All the King's Horses and All the King's Men... - Page 6
© Michael Martinez
We know now that the Vanyar did not simply wander through the woods of Valinor or sit in the halls of Manwe and sing songs all day. "The Shibboleth of Feanor" (in a section published in the July, 2000 Vinyar Tengwar) and, to a lesser extent, "Osanwe-kenta" indicate that the Vanyar had their own loremasters, some of whom argued with Feanor over linguistic principles. It would appear, then, that the Vanyar had a curiosity concerning language which equalled that of the Noldor. But the Vanyar may not have been as concerned with the history of language as with its use. The Vanyarin loremasters in fact agreed with Feanor in principle concerning his objection to a shift in sound, but because of his vehemence in condemning the shift, Feanor alienated his potential allies among both Noldor and Vanyar alike.
It may also be possible to infer something of the history of Aman after the end of the First Age from some of these writings and other texts. Tolkien occasionally tosses in an allusion to Aman in the present tense, perhaps unintentionally, perhaps with the thought of leaving some connection to the Undying Lands available. We are told that most of the records of Numenor were lost in the Downfall. Hence, all of the correspondence with the Eldar of Tol Eressea, and/or all the journals or other accounts of visits by the Eldar, must have been lost. At best, Elendil and his people could have brought a few books out of Numenor, but of these many may have been lost through the centuries and wars. The loss of the Numenorean sources thus excuses Tolkien from having to write many Numenorean stories. But it also strengthens the view that any reasonably complete text dealing with the Elder Days must be included in Bilbo's "Translations from the Elvish".
Yet though Tolkien may at one time have contemplated how to produce the three volumes of the Translations, it is evident he never proceeded very far down that path, beyond writing and rewriting the core histories of "Quenta Silmarillion" and its accompanying texts. The linguistic essays are experimental, and they provide glimpses of layers within the developmental process. Like Humpty-Dumpty in the well-known nursery rhyme, the Translations from the Elvish represent a lost heritage which no army of researchers will ever be able to recover. There is really nothing to recover, but "Quendi and Eldar", "Osanwe-kenta", and "Orcs" may deserve special attention in the future. We have probably only just started picking up the pieces.
