The Tolkien Compass

In Letter no.126 (10  March  1950 to Milton Waldman), J.R.R.  Tolkien   for the first time reveals [formally] how he called the entire story placed in His World -  Eä , where the Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings are joined together as one long Saga of the Jewels and the Rings. Quote: "I had in my letter made a strong point that the Silmarillion etc. and The Lord of the Rings went together, as one long Saga of the Jewels and the Rings, and that I was resolved to treat them as one thing, however they might formally be issued."   This approach to naming one's World was presented also in anothe Letter (BAM! dated as from same day!).  Quote from Letter no. 125 ( 10 March 1950 to Sir Stanley Unwin ): "But the whole Saga of the Three Jewels and the Rings of Power has only one natural division into two parts (each of about 600,000 words): The Silmarillion and other legends; and The Lord of the Rings." What a dates coincidence! Chance that exact nam...

In Letter /a Christmas card infact/ no. 118 (on  December 1948 to  Hugh Brogan), J.R.R. send a text  with three inscriptions . First paragraph:  it is written in the Angerthas alphabet, that is dwarven runes similar but not identical to those used in The Lord of the Rings . Second paragraph:  here comes the writing in Fëanorian script with tehtar  to indicate vowels (marks above the consonants).  Third paragraph: this Fëanorian script writing uses vowels represented by full letters. Text: The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, runes and tengwar from letter 118 First paragraph transcription : dear huʒ ðis z just to wiš you a happy kʰristmas in dwarf runəz. Dear Hugh, this is just to wish you a happy Christmas in dwarf runes. Second paragraph transcription: dea huʒ, ðis iz just to wiš yow a verry happy kristmas in two styles v elviš skript, i am sendiŋ somə eksplanations, nd hopə yow wont find ðem too komplikated. Dea (r) Hugh, this is just to wish you a v...

In Letter no. 112 (on  30 November 1947 to  Katherine Farrer), J.R.R. introduced  text in Runes . Text as a postcard, is written in Futhorc (not in Cirth), which are Old English (Anglo-Saxon) runes used by the author in The Hobbit . At that time, original runic writing system ( Cirth ) used in  The Lord of the Rings is not deviced yet. The text is a modern English, but display the use of Westron of Third Age . Runic text: The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, runes from letter 112 Westron translation: þree manor road sunday noveber þe þirtieþ dear mrs farrer: of course i will sign yo ur copy of þe hobbit. i am honoured by þe recwest. it is good news þat þe book is obtain able again. þe next book will cotain more d etailed information about runes and oþer alfabets in respose to many encwiries. in þe meantime while þe great work is beiŋ finiš ed i wonder if you would like a proper key to þe special dwarviš adaptation of þe eŋliš runic alfabet only part ...