I Found the Entwives!

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Poor J.R.R.T never dreamed that the term could one day be used for an actual prurient operation.

If he didn't, he showed a surprising ignorance of Greek for a Classical exhibitionist. Teleporno is the Greek prefix Tele (roughly 'remote', 'at a distance' cf Television) and porno, from póron 'harlot, prostitute' (e.g. in pornocracy*). JRRT could be remarkably stubborn about his projected audience reception, as in his insistence for years that readers would associate gnomes with knowledge and wisdom as in gnomic, gnomon, and not garden ornaments.






*Apparently describing the tenth-century government of Rome.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by The Squatter of Amon Rûdh

If he didn't, he showed a surprising ignorance of Greek for a Classical exhibitionist. Teleporno is the Greek prefix Tele (roughly 'remote', 'at a distance' cf Television) and porno, from póron 'harlot, prostitute' (e.g. in pornocracy*). JRRT could be remarkably stubborn about his projected audience reception, as in his insistence for years that readers would associate gnomes with knowledge and wisdom as in gnomic, gnomon, and not garden ornaments.

Hmm. If he was aware, maybe he just didn't think, or at least hoped, that the average English-reading consumer wouldn't make any negative association.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

I think it's probably more complicated than that. Whatever associations somebody might make, that was the proper form according to the phonological rules JRRT had laid down. To change it to something else would mean inventing a reason for the exception or rethinking the rules themselves, potentially having to change dozens of other names distributed around a frightening array of manuscripts. Also Tolkien preferred to write his way around problems like this rather than simply remove them. In any case, this sort of coincidental double meaning crops up in natural languages all the time. I found a reference once to a Persian personal name Nazgül, meaning 'shy rose'.

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Hmm. If he was aware, maybe he just didn't think, or at least hoped, that the average English-reading consumer wouldn't make any negative association.

... which would be an interesting hope, given that the word 'pornography' is attested as far back as the 1840s. Actually, 'porno' itself shows up in the OED by the '50s... I think 'Teleporno' is a 'late writings' name from Tolkien, so probably the late '60s or even early '70s.

Originally Posted by The Squatter of Amon Rûdh

I think it's probably more complicated than that. Whatever associations somebody might make, that was the proper form according to the phonological rules JRRT had laid down. To change it to something else would mean inventing a reason for the exception or rethinking the rules themselves, potentially having to change dozens of other names distributed around a frightening array of manuscripts. Also Tolkien preferred to write his way around problems like this rather than simply remove them. In any case, this sort of coincidental double meaning crops up in natural languages all the time. I found a reference once to a Persian personal name Nazgül, meaning 'shy rose'.

This I think hits close to the mark, though I'd make two additional (and slightly contradictory) points:

-I don't know that the 'Valinorean Celeborn' writings were ever aimed at publication; they could just have been Tolkien 'thinking on paper' (so to speak). He could even have had a quiet chuckle at how The Youth Of Today would probably read the name.

-'Teleporno' isn't the pure Quenya form (which would be 'Telporno') - it's Telerin, a language that... well, wasn't used for much at all. 'Alatariel' and 'Telperion' are the only other words of note that use it - and 'Telperion' uses a different form of the word for 'silver'! Obviously 'Telpeorno' would sound <i>horrifying</i> to Elvish ears, but I'm sure Tolkien could have come up with a different form if he'd felt the need. The compound form 'Telep(i)' was literally never used other than in 'Teleporno' itself, and he actually rejected 'Telepimpar' for 'Telperimpar' as a translation of 'Celebrimbor'. So we could have had 'Telperorno'.

(Yeah, there's a tele-pimp as well as tele-porn, I know, I know.)

hS

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

I don't know that the 'Valinorean Celeborn' writings were ever aimed at publication; they could just have been Tolkien 'thinking on paper' (so to speak). He could even have had a quiet chuckle at how The Youth Of Today would probably read the name.

The first part seems reasonable, the second: not so much. Tolkien just doesn't give the appearance of a man who would have found that amusing.

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

The first part seems reasonable, the second: not so much. Tolkien just doesn't give the appearance of a man who would have found that amusing.

I'd generally agree, but... there is that fact that he created a handful of Gnomish & Qenya words relating to sexuality. While he generally comes across as being almost entirely uninterested in that sort of thing, it's always worth considering that one's private thoughts can be very different to one's public presentation.

At the very least, we know that he enjoyed wordplay; so while he may not have been amused himself, I'm sure he wouldn't take offense at us being so.

hS