The History of the Hobbit

by John D. Rateliff

  [Table I: Dwarven Runes]

  [Ad.Ms.H.S.4]

  Runes used by Thorin & Co.TN1

  There is no Q. For qu cw is used.TN2 The letters represented in English by two letters as ea, oa &c. can also be written with two, as for . But are always used for th, ng, ee, oo. In Runes the same letter is rarely written twice running: either once or the letter is dotted. Thus or for ‘letter’. is used for i and j and for u and v. The special shapes [added: joy] for j and for v TN3 can be used but are not counted in the alphabet. A letter sometimes used is or = eo, io as in = George. It is counted as a combination of I + O and called ‘ice-ox’. The uprights of runes are sometimes joined: as = ME. The spelling of words by Thorin & Co is often phonetic: thus (dor) for door.

  Each rune has a name – a word of one syllable, beginning with the sound represented; except in case of where the name has 2 syllables and the sound comes in the middle. Many of these names are trees: thorn, pine, birch, elm, yew, oak, ash.

  The text continues onto the verso of the same sheet [Ad.Ms.H.S.5], which presents a second, complementary runic chart.

  These runes are very like, but not the same as the Anglo-Saxon Runes. The Anglo-Saxon runes vary a good deal, but were generally like this:

  [Table II: The Futhorc]TN4

  [Ad.Ms.H.S.5]

  The dwarfsTN5 only used Runes for special purposes. For writing they used the Elvish alphabet — a bit of which may be seen on one of the pots of gold in picture of dragon.TN6 It is more complicated but looks better. Here is a bit.

  The rest of this page is devoted to a tengwar text of Bilbo’s Contract; compare this neat copy with the freehand style of that of the Frontispiece.

  ‘Copy of the original of the letter ([translated>] transcribed on p. 39).’TN7

  Text Notes

  TN1. The last two runes in this line, oak and ash, are circled in pencil by Tolkien and marked to be moved to the front of this row (the extreme left), which would change the sequence of the Fourth row to oak, ash, yew, ear, &c.

  TN2. Added above the line in pencil here: ‘or quill’.

  TN3. At this point Tolkien pencilled a ‘v’ above the letter but did not complete the word; on one draft of this chart [Ad.Ms.H.S.1] this rune had been identified as ‘v. vane’.

  TN4. Originally Tolkien wrote two words for eh; eoh and eh, as well as two letters above, eo and e, but in each case he cancelled the first entry (which is already represented by the rune in the row above), leaving only eh for the rune’s name and e for its equivalence. As Arden Smith points out (personal communication, April 2011), these are dialectic variants on the same word, with eh being the Mercian and eoh the West Saxon words for ‘horse’ (as in the names Eomer and Eowyn). In the two other versions of this chart [Ad.Ms.H.S. 1 & 3], this rune instead represents the word ‘elm’. I am grateful to Arden Smith for helping me recover the obliterated readings.

  TN5. The usage of aberrant form ‘dwarfs’ instead of the usual ‘dwarves’ is Tolkien’s.

  TN6. Note that this picture was not included in either the Longmans’ School Edition nor the Unwin Books trade paperback edition, which would have made this reference rather murky to that audience.

  TN7. The transcription appeared on page 39 of the first and second editions, and page 38 of the third edition; in the 1966 Unwin Books edition it was on page 27.

  Arden Smith informs me (personal communication, April 2011) that Tolkien’s use of the tengwar here in this version of Thorin’s Letter bears strong affinities to his usage in the Ransome letters (see Appendix IV); hence it’s reasonable to assume that it dates from the same time (December 1937).

  (vi)

  Fëanorian Letters

  Continuing his account of dwarven writing systems, and directly following upon the runic material, Tolkien gives the following account of the dwarven use of elven letters. According to Christopher Tolkien, the first half of what follows [Ad.Ms.H.S.11–14 sequence] is written in blue ink; the second half [Ad.Ms.H.S.15–18], which focuses on using these letters to write modern English, is in black ink.

  For books or documents or anything written with pens the better kind of Dwarves (as most other folk of the period) used the running form of the ‘Fëanorian’ (or Second Elvish) Alphabet.TN1 As this is a little complicated it was transcribed into our ordinary letters in ‘The Hobbit’ (though there is a glimpse of it painted on one of the jars in the coloured picture of Smaug’s lair).

