Away to Valinor!

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Kortoso
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Re: Away to Valinor!

Post by Kortoso »

Safe and sound in the enchanting land of Chiang Mai.
I've created a new Youtube channel, and I'm not sure if the URL works or not:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD0wf- ... subscriber
Give it a shot and please enjoy my adventures.
There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go.
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Iodo
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Re: Away to Valinor!

Post by Iodo »

Great vidios, thankyou :P
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
Evz
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Re: Away to Valinor!

Post by Evz »

Just found your Youtube too. Have a safe trip and enjoy it yo.
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Kortoso
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Re: Away to Valinor!

Post by Kortoso »

Hey guys, I'm here learning the Thai language.
So funny, when it's transliterated into Roman letters, it looks like something that Lovecraft would dream up. :mrgreen:
But looking at the letters of the Thai alphabet (which apparently is supposed to be referred as an "abugida"). I was at a Buddhist ceremony the other night and I saw one of the books that the people were chanting from... and I got a question...

Which historical written language did professor Tolkien base his Tengwar upon?
I've seen where folks claim it was Sanskrit but Tengwar doesn't have the slightest resemblance to Devangari, which always has a horizontal line above all letters.
Image
Image

Or maybe I'm just going native....
There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go.
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Elleth
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Re: Away to Valinor!

Post by Elleth »

Ha!

I had a Frodo moment, trying to read that tengwar in the Sindarin mode.

"etagr.... what the heck is etagr?" :lol:

I'd always assumed without thinking about it that the tengwar was inspired by (but not based on) Hebrew, based primarily on how it handles vowels - but also on its brushstroke form, the fact modern Hebrew was being reconstructed about the same time Tolkien was working on the tengwar, and that I'd heard the Professor had an admiration for that people.

That said, Wiki points us to Francis Lodwick's Universal Alphabet - which looks a lot more likely. The logical structure of the character set is very similar to tengwar, as are the relationships between characters. The characters themselves have little in common with their related tengwa however.

As to the shape of the tengwa characters, I'd always assumed some of their form was due to Middle-earth as a "proto-history" - look at the characters for "p" or "m" for instance - not at all unlike their modern form. I could imagine the Professor thought of them as precursors to Koine Greek or Phoenician characters, lost in the mist of time.

As to their brushstroke form, they strongly resemble I think the Uncial, Caroligian, and Insular calligraphy forms the Professor would no doubt have been constantly immersed in looking at ancient manuscripts - Insular particularly.

Good work on learning Thai! It looks like it's gonna be a challenge - how fun! :)
Last edited by Elleth on Fri Mar 09, 2018 2:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Persona: Aerlinneth, Dúnedain of Amon Lendel c. TA 3010.
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Elleth
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Re: Away to Valinor!

Post by Elleth »

duplicate.
Persona: Aerlinneth, Dúnedain of Amon Lendel c. TA 3010.
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robinhoodsghost
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Re: Away to Valinor!

Post by robinhoodsghost »

Look forward to pictures of your archery practice in Thailand....I am sure there are Tolkien fans there as well.
In the darkest part of Sherwoods glade, in the thickest part of the wood, there are those who say, can still be seen, the ghost of Robin Hood.
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Kortoso
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Re: Away to Valinor!

Post by Kortoso »

Elleth wrote: I'd always assumed without thinking about it that the tengwar was inspired by (but not based on) Hebrew, based primarily on how it handles vowels - but also on its brushstroke form, the fact modern Hebrew was being reconstructed about the same time Tolkien was working on the tengwar, and that I'd heard the Professor had an admiration for that people.
Periscope up! :mrgreen:
Um, the way that Hebrew is written, with major symbols designating consonants, and incidental marks indicating vowel sounds, is not an unusual feature of written scripts, of course. Arabic does that, as does Thai by the way.
Natheless, good point about Hebrew; that reconstruction of a "dead" language for modern use must have caught his attention.

I found some knives that were made in a traditional manner, glorious things they are, well-made. Turns out that the smith works several km to the east of here; I hope to soon visit his forge. Until then, sawatdikrop!
There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go.
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