Elvish Manuscript
I made this a couple of years ago, it’s in one of the languages J.R.R. Tolkien invented, Quenya. It’s written in brown ink on sketchbook paper. To age it I sanded it down lightly with very fine grain sandpaper, then soaked it in very strong coffee for a few hours. I then baked it in the oven at a low temperature for a few minutes to dry and further age it. Finally I took it outside and singed the edges a little.
I ran across a call for Lord of the Rings related artwork a while back for a documentary called Ringers: Lord of the Fans, and sent in a scan which they ended up using and giving me a credit in the movie. I was pleased. I thought the movie was very well done.
The text is a hymn to the elvish star goddess and translates roughly as follows:
O Elbereth Star-kindler
white glittering slants down sparkling like jewels
from the firmament the glory of the star-host!
To-remote distance far-having gazed
from tree-woven middle-earth,
Fanuilos, to thee I will chant
on this side of ocean, here on this side of the Great Ocean!
The site where I found the Quenya translation of this poem seems to have gone kaput, so if I find the sketchbook where I wrote it down I will post the transliteration of it as well. If not I can always just transliterate it from my sloppy elvish handwriting, if I have time.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