  Here is a copy of the original letter (in Thorin’s rather free and bold style) that is transcribed on p. 39.TN2

  In a more careful way (as in making a book) it would have looked more like this.

  The ‘book style’ tengwar version of Thorin’s letter fills rest of this page [Ad.Ms.H.S.11].

  Fig 4

  The following chart and its accompanying text takes up the whole of Ad.Ms.H.S.12.

  [Table III: The Tengwar (Dwarven Mode)]

  [Ad.Ms.H.S.12]

  Adaptation of the Fëanorian Alphabet as used by Dwarves (and others) for the common or ordinary language: ——

  1. 2. 3. 4.

  p-row

  p t ch kTN3

  5 6 7 8

  b-row

  b d j g

  f-row

  f th(thin) sh [x]

  v-row

  v th(this) zh(French j) []

  m-row

  m n n˜(ny) ng

  w-row

  w r y /

  odd-row

  h l r s

  z

  The letters ‘x’ (f-row 4) and ‘’ (v-row 4) which had represented guttural sounds no longer heard in the Common Language, were no longer used. The Dwarves occasionally used for ‘h’.

  There were originally no vowel-letters[,] the vowels being shown where needed by various marks over or under the consonants: as , , ‘tin, tan, bull’. But in writing the common language new letters for vowels were made — but there was a great deal of variation and disagreement about how to use them.

  Here is the system used by Thorin (and others).

  The letter , being no longer used for a consonant, was used for the vowel a.

  =a =o ((before letters of column 4 ( etc) ))TN4

  =e =u

  =i

  The Dwarves, however, as a rule used this alphabet to spell what they said phonetically or (more or less) how they pronounced it. They need not be imitated! But they needed a few more letters.

  or for a in ‘back’; = a in ‘father’.

  for u in ‘butter’; = u in ‘bull’

  or a dot underneath for a vague or murmured vowel.

  Length of vowel could be marked : so = father.

  The little r they used when it was not pronounced (so : ‘farther’), but when it was: so : merry. This they used like a vowel for er, ir, ur as in fern, third, burst, butter.

  There were various other tricks and abbreviations. S was often written or as = ks, x; = ‘bats’; and s, z often at the end of a word, as = ‘sums’. n or m were usually written above a consonant if one followed:TN5 as = camp. u or w could similarly be written and i or y as , but in this case they were put over the letter that preceded. As = ai, ay, = au, aw; = kw = qu.

  Some common words were shortened (like our &):

  so = and; = of; = of the; = the.

  To mark Capitals either was written underneath, or the downstroke was doubled: so = I; = D.

  For punctuation marks (when any were used) you will find:

  as a comma; as a full stop; or as colons (or semicolons).

  Exclamations can be marked by before or after or both.

  Questions can be marked by before or after or both.

  For bracketsare used (if anything).

  There were no numerals, and if any were required the letters of the alphabet with a dot were used in order except that (which had no other use) = 9, and = 0.

  dwarven numerals (Fëanorian)

  But the numerals of the older or First Elvish Alphabet were sometimes used

  dwarven numerals (Rúmili
an)TN6

  Thorin’s letter is very abbreviated and “phonetic” and actually goes like this.

  and so on. But Bilbo was used to that sort of spelling.

  The rest of this page, almost half of Ad.Ms.H.S.14, is left blank.

  As noted above, the second half of this material on the use of Elven letters [Ad.Ms.H.S.15–18] is written in black ink. Unlike the preceding material, instead of looking at dwarven usage it focuses on using Fëanorian script for modern English.

  [Table IV:] Fëanorian applied to English.TN7

  [Ad.Ms.H.S.15]

  Additional Consonantal Signs:

  h. l. r. s. z.

  is only used where pronunciation is consonantal.

  is used where [r] has become vocalic murmur or been absorbed. ar. is thus used for in part. better is spelt . spelt er, ur, ir in E.[nglish] is represented by : as = first.

  is [cancelled: only] used when followed by w, j [added: or prec. by n] as in = swing; [added: = dance][;] = suit; and occasionally when otherwise convenient, esp. finally when an inflexion. In such cases [s] is often reduced to a mere hook , and [z] to . Thus or = once; = dance; but = hats; = roses. is rarely used for . ks = , ps = [,] ts = [.]

