[davem]

The language represented in this history by English was the Westron or 'Common Speech' of the West-lands of Middle-earth in the Third Age. In the course of that age it had become the native language of nearly all the speaking-peoples (save the Elves) who dwelt within the bounds of the old kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor

Interesting comment, emphasising the Elves’ isolation in a way. The rest of the West-lands have adopted Westron, but the Elves remain apart, stuck in the past, unable to move forward. They have no desire, apparently, to become a part of the ‘modern’ world.

The survival of Quenya as a kind of ‘Elven Latin’ is interesting. In our world Latin has survived principally because of the Catholic church, & I wonder if the survival of Quenya is down to the same reason - it is the language of the West. We see the consequece of Thingol’s forbidding of the use of Quenya in his realm here. Quenya is the language of the Calaquendi, the speakers of the language of ‘light’. Thingol forbids its use because of the Kinslaying, so only the Grey Elven tongue can flourish. A movement from light towards darkness. If the language of Light is restricted in its usage, what about the concepts & experiences it embodies? The native language of those who had dwelt in the West & known the Valar becomes a language of lore & ritual.

If Quenya is the language of ‘Light’ then its extreme opposite is the Black Speech invented by Sauron. Its interesting that this language was never adopted by his servants. Perhaps only Sauron & the Ringwraiths were fully corrupt enough to adopt it? Maybe even the orcs retained enough of their Elvish nature to be unable to commit to absolute darkness.

But orcs & trolls spoke as they would, without love of words or things; & their language was actually more degraded and filthy than I have shown it. I do not suppose that any will wish for a closer rendering, though models are easy to find. Much the same sort of talk can still be heard among the orc-minded; dreary and repetitive with hatred and contempt, too long removed from good to retain even verbal rigour, save in the ears of those to whom only the squalid sounds strong.

This is the voice of Tolkien the man. The foul-mouthed folk he encountered in his daily life are dismissed as ‘orc-minded’. They share a mentality with the orcs of his mythology - yet the orcs of Middle-earth are not shown forgiveness, or seen as being able to repent, to learn the error of their ways. I wonder what Tolkien felt about the ‘orc-minded’? At the very least we see his tendency to project his subcreation & its inhabitants onto the world around him. In many ways he is writing about this world, not simply in an ancient time, but in his own.

Finally, something I found interesting (though maybe it belongs rather in the ‘Changes’ thread I started a while back on alterations made to the new 50th anniversary text of LotR).

In regards to the passage describing the Elves:

They were a race high and beautiful the older Children of the world, and among them the Eldar were as kings, who now are gone: the People of the Great Journey, the People of the Stars. They were tall, fair of skin and grey-eyed, though their locks were dark, save in the golden house of Finarfin; and their voices had more melodies than any mortal voice that now is heard.

In LotR: A Reader’s Companion Hammond & Scull state:

In context, these words seem to apply to the Eldar as a whole. In The Book of Lost Tales, Part One, pp. 43-4 (compare The Peoples of Middle-earth, pp. 76-7), however, Christopher Tolkien quotes a draft for the final paragraph of Appendix F in which it is said that 'the Noldor belonged to a race high and beautiful, the elder Children of the world, who now are gone. Tall they were, fair-skinned and grey-eyed, and their locks were dark, save in the golden house of Finrod’: Christopher explains:

In the edition of 2004 a footnote by the present authors was added to p.1137 ('These words describing characters of face and hair in fact applied only to the Noldor: see The Book of Lost Tales. Part One, p. 44') to explain the distinction, in preference to rewriting Tolkien's words, within a finely cadenced paragraph.

What I find interesting about this is that the editors of the new edition of LotR have inserted a footnote in the main text of the book. That note now becomes part of the ‘official’ text.

Finally, how about everybody repping Esty for her wonderful work in introducing each chapter thread/? Maybe we could get her to the top position (quite frankly being in the top place for so long has gone to Lalwende's head )