I’m not sure if lay-fans have noticed, but something obvious to Tolkien-language scholars is that the Elven languages aren’t being used exactly the same way in the TV show as they were in the Peter Jackson movies, and the languages themselves are slightly different too. There are a few things
Erin, your name is really cool! It’s an Irish name meaning “to/for Ireland.” As a personal name it pops up in the 20th century, thus I’ve charted its development as the name of Ireland. “Dative Case” is a fancy linguistic term for nouns being used in a sentence, where the
Catherine, your name is really cool! It’s an ancient and mysterious name from Ancient Greek, a name so ancient that the Greeks themselves didn’t know what it originally meant! Later on, it was reassigned the meaning “Pure/Clean/Clear,” based on connecting the Ancient Greek word Katharos. They changed the spelling to
Check out what my Patrons helped me make! On Patreon, you can set up goals. The goal for monthly $100 was a video series about pronouncing specific names. We reached that goal, so here it is! The idea behind this series is to show the pronunciation of well-known names from
Christopher, your name is really cool! It’s an ancient Greek name, describing and therefore naming a Saint, one who carried baby Christ across water. It literally means “Christ-bearing.” Tolkien liked this name, and gave the name to his son who went on to make sure the world knew the true
Jennifer, your name is really cool. It’s a cognate of an Irish goddess’s name, known as Findabair. Or Finnabair. Or Fionnabhair. It’s a lovely name with a long history, likely reaching back to Proto-Celtic languages. It’s most likely a compound of “Gwindos – White” and “Sēbarā – Spirit/Fairy/Phantom.” Sindarin Sindarin
You may have noticed some changes around here. You may want to know why and what’s been happening. Basically, since I published my “Write like an Elf” workbooks, I have been addressing some legal issues. Some of my services, including my transliterations, have been hindered. I’m trying to adjust my
The reasons for getting an Elvish tattoo are many. It marks us to fellow fans. It’s a way to write a secret message on your skin for others who can read it. It proves to the world that you love Tolkien’s works. And most of all, it looks really cool!
Let’s face it. The game developers could really have used a Tolkien-language expert on their staff. I’m going to explain how they messed up, and fix it for them. First off, let’s go back to the 90’s, when Tolkien-language fans were trying to find ways to write in Tengwar on