Ósanwe-kenta

The Ósanwe-kenta, or "Enquiry into the Communication of Thought", is a summary by an unnamed editor of a longer treatise by Pengolodh of Gondolin.

The subject-matter is sanwe-latya (Quenya for "thought-opening", but better translated as "telepathy"). Pengolodh included it as an appendix to the Lhammas because of the implications of tengwesta ("grammar, language") on thought-transmission, i.e. with the development of language, telepathy became more difficult and all but fell out of use among the "incarnated" (those beings with hröa).

Other versions of the legendarium

The essay was written in c. 1959-60 by J.R.R. Tolkien as a typescript of eight pages and was published in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 39, July 1998. A related manuscript, "Etymological Notes on the Ósanwe-kenta", was published in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 41, July 2000.