Parma Eldalamberon 18: Tengwesta Qenderinwa & Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets, Part 2

The Tengwesta Qenderinwa is a grammar of the Primitive Quendian language, which Tolkien imagined to be the common ancestor of the various Elven-tongues spoken in Middle-earth, such as Quenya, Noldorin, Lemberin and Pereldarin. The earliest version was composed in the late 1930s around the same time as “The Etymologies.” The Tengwesta Qenderinwa describes the grammatical rules for the structure of these bases and the derivation of primitive stems and words from them. It gives an “Account of the Simple Component Sounds”; and has sections on “Base-structure”; “Combination of Sounds in Word-formation”; “Suffixion”; and “Accentuation.” There is also an introductory section on the “Descent of Tongues” that outlines the historical divisions of the various Elven-kindreds and the languages they spoke, all descended from Primitive Quendian. Tolkien revised the Tengwesta Qenderinwa in the early 1950s. Both versions are presented, with an editorial analysis of the revisions between the 1930s and 1950s.

The Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets is an edition of Tolkien’s charts and notes from about 1924 to 1929 dealing with the scripts that conceptually precede the Fëanorian Tengwar eventually included in The Lord of the Rings. “Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets, Part II,” describes the alphabets called Qenyatic, Andyoqenya and Angloquenya, in modes which were designed for writing English. Tolkien’s examples of the scripts are reproduced in fascimile. Transcriptions of the examples and editorial commentary on the dating and historical background are provided.