- "Just consider the splendour of the words!…What a pondering of alternatives within one’s choice before the final decision in favour of the daring and unusual prefix, so personal, so attractive; the final solution of some element in a design that had hitherto proved refractory."
- —J.R.R. Tolkien, A Secret Vice
Parma Eldalamberon is a linguistic journal dedicated to the scholarly study of the invented languages of J.R.R. Tolkien. It was first published by the Mythopoeic Society, then by the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship since issue 6.
The name Parma Eldalamberon is a neo-Quenya rendering of The Book of Elven-tongues, consisting of parma ("book"), elda ("Elf"), and lambë ("tongue, language"). However, like with Vinyar Tengwar, the rendering is questionable as the eighteenth issue gives the genitive plural of lambë as lambion[1] instead of lamberon.
Parma Eldalamberon (Quenya for 'The Book of Elven-tongues') is a journal of the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship dedicated to the linguistics of J.R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth languages. It was begun by Carl F. Hostetter, William Lloyd Welden, Christopher John Gilson, and two others.
It is an exclusive source for a portion of Tolkien's Sindarin and Quenya words a a well as a few characters such as Túro.
History[]
Parma Eldalamberon was started in 1971, as an irregular periodical published by the Mythopoeic Linguistic Fellowship (M.L.F.) of the Mythopoeic Society. The first editor was Paula Marmor. It ran for five issues, ending in 1977, but resulted in the landmark book An Introduction to Elvish. Of that book Paula Marmor was co-author, several other co-authors, William Lloyd Welden, Christopher John Gilson, Lawrence J. Krieg, and editor James D. Allan, were regular contributors to Parma and parts of it had grown from their articles in the journal. The publication of The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, and The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien made most of the discussions outdated, however, and the project was shelved.
Another regular contributor was Robert Foster, who had already published his Guide to Middle-earth, which he revised and extended to The Complete Guide to Middle-earth after the publication of The Silmarillion.
Six years later, in 1983, Christopher John Gilson revived Parma. He kept the original name, despite the fact that the increase in Quenya material gave the correct translation as Parma Eldalambion. Gilson published Parma outside the Linguistic Fellowship,[2] but after the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship was founded it became associated with that organization.
In 1991, Christopher Tolkien approved of Parma publishing original text by Tolkien, especially the long linguistic texts for which he could find no place in The History of Middle-earth.[3]
In the meantime, Vinyar Tengwar also started publishing Tolkien's original texts. Now, they are both edited by more or less the same team, and Parma specializes in the longer wordlists, while Vinyar Tengwar publishes Tolkien's essays.[4]
List of issues[]
- 1971: Parma Eldalamberon 1
- 1972: Parma Eldalamberon 2
- 1973: Parma Eldalamberon 3
- 1974: Parma Eldalamberon 4
- 1977: Parma Eldalamberon 5
- 1983: Parma Eldalamberon 6
- 1988: Parma Eldalamberon 7
- 1989: Parma Eldalamberon 8
- 1990: Parma Eldalamberon IX
- 1994: Parma Eldalamberon X
Since issue 11, the journal has been dedicated to publishing Tolkien's original materials:
- 1995: Parma Eldalamberon XI: I·Lam na·Ngoldathon: The Grammar and Lexicon of The Gnomish Tongue
- 1998: Parma Eldalamberon XII: Qenyaqetsa: The Qenya Phonology and Lexicon together with The Poetic and Mythologic Words of Eldarissa
- 2001: Parma Eldalamberon XIII: The Alphabet of Rúmil and Early Noldorin Fragments
- 2003: Parma Eldalamberon XIV: Early Qenya and Valmaric
- 2004: Parma Eldalamberon XV: Sí Qente Feanor and Other Elvish Writings
- 2006: Parma Eldalamberon XVI: Early Elvish Poetry and Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets
- 2007: Parma Eldalamberon XVII: Words, Phrases and Passages in various tongues in The Lord of the Rings
- 2009: Parma Eldalamberon XVIII: Tengwesta Qenderinwa and Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets, Part 2
- 2010: Parma Eldalamberon XIX: Quenya Phonology
- 2012: Parma Eldalamberon XX: The Qenya Alphabet
- 2013: Parma Eldalamberon XXI: Qenya Noun Structure
- 2015: Parma Eldalamberon XXII: The Feanorian Alphabet, Part 1 and Quenya Verb Structure
- 2024: Parma Eldalamberon XXIII: The Feanorian Alphabet, Part 2 and Eldarin Pronouns
Future and back issues[]
It is known that Parma Eldalamberon XXIV is in the works, and its publication should not be too far off. For back issues, though most are currently out of print (Amazon has from Parma Eldalamberon XXI onward as of March 2025), they are slowly put for print-on-demand publication from Christopher Gilson.[5]
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Russian | Парма Эльдаламберон |
External links[]
- The official website
- Parma Eldalamberon Errata
- List of previously unpublished contents in VT and PE at TolkienBooks.net
References[]
- ↑ Parma Eldalamberon, issue XVIII: Tengwesta Qenderinwa and Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets, Part 2, pgs. 8, 71
- ↑ David Doughan, Quettar 21, "Book Reviews: Parma Eldalamberon 6" (November 1984), pg. 8
- ↑ Parma Eldalamberon, issue XI: I·Lam na·Ngoldathon: The Grammar and Lexicon of The Gnomish Tongue, "Foreword", pg. 2
- ↑ Entry by David Stephen Bratman, J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment, "Posthumous Publications", pg. 547-8
- ↑ Carl F. Hostetter, "am Carl Hostetter, editor of The Nature of Middle-earth. Ask Me Anything!" on "Reddit /r/tolkienfans"