  A homorganic nasal is usually represented by above the following consonant = ns, = nt, = nch, = mp, = nk, &c. The sound [j, i] is represented usually by above the preceding sound: thus = assume; = tune; = oi, = ai, = ei, &c. The sound [w, u] similarly is represented by : as = quick; = au (ou), = ou &c. But initially, between vowels, and at the beginning of distinct elements in compounds the full signs [j] and [w] are used. They can be used in all positions.

  When n, m, l are vocalic as in button, bottom, bottle they are under-dotted: as , , . The same under-dot or ‘vocalic sign’ is used occasionally when the vowel in other cases is reduced to a very slight murmur. Thus in quick ‘colloquial’ writing the reduced atonic pronunciation of such words as at [æt]; of [ov], and [ænd] > , , n.d is represented thus:

  Note where the nasal over-line is used an under-dot refers to this:

  thus: torrent [torn.t] is written

  The underdot is also used to mark =[o] as a vowel, when it precedes and sometimes before other letters of this series. Thus = [wo∫] wash, not [wzˇ].

  Special abbreviations are = the (for or ). = of for . = of the. In colloquial writing the unstressed indefinite article a, an is often written as part of the next word by underdot : thus = a man, an ostrich. Unstressed and is written = nd. This in quick writing is often reduced to .

  Other rarer abbrev. ‘equals’ = ‘therefore, and so’ ‘then, next’

  Punctuation. Capitals are seldom used. When large initials are required underlining, encircling, or larger writing is used. = John. or or . Brackets or . The latter are also often used as quotation marks, when no query or exclamation is involved

  Full stop

  Comma not much used; when required

  = Tom, the piperTN8

  Colon

  Semicolon

  Exclamation often also placed before in forms

  Question in which case no quotation marks

  are used.

  The vowels.

  The old sign originally consonantal is used as [a]

  The other vowels are denoted by special signs outside the series, except for vowels developed from [r] which are denoted : see above. is used = [a] in [ai] = diphthong in wine; [au] = diphthong in town; before r. as in [pat, par.t] = part; when long as in = father. The sound [æ] is properly denoted (with i-dot), but since this sound is normally defined by position & absence of length the dot is not used much in colloquial writing —esp. not in cases where pronunciation varies between [a¯] and [æ] as in [added above the tengwar in neat ink: glass]: here neither dot nor length-sign are usual.

  The mark of vocalic length is as [kam] calm.

  Other vowel signs.

  [i]

  [e]

  [a]

  [æ]

  [o]

  [u]

  [] or underdot or

  []

  [y]

  [œ]

  The following is crowded in along the right-hand side of the chart:

  <> which in E.[nglish] is always product of er, ir, ur is written .

  is treated a pure long [o] & written as in = all; but or is written as in = port.

  A second vowel chart, denoting superscripts (diacriticals) to indicate vowels, is added below the first, in pencil:

  i

  e

  o

  u

  a

  æ

  œ

  y

  In the end, none of these charts and tables made it into the Longmans or Unwin Books edition, although Tolkien did write a note for that edition explaining the runes used in The Hobbit. This prefatory note appears in The Annotated Hobbit (DAA.27) and has become a standard feature of later editions – e.g., the third edition Hobbit (page [8]), the Fiftieth Anniversary Hobbit (pages 9–10), and the Seventieth Anniversary Hobbit (pages 1–2). Perhaps Tolkien did not complete the material in time for it to be included in the book, and another appropriate opportunity did not come – a pity, given how eagerly so much information on Tolkien’s invented scripts would have been welcomed in the mid-sixties by students of his invented languages. Or perhaps it was felt disproportionate to include a lengthy essay devoted to a writing system that did not actually appear in that edition, since the picture of Smaug with Thror’s cup – the only place where tengwar is used within The Hobbit – did not appear in either the Longmans or Unwin editions.

