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PARMA
ELDALAMBERON 17
Words, Phrases
and Passages
in Various Tongues in
The
Lord of the Rings
by J. R. R.
TOLKIEN
Parma Eldalamberon 'The Book of Elven-tongues' is a journal of
the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship, a special interest group of the
Mythopoeic
Society. The current
issue is a commentary by J. R. R. Tolkien from the late 1950s and early
1960s
concerning the words and names from his
invented languages incorporated into The Lord of the
Rings. This commentary has been edited
and annotated by Christopher Gilson, with the permission and guidance
of Christopher Tolkien and the
Tolkien Estate.
"Words, Phrases and Passages"
is a collection of notes on the Quenya, Sindarin, Dwarvish, Rohirric
and Black Speech examples occurring in The Lord of the Rings, with
detailed translations and syntactic explanations, together with a
discussion of the etymologies of the various words and names. For
the Elvish examples these are traced back to their Common Eldarin
roots. The entries were arranged by Tolkien in the order in which
the words and phrases occurred in the story and this arrangement has
been preserved in this edition.
Although Tolkien never completed the commentary as originally planned,
he retained the more cursory list of words and names from which he was
working; and he continued to compose further notes on the grammar and
history of the Elvish words and names in the story. Many of these
were placed together with "Words, Phrases and Passages," and the main
commentary has been supplemented by these notes in this edition.
Together these texts give the clearest picture we have of how Tolkien
conceived of his linguistic inventions in the forms they were revealed
to his readers.
In many of the notes in "Words, Phrases and Passages" Tolkien expresses
hesitation about his preliminary explanations, or notices discrepancies
between elements occurring in more than one context. The notes
show how his reconsideration at this time of his invented languages
sometimes led to revisions in the text of The Lord of the Rings as it was
published in the 2nd
edition of 1965. They also show how Tolkien achieved new insights
into the etymological explanation of certain words and names.
Many of the entries in "Words, Phrases and Passages" mention the roots
of the Elvish components under discussion, and this edition includes an
index of these roots. During this period Tolkien also compiled
several lists and collections of roots and the words derived from
them. These etymologies have been combined with the index into a
single list alphabetically arranged by root, providing a fairly
comprehensive overview of his conception of the stock of basic elements
that underlie the Elvish languages.
The entries in "Words, Phrases and Passages" have been annotated to
point out their connections with the examples of Tolkien's invented
languages included in his other writings, such as The Silmarillion; Unfinished Tales;
Letters; and The History of
Middle-earth. This edition also includes an index,
arranged by language, of all words and phrases that are glossed within
the entries of main list and the list of roots.
Cover
art by Patrick H. Wynne.
Parma Eldalamberon Issue Number 17
is a 220-page journal.
Available
Now
Orders
The cost is $35 per copy
including postage and handling world-wide.
Please use
the PayPal button below,
or send check or money-order (U.S. funds only)
to:
Christopher Gilson
1240 Dale Avenue, No. 40
Mountain View, CA 94040
U. S. A.
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Parma
Eldalamberon is sold on a per-issue basis
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Available
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Out of Print
Photocopies of issues 1
through
5 are available from the
A retrospective collection of
cover art, title pages and other
illustrations by artists
Patrick Wynne and Adam Christensen
page design, colorization and animations © 2001 - 2002 Adam Victor Christensen
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