The Qenya Alphabet is the twentieth issue of Parma Eldalamberon, a journal of linguistic studies of the Elvish languages and names in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Front cover: manuscript facsimile "Qenya Alphabet"
Contents[]
- "The Qenya Alphabet" — J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Arden Ray Smith
- Introduction
- Group I:
- Q1 Description of English Usage
- Q2 Description of English Usage
- Group II:
- Q3 Letter to H. M. Margoliouth
- Q4 Letter to Dr. Sturrock
- Q5 "The Walrus and the Carpenter" Excerpt
- Q6 "The Walrus and the Carpenter" Excerpts
- Q7 Pater Noster, Our Father, and Draft Statute
- Q8 Our Father, Hail Mary, Gloria in Excelsis Deo, and Credo
- Group III:
- Q9 John Andrew Narrative, Rhymes, and Diary Entry
- Group IV :
- Q10 Description of "Qenya Alphabet" 53
- Q11 Description of "Qenya Alphabet" with "God Save the King," Beowulf, Our Father, and Gloria in Excelsis Deo Excerpts
- Q12 Fragmentary Table and Doodles
- Q13 Tolkien Family Names
- Q14 "God Save the King" Excerpt
- Q15 "God Save the King" Excerpt and Doodles
- Q16 "God Save the King" and Our Father
- Q17 Tolkien's Name and Address and Three Prayers
- Q18 Te Deum Excerpt ("Formal style")
- Q19 Te Deum Excerpt
- Q20 Te Deum Excerpt
- Q21 Gloria in Excelsis Deo Excerpt ("Large rounded")
- Q22 Gloria in Excelsis Deo Excerpt ("Formal book-hand rounded")
- Q23 Gloria in Excelsis Deo Excerpt ("Large pointed")
- Q24 Gloria in Excelsis Deo Excerpt ("Pointed angular style")
- Q25 Excerpts from the Mass
- Q26 Otfrid Excerpt
- Q27 Philosophical Thoughts
- Q28 Letter to E. V. Gordon
- Q29 Letter to C. S. Lewis ("Cursive Style") with "Tom Bombadil" Excerpt
- Q30 "Tom Bombadil" Excerpt and Table Fragment
- Q31 "Tom Bombadil" Excerpt
- Q32 "Tom Bombadil" Excerpt
- Q33 "Tom Bombadil" Excerpt and Political Observation
- Q34 "Tom Bombadil" Excerpt
- Q35 "Errantry"
- Q36 "Errantry" Excerpt
- Q37 "Errantry" Excerpt
- Q38 Nursery Rhymes
- Q39 "Examples of Various 'Elvish' Handwriting Styles" ("The Walrus and the Carpenter," nursery rhymes, etc.)
- Q40 "The Walrus and the Carpenter," "God Save the King," and Te Deum Excerpts
- List of abbreviations
Description[]
"The Qenya Alphabet" is an edition of Tolkien's charts and notes from circa 1931 dealing with the earliest version of the script essentially of the conceptual type he would later call "Fëanorian Tengwar" and eventually include in The Lord of the Rings. This issue of Parma Eldalamberon contains 40 documents in which Tolkien's examples of the scripts are reproduced in facsimile.
The documents include different versions of a detailed explanation of the use of the script for representing English, both phonetically (as it was designed to be used) and also according to English spelling. These have charts of the theoretical values of the sounds represented by the letters, and various English words and texts written in the scripts.
There are also various specimen texts written by Tolkien in the "Qenya Alphabet". These exemplify some conceptual changes in the mode or assignment of phonetic values to particular letters. There is also a great variety of different styles of writing, ranging from formal "book-hand" to rapidly written cursive.
Most of these examples are in English, but there are also texts in Latin, Old English, and Old High German. Transcriptions of the examples and editorial commentary on the dating and historical background are provided.
External links[]
- Print on demand (Barnes & Noble)
- Print on demand (The Great British Bookshop)
- Book review by Edith L. Crowe, Tolkien Studies volume 10
- The New Arrival: PARMA Twenty by John D. Rateliff