1973, Tolkien's year of death. The most widely-published examples of Neo-Sindarin are unquestionably the Elvish dialogue developed by David Salo for Peter Jackson's movie trilogy based on Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings novel. Except for the samples of Sindarin taken directly from the book (such as Gandalf's invocation before the doors of Moria), Salo put together these lines based on his own understanding of Sindarin grammar, extrapolating where Tolkienian material available to him was insufficient. This particular dialect of Neo-Sindarin is sometimes called Movie Sindarin. Contemporary writers may cite various motivations for writing Neo-Eldarin texts. Tolkien himself wrote that The Lord of the Rings was "largely an essay in 'linguistic aesthetic'" (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, p. 220), and writers may want to celebrate the peculiar aesthetic of Tolkien's Elvish, an aesthetic found by many to be very beautiful. To some it will be an attempt to immerse themselves in the world of Middle-earth. Others will be interested primarily in the languages as such, and try to learn them for the intellectual challenge. As for the movies, Peter Jackson apparently wanted to include Elvish dialogues for effect, and David Salo set out to produce an approximation of Tolkien's Elvish as well as it could be reconstructed within the bounds of the available source material and his own conception of the language's structure. Especially after the appearance of the Jackson movies, many people wanted brief Elvish inscriptions for rings (often wedding-rings), tattoos and the like. These people rarely take the time to study Eldarin in depth for themselves; rather they may request help on Tolkien-linguistic mailing-lists, or contact individual Tolkien-linguists directly. Typically such inquirers also want the Elvish message to be written in the "original" Tengwar script devised by Tolkien for his languages. They feel attracted to the magical aura and aesthetic qualities of Elvish, but may not have a deeper scholarly interest in Tolkien's work. Writers intending to compose longer texts must by necessity penetrate far deeper into the linguistic "lore" relating to Tolkien's languages.
|
