Letter to Alina Dadlez (19 September 1962)
From Tolkien Gateway
On 19 September 1962, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a letter to Alina Dadlez.[1]
- Subject: Reply to a letter from Dadlez (of 17 September), concerning a translation into Spanish of The Hobbit (see El hobito). The Argentinian publishers (in a letter of 14 September[2]), commenting on Tolkien's suggestion of the form hobitos, suggest in their turn the form jobitos (since h is mute in Spanish). The publishers also write that they "are unable to find the quotation cited by him in the copy of The Hobbit they are using", concerning gnomos/gnomes (see Letter to Alina Dadlez (20 July 1962)).[1]
- Archive: Tolkien-George Allen & Unwin archive, HarperCollins.[1]
Excerpts
I prefer hobitos since it preserves to the eye more relationship to the original word. I do not much mind the h being 'mute'; I am sure many hobbits drop their hs like most rural folk in England.
—J.R.R. Tolkien[2]
In the words of Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, Tolkien also writes that he "gave the wrong reference in The Hobbit because he had used an older edition".[1]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: I. Chronology, p. 598
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: II. Reader's Guide, pp. 1035-6
