Thanks to Earl Carvalho, our friend from TORn, we know that it’s a movie replica, not the actual design of the movie prop! Folks from Badali Jewelry gave a sneak peek at one of the first items in their newly licensed The Hobbit line of jewelry: Thror’s Key!
Engraved on the barrel of the key is the same phrase written in Anglo-Saxon (and not Dwarvish Angerthas Moria) runes that are found on Thrór’s map in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit book:
FIVE FEET HIGH THE DOOR
On the reverse side of the barrel there is probably the rest of the inscription:
AND THREE MAY WALK ABREAST
We wonder if Anglo-Saxon runes from The Hobbit book and the Middle-earth Dwarvish runes, Angerthas Moria, from The Lord of the Rings Appendices will coexist in Peter Jackson’s movie.
G-i-P stands for Gwaith-i-Phethdain, ‘The Fellowship of the Word-smiths’ or the linguistic website devoted to post-Tolkienian constructions in the “reconstructed” languages of Middle-earth [link].
Earl Carvalho from TheOneRing.net team reports that at Day 1 of ComicCon, the TORn staff down in San Diego caught some close-ups of weapon replicas from The Hobbit movie.
This close-ups are very interesting for our research. The first picture (click the photo below) shows the runic inscriptions on two Dwalin’s axes. In Angerthas Moria this inscriptions are as follows:
UMRAZ
UKhLAT
As our Special Spy reports (attention! it’s an exclusive G-i-P information!) these inscriptions are in (David Salo’s) Neo-Khuzdûl and probably mean: Grasper and Keeper (it’s a linguistic and literary pun because two Sisters Brontë’s dogs had the same names). Additional information about Dwalin’s tatoos which comes from the Spy is as follows: the tatoos are the pictorial tale about Dwarvish history, laws, customs. One of them is the famous Khuzdûl battle-cry: Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu! written with Angerthas Moria runes. The Spy told us also about Bifur’s special feature. Because of his special disability (?) he will speak only in Khuzdûl.
Another photo from ComicCon shows the details of the Orkrist blade. We can see there Elvish runes (Angerthas Daeron) and the Sindarin inscription which is as follows:
The sword’s handle is made of dragon’s (literally lŷg ‚snake’) tooth. Our Special Spy told us that Thranduil’s sword will have a lot of runic inscriptions too. We hope to find out what they are soon.
In The Hobbit movie we will find probably another language constructed specially for the films. It will be Wargs’ tongue. The chief of the Wargs, giant white wolf will comunicate with his Wargs in a simple gluttal language.
G-i-P stands for Gwaith-i-Phethdain, ‘The Fellowship of the Word-smiths’ or the linguistic website devoted to post-Tolkienian constructions in the “reconstructed” languages of Middle-earth [link].
Earl Carvalho, our friend from TheOneRing.net reports that the latest Warner Bros. movie newsletter has a Dwarvish „Word of the Month”. It’s Neo-Khuzdûl belgond ‚pledge’ (Polish ‚zastaw; gwarancja; zobowiązanie’). It’s probably a neologism adapted by David Salo that will be used somewhere in the films… something like the Dwarves’ pledge to regain their treasure and their Kingdom from Smaug.
Earl writes also about Dwalin’s tattoos: on his head, Dwalin has some tattoos that seem to resemble the Dwarven art, maybe even a kind of the runes. In addition to the tattoos on his head (which are quite easy to spot), there seem to be inscriptions on his axe as well. On the left there is an image from one of the production vlogs where you can see the axe runes.
The first one seems to be Angerthas rune <u>. The second may be <ch> (see Appendix E in The Return of the King). Maybe you can help us to decipher the rest of them and to find the meaning of Dwalin’s tatoo?
It’s the belgond of the Fellowship of the Word-smiths to find as many linguistic details in the upcoming movies as possible. Help us to write new reports and to decipher our puzzles.
G-i-P stands for Gwaith-i-Phethdain, ‘The Fellowship of the Word-smiths’ or the linguistic website devoted to post-Tolkienian constructions in the “reconstructed” languages of Middle-earth [link].
W tym roku wiosna kalendarzowa pokrywa się z tak zwaną wiosną fenologiczną. Dziś o 18.32 nasze dobroczynne Słońce, przenajjaśniejsza Anar, wkroczyło w znak Barana, a jednocześnie obserwujemy ocieplenie, zapach upływającej zimy (czyli pomieszanie zapachu wilgotnej ziemi, kurzu i zimna – w niektórych miejscach miast łączące się z wątpliwego autoramentu zapachami psich bubkosh-skai), przyspieszone bicie serc… Z fenologicznego* punktu widzenia w strefie umiarkowanej (czyli naszej, ale także w strefie, w której leżał Eriador) początek wiosny to czas tajania śniegu; kwitnienia leszczyny, wierzby iwy, przylaszczka, a wczesna wiosna łączy się z kwitnieniem mniszka lekarskiego, czeremchy zwyczajnej, z pojawieniem się liści: kasztanowca zwyczajnego, brzozy brodawkowatej. To wszystko czeka nas już wkrótce.