  TEXT NOTES

  TN1. So called to distinguish it from Tolkien’s older script, the Alphabet of Rúmil, which he had created as early as 1919 and developed during his years at Leeds. For a history of this writing system and several texts in Rúmilic, which looks more like a Dravidian or southeast Asian script than anything in the European tradition,† see The Alphabet of Rúmil, ed. Arden R. Smith, Parma Eldalamberon XIII, pages 3–90.

  † for example, Rúmilic tends to be written in columns from top to bottom, rather than in rows like most European scripts.

  TN2. This seems to be a reference to the version given as plate two of the frontispiece, since the description ‘in Thorin’s rather free and bold style’ fits that document much better than it does the careful ‘book style’ of Ad.Ms.H.S.11 (page 960) or the inscription style of Ad.Ms.H.S.5 (page 904).

  TN3. Tolkien originally wrote ‘g’ here, but cancelled it and replaced it with ‘k’.

  TN4. Although Tolkien writes ‘letters of column 4’, the tengwa he gives is in fact the top letter in column 3, and the latter seems to reflect his intent.

  TN5. “In that case are used for s, z.” [Marginal note by Tolkien, marked for insertion at this point].

  TN6. Tolkien has pencilled a third Elvish numeration system in the top margin of Ad.Ms.H.S page 17, but unfortunately it is too faint for me to reproduce with any confidence. Enough of it can be made out, however, to show that it uses the tengwar letters, as in the first numeration system shown here, but it does not assign the same numerical value to the same letters.

  TN7. The usual diacritical in ‘Fëanorian’ is missing here in Tolkien’s original.

  TN8. This is an allusion to ‘Tom, Tom, the piper’s son; stole a pig and away he run’, an old nursery rhyme (Baring-Gould #126; see The Annotated Mother Goose, pages 104–5).

  Index

  The page numbers in this index relate to the printed version of this book; they do not match the pages of your ebook. You can use your ebook reader’s search tool to find a specific word or passage.

  This index does not attempt to list every appearance of every name – something which would extend it to interminable length – but rather to enable readers to find specific passages within this work, supplementing the many cross-references within the text itself. An asterisk by a name indicates a member of Thorin & Company.

  1926 Sketch: see ‘The Sketch of the Mythology’.

  1930 Quenta: see Q
uenta.

  1937 Quenta Silmarillion: see Quenta Silmarillion.

  1977 Silmarillion: see The Silmarillion.

  Ace Books (American paperback publisher) xxviii, 765

  Ackerman, Forrest J. 17, 60, 222, 827

  Ad.Ms.H. (Additional Manuscript Hobbit): designates Hobbit manuscript material still in the possession of the Tolkien family. xxxi, 6, 731ff, & 765ff.

  Adventures 29 (Tooks), 30–31 (organized by Bladorthin), 52 (mad adventures), 91 (not all pony rides in May), & passim.

  The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (ATB) xxxiv, xl (date of poems), 186 (illustrated by Baynes), 596 (Preface). See also ‘The Hoard’, ‘The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon’, ‘The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late’, ‘The Mewlips’, ‘Perry-the-Winkle’, ‘Princess Mee’, ‘The Sea-Bell’, and ‘The Stone Troll’.

  Ælfwine of England

  —as compiler of Simarillion texts 52, 62

  —as dreamer 148

  —as Elf-friend 686, 699–700

  —as translator 604–5

  —in Notion Club Papers 282

  see also Eriol the Wanderer, ‘Ælfwine of England’, ‘The Song of Ælfwine’.

  ‘Ælfwine of England’ (BLT II) 100, 324, 427, 686

  Agatha, Queen (wife of Giles) 55. See also Farmer Giles of Ham.

  Ái 13, 867–8, 871. See Ori.

  Alboin Errol: see Errol, Alboin.

  Alboin the Lombard 77, 148, 279, 699–700

  Allegory 25 (Tolkien’s distaste for), 79 (lack of allegory in The Hobbit), 423 (applicability).

  Allen & Unwin (publisher) passim.

  —A&U/JRRT correspondence xxxiii–xxxiv & passim.

  —confusion over 1947 revisions 695, 731, 760–2

  —original submission of Hobbit to A&U xxvi, 442, 458, 489, & passim.

  —first contact between JRRT & A&U xl, 693–4

  —follow-up projects to Hobbit xxxix–xl, 268, 694–5