Language of Dale
The Language of Dale was the tongue spoken by the Men of Dale and as a Northern language, it was related to Rohirric and more distantly, to Westron.
The writing system used by the Men of Dale was an old and simple form of the Cirth.[1]
It was from this tongue that came the "outer" names of the Dwarves of Durin's Folk, who used to keep their true, original Khuzdul names secret to other races.[2][3]
It is also told that it was a tradition in some Hobbit families (in particular those with ties to the Fallohide clan) to give first-names resembling the names of the Men of Dale (and other places near the ancient dwelling-places of the Hobbits, like the Mark and the Vales of Anduin).[3]
Translation
In Tolkien's stories, the language of Dale was rendered with Old Norse, a language related to Old English and modern English as the tongue of Dale was related to Rohirric and Westron.[3][2]
Name
A suggested name for the language of Dale is Dalian.[4] Another "invented" name commonly used by fans is Dalish.[5][6]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E, "Writing"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 144, (dated 25 April 1954)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "On Translation"
- ↑ Andreas Moehn, "Etymologies of the Atani Languages" (accessed 26 March 2011)
- ↑ "Breelendish, a Welsh-style Conlang" (message 33106; 12 March, 2006) at Elfling mailing list (accessed 27 March 2011)
- ↑ "Scandinavians in Middle-earth?" (message 1075; 15 July 1999) at Elfling mailing list (accessed 27 March 2011)