The 4th Production Video Blog of The Hobbit contains a short scene of what appears to be Gandalf etching his mark on Bilbo’s door. (See 05:00 in the video posted here). The image shows a bent nail at the base of Gandalf’s staff (see part of his cloak to the right), etching a rune into Bilbo’s green door. The rune is certh 19 G which, in addition to being the first sign in Gandalf’s name, is also used as his mark throughout The Lord of the Rings — e.g., labeling the firecrackers he brings for Bilbo’s birthday party, as a signature in his urgent letter to Frodo, as his secret mark on Weathertop, etc.
Readers of The Hobbit will remember that Gandalf marks Bilbo’s door in order to lead the Dwarves to Bag End: „… with the spike of his staff [he] scratched a queer sign on the hobbit’s beautiful green front-door.” The next day, when he arrives with the Dwarves, he beats „a hard rat-tat on the hobbit’s beautiful green door … with a stick” which „knock[s] out the secret mark that he had put there the morning before”. Bilbo is of course unaware of any of this, and therefore expresses some surprise and irritation at the Dwarves’ presumptuous arrival and assumptions, remarking: „I have no signs on my door—it was painted a week ago—, and I am quite sure you have come to the wrong house”. Gloin responds: remarking „I assure you there is a mark on this door—the usual one in the trade … ‘Burglar wants a good job, plenty of Excitement and reasonable Reward,’ that’s how it is usually read.”
Of course, Tolkien never provided his readers with an image of this complex mark. Rather than invent it, the filmmakers seem to have opted instead for the reasonable replacement of Gandalf’s initial.
Marc Zender
[I would like to add to this information that in fact we do know the actual sign Tolkien wanted to appear on Bilbo’s door. In J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator by Scull & Hammond, p. 99, we can find Tolkien’s sketch with the door of Bag End, with Gandalf and three mysterious signs. They seem to be Anglo-Saxon runes (used in The Hobbit for the Dwarvish script): B for Burglar, D for Danger and a sign of a jewel/diamond for Reward. See the actual inscription in our news from 2009 – here).
This is our news from January 4th, 2012. We have changed the picture: now you can see there the results of the cooperation of Marc Zender, Florian „Lothenon” Dombach and Richard „Galadhorn” Derdzinski in deciphering the runic signs. See also the comments. There are new theories there.
Elrond knew all about runes of every kind. That day he looked at the swords they had brought from the trolls’ lair, and he said: „They are not troll-make. They are old swords, very old swords of the High Elves of the West, my kin. They were made in Gondolin for the Goblin wars. (…) This, Thorin, the runes name Orcrist, the Goblin-cleaver in the ancient tongue of Gondolin; it was a famous blade.”
(The Hobbit, „A Short Rest”)
Earl Carvalho, a member of TheOneRing.net staff, has informed us about these interesting examples of the use of Tolkien’s runes in The Hobbit movie pre-production. Thanks to the publication of the Dwarves’ characters photos (see Thorin’s photo – here) we can see some interesting Cirth inscriptions on Thorin’s sword, Orcrist, and on his ring:
1. Thorin’s Ring – The ring on Thorin’s right hand seems to have the Dwarven (Angerthas Moria?) rune R on its front face. It’s difficult to determine what the runes on the other faces say (if those actually are runes), but it is possible that another rune is HW. Thorin also wears another ring on his left hand, and it seems to have some sort of design, but we cannot be certain that it works itself out to a rune.
2. Orcrist – The pommel of Thorin’s sword has the Elvish runes O R KH R I S T inscribed on it. The language is Sindarin and the script are old Elvish runes called Angerthas Daeron (we shall remember that the runes of Middle-earth were primarily the script of the Elves of Beleriand in the First Age). Let us compare this inscription with the runes from another sword found by Thorin’s Company in the trolls’ lair – Glamdring (see here).
Photo of Orcrist and Thorin’s Ring edited by Ryszard „Galadhorn” Derdzinski
G-i-P stands for Gwaith-i-Phethdain, ‘The Fellowship of the Word-smiths’ or the linguistic website devoted to post-Tolkienian constructions in the “reconstructed” languages of Middle-earth [link].
Elrond, Tauriel, and now Lindir… We find out more and more about the characters in The Hobbit movie who will speak Elvish (mainly Neo-Sindarin made by David Salo). Bret McKenzie, who unofficially played “Figwit” the Elf in The Lord of the Rings (for this fan-created name see here), spoke with ComingSoon.net about his role as Lindir in The Hobbit:
“I’ve got a cameo as an elf. Or another cameo. My character is called Lindir. I hang out with Elrond… I’ve got a few lines in Elvish.
