Course syllabus - iSites

Tolkien as Translator—Course Syllabus—Fall 2013—p. 4 of 4
(3) Mac Cana, P., 1995, “Mythology and the oral tradition: Ireland” and Davies, S.,
“Mythology and the oral tradition: Wales”, both in M.J. Aldhouse-Green, ed., The
Celtic World, pp. 779-791.
Note to students: The readings and summaries for the April 6th guest lecture are not
compulsory, but they are worth 10 extra credit points if you decide to undertake them.
This can make up for some lower scores on previous summaries/assignments (or even
another week's missed summaries).
(10) Nov 22. Sindarin (Grey-Elvish), and its inspiration in Welsh
Readings: (1) Tolkien, J.R.R., 1967, “Notes on A Elbereth Gilthoniel”. In The Road Goes Ever On,
pp. 64-67. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. [Compare with the song in LotR, p.238.]
(2) Tolkien, J.R.R., 1993, The Epilogue. In C. Tolkien, ed., Sauron Defeated, 114-135.
[Enjoy the original epilogue to The Lord of the Rings, but focus on Tolkien's
English translation of King Elessar's Sindarin letter to Samwise Gamgee, pp.128-129.]
(3) Gilson, C., 2000, Gnomish is Sindarin: The Conceptual Evolution of an Elvish
Language. In V. Flieger and C.F. Hostetter, eds., Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on
The History of Middle-Earth, pp. 95-104. London.
Assignment #2 due, in WORD (.doc) format, in the online drop-box by midnight, Nov 22nd.
(Please save your assignment as “YourLastName_Assign2.doc”.)
Nov 29. No scheduled class (read ahead for the following weeks)
(11) Dec 6. Khuzdul (Secret Language of the Dwarves), and its Semitic inspiration
Readings: (1) Tolkien, J.R.R., The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, Part III, ‘Durin's Folk,’
pp. 1071-1081.
(2) Tolkien, J.R.R., The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, ‘Dwarves’, pp. 1132-1133.
(3) Åberg, M., 2007, An Analysis of Dwarvish. Arda Philology 1: 42-65. Proceedings
of the First International Conference on J.R.R. Tolkien's Invented Languages,
Omentielva Minya, Stockholm, 2005.
(12) Dec 13. The Black Speech and Orcish (light reading, prepare for final exam)
Readings: (1) Tolkien, J.R.R., The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, ‘Orcs and the Black Speech,’
pp. 1131-1132.
(2) Hostetter, C.F., 1992, “Uglúk to the Dung-pit”. Vinyar Tengwar 26: 16.
(3) Zender, M., 2008, Revisiting the Curse of the Mordor-Orc. 9 pp.
(13) Dec 20. Linguistic History, Language Myths, and Lámatyáve
Readings: (1) Dawson, D., 2005, English, Welsh, and Elvish: Language, Loss, and Cultural Recovery
in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. In J. Chance and A. K. Sievers, ed., Tolkien's
Modern Middle Ages, pp. 105-120. New York.
(2) Hostetter, C.F., 2006, Elvish as She Is Spoke. In W.G. Hammond and C. Scull, eds.,
The Lord of the Rings: 1954-2004, Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder,
pp. 231-255.
(3) Podhorodecka, J., 2007, Is lámatyáve a linguistic heresy? Iconicity in J.R.R. Tolkien's
invented languages. In E. Tabakowska et al., eds., Insistent Images, pp. 103-110.
Takehome Final Exam due, in WORD (.doc) format, in the online drop-box by midnight, Dec 20th.
(Please save your assignment as “YourLastName_Final.doc”.)