Qadgop, you’re a prince among geeks. Modern Elvish is lovely, no question, but it’s just not as magically obscure as it used to be.
Heh. I do have a dictionary. It’s an early TNG-era edition though, and isn’t terribly complete.
And I also read Shakespeare for fun (but obviously, I’m taken.)
Ithkuil? Guh…What, Esperanto wasn’t good enough for this guy, and the world needs another artificial language? The sample clips sound like someone reciting Shakespeare, Elvish, and Vogon poetry all at the same time.
And when old Qenya isn’t obscure enough anymore, I’ll switch to Danian (also called Ossiriandeb, which was spoken by the Green-elves of Ossiriand).
BTW, even tho the link seems to equate Danian with Nandoran (Silvan) elvish, t’aint completely so! Not all silvan elves were necessarily Danians. In their uttermost roots, Danians were originally breakaway Noldorin elves, who stopped following Finwë during the long trek across Arda, and wandered off with their leader, Denethor. JRRT later simplified this aspect out of the story, sadly.
What were we discussing?
Reference: “Old English Influence on the Danian Language of J. R. R. Tolkien,” in Interdigitations: Essays for Irmengard Rauch, ed. Gerald F.Carr, Wayne Harbert, and Lihua Zhang, 231-37. New York: Peter Lang, 1999.
