How is this related to Gregorian chant you ask? It is a bit tenuous, but learning Tengwar helps us understand a prominent Catholic author and his creations. Learning to understand arcane paleography is definitely part of learning Gregorian chant. The attraction of a mysterious and little understood systen of writing has parallels with the power of our ancient musical treasures. Tengwar and Gregorian chant are very different things, but they do share some similarities.
Firstly, what is Elvish? Elvish is a group of imaginary languages with Northern European influences. It all started when John R. R. Tolkien studied an Old English poem which mentioned “Elendil”, a mariner somehow connected with stars. He constructed an imagined etymology and mythology out of that one word. Fleshing out the fictional world, several languages emerged from different people and areas. To complicate things further, there were various alphabets too, with different uses.
Tolkien is a Catholic writer. In particular, he is a Catholic writer with a strong attachment to the Latin Mass. He is renowned for persisting in giving the Latin responses after the changes brought in after Vatican II. His attachment to all things liturgical is explored by Ben Reinhard in his course and new book on Tolkien’s Liturgical Imagination. Especially intriguing is Tolkien’s little read short story called Smith of Wooton Major, which involves some ritual meal imagery and some melancholy sadness at seeing the end of an era. He never writes straight allegory, but there is some applicability in all his stories which is well worth taking time to ponder.
One could draw a parallel between the awe and wonder of worshipping in an ancient tongue in the Latin Mass and the mysterious atmosphere of the imagined world of Middle Earth. We study Latin to better understand the Divine Office and the Mass. We could study Elvish to better understand the world of Middle Earth. Of course, one is much more important than the other. Would Tolkien fans all instinctively love the Latin Mass? I would like to think so.
Learning Elvish is pretty useless, whereas the Tengwar alphabet is much more interesting. All the different Elvishes are far from complete languages. The Elvish poems in the Lord of the Rings have been translated into English already. The alphabet known as Tengwar is the elegant script that is seen so often on pictures of the One Ring. The inscription on the ring is in Elvish, but you can use the same script to write English. Did you know that German Jews used to write German words in Hebrew characters? It looks crazy, but you sound out the letters and it’s German! It’s like how we write Hebrew words in our Roman based alphabet. Writing English in Tengwar, the Elvish alphabet, is a bit of a puzzle, but rather satisfying.
There are many theories on how best to teach reading. One strong contender is the idea of using Synthetic Phonics, where a restricted group of symbols is introduced and practised until the student is fairly comfortable, then a few more symbols are brought into play. The same can be done with Tengwar. See my Tengwar via Synthetic Phonics book.
With a bit of study and practice, you have a mysterious yet recognisable way to write in English or Latin, which very few people will take the time to decode.
Now for a confession. I do use a handy shortcut called the Tecendil Transcriber. Type in your text in whatever language and see it rendered your choice of a variety of different modes. That website also has a handbook and further information on the languages of Middle Earth. Enjoy!
