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Originally Posted by Galadriel55
Gandalf could read Old Norse, but he's the only one in the Fellowship who does. I don't recall him going to the Shire and helping Frodo with his book, though.
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Technically Gandalf could not read Old Norse (as it wasn't yet a language at this point in time). Old Norse, Old English, Modern English all represent actual languages (like Westron) that were spoken or written way back in 'those ancient days'.
As noted we have Old Norse names in the
picture in the book, yet no one but a modern translator could have put them there in translation -- which connects to the argument that 'Moria', despite being a word actually spoken in Frodo's day, also need not have been written on the actual doors, even though this too is written in the picture in the book.