The Gwaith, the Fellowship is very happy it will have more and more phrases to analyze! More about this story can be found at TORn (see here).
G-i-P stands for Gwaith-i-Phethdain, ‘The Fellowship of the Word-smiths’ or the linguistic website devoted to post-Tolkienian constructions in the “reconstructed” languages of Middle-earth [link].
Jak co roku (patrz lata 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) Helge Kåre Fauskanger, lingwista tolkienowski z Norwegii i autor witryny Ardalambion, z okazji Bożego Narodzenia przygotował dla nas lingwistyczną niespodziankę. W tym roku otrzymaliśmy w prezencie jego neo-quenejskie tłumaczenie całej Ewangelii według św. Marka (tutaj znajdziecie cały dokument).
Autor zwraca się do miłośników języka quenya z prośbą o wszelkie uwagi i poprawki, tak żeby można było tekst tłumaczenia skorygować. Dzięki pracy Fauskangera w chwili obecnej Nowy Testament został przełożony na neoquenya w 25 procentach. Lingwista zauważa jednak, że ponieważ jego wiedza na temat quenya ciągle się zmienia, a jego sztuczny neoquenejski conlang ciągle się rozwija, wcześniejsze przekłady (św. Mateusza i św. Jana) będą musiały przejść proces poprawek i ujednolicenia.
Let us watch and listen to Evangeline Lilly or Tauriel the Silvan Elf in the Hobbit movies. In the interview for Access Hollywood, recorded during the Real Steel premiere, she chats Laura Saltman about filming Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. So, is she worried about how J.R.R. Tolkien fans will take to her character? Plus, Evangeline speaks Sindarin! We’ve tried to decipher these phrases and here it is – the reconstruction of the Sindarin sentences which will be probably used in the Hobbit movie:
(1) Tolo hí! ‚Come down’ (or: ‚Come here’): tolo! ‚come’, sí ‚here’ (lenited hí)
(2) Lyst in saim ‚The cells are empty’: lost ’empty’, in ‚the’ (pl.), sam, pl. *saim ‚chamber, *cell’
[according to „Edhelharn” Lilly actually says Tolo hi! (si < hi ‚now’, cf. edro hi ammen) and Lyst i saim (i < in ‚the pl.’, cf. Echad i Sedryn).]
Evangeline Lilly, who played the role of Kate Austen on Lost, is now living in New Zealand for the duration of Peter Jackson’s dual Hobbit shoots, playing a newly-created character not from the books – Tauriel the Silvan Elf from Mirkwood. In an interview in the SFX magazine Evangeline answered few questions concerning the movie:
Now you’re in New Zealand filming The Hobbit with Peter Jackson. It’s a long commitment which would make some actors balk. Was that a concern?
I will be in and out of New Zealand for the course of a year. It worked out well. For a lot of actors, being that tied down would be problematic for their careers because they wouldn’t have the freedom to take any other part in the meantime. For me it’s perfect because I want to have time to spend with my family and relax and focus on my writing. This role gives me a framework within which to do that because I’m not working all the time but I’m working enough. When you’re not working at all, you get lost in space and time and don’t accomplish anything. It’s a flexible work environment and I don’t have to be estranged from my family.
When you played Kate you were always doing physical scenes and stunts. How are you prepping for The Hobbit?
With every film, you have to educate yourself on the material and it’s often things you don’t know a lot about. Right now I’m studying Elvish and having conversations with people about learning how to be an archer, a swordsperson and how to fight like an elf instead of a gritty convict. [Laughs]
Did you have any reservations about joining The Hobbit cast?
With The Hobbit, it was a no-brainer because I have been a fan of those books since I was 13-years-old.
During last Geek Kon at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which was held on September 9 to 11, there were three Tolkien-related events, all involving David Salo, an expert on the JRR Tolkien’s invented languages. David’s main contribution to the study of the languages of Middle-earth has been the book A Gateway to Sindarin (see cover on the left). He also was employed as the “Tolkien linguist” for Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. As we have already analized it on the G-i-P website, he translated phrases and passages from the script into various Middle-earth languages, primarily Sindarin („Elvish”). David also devised passages in Khuzdul (the secret language of the dwarves), including choral portions in the musical score for the scenes in Moria. David also translated the phrases seen engraved on the swords and other armaments, and he recorded readings of his translations for the language coaches to use in training the actors.
And here we have a great news! We are delighted to know that David Salo is currently performing the same tasks for The Hobbit!
Thanks to Earl Carvalho, our friend from TORn, we know that it’s a movie replica, not the actual design of the movie prop! Folks from Badali Jewelry gave a sneak peek at one of the first items in their newly licensed The Hobbit line of jewelry: Thror’s Key!
Jak co roku (patrz lata 
During last Geek Kon at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which was held on September 9 to 11, there were three Tolkien-related events, all involving David Salo, an expert on the JRR Tolkien’s invented languages. David’s main contribution to the study of the languages of Middle-earth has been the book