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'''Dorothy 196?''' is an alleged [[Letters not published in "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien"|letter]] from [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] to a certain miss Dorothy written "years before" [[1968]].
'''Dorothy 196?''' is an alleged [[Letters not published in "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien"|letter]] from [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] to a certain miss Dorothy written "years before" [[1968]].


*'''Authenticity:''' Debatable
*'''Authenticity:''' "...most likely genuine. If it isn't, it is a particularly well-informed and elaborate hoax" - [[Carl F. Hostetter]]<ref name="Carl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/elfling/message/6616</ref>.
*'''Publication:''' Only one [[Quenya]] sentence known.
*'''Publication:''' Only one [[Quenya]] sentence published in mailing lists.


== Comment and Excerpt ==
== Comment and Excerpt ==
Dorothy had sent [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] a letter asking him how to say "Merry Christmas" in [[Elvish]]; Tolkien replied that the [[Elves]] did not celebrate Christmas but they had a general greeting ''*[[mer-|Merin]] [[sa]] [[harya-|harya]]lye [[alasse]]'' ""I hope that you have happiness" (adding in a case for a mortal: ''[[nó]] [[vanya-|vanya]]lye [[Ambar]]ello'' "before you pass from the world").
Dorothy had sent [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] a letter asking him how to say "Merry Christmas" in [[Elvish]]; Tolkien replied that the [[Elves]] did not celebrate Christmas but they had a generic wish: ''[[mer-|Meri[n]]] [[sa]] [[harya-|harya]]lye [[alasse]]'' "I hope that you have happiness" (adding in a case of a mortal: ''[[nó]] [[vanya-|vanya]]lye [[Ambar]]ello'' "before you pass from the world").


==Legacy==
==Legacy==
In a letter dated [[October 14]] [[1968]] Dorothy mentioned Tolkien's letter to her to one Miss Dawson, with whom they shared love for Tolkien's work.
In a letter dated [[14 October|October 14]] [[1968]] Dorothy mentioned Tolkien's letter and the Elvish phrase to a Ms Dawson with whom they shared love for Tolkien's work. In her letter, she transcribed the first word as ''Meriu''.
 
On [[1 April|April 1]] [[1999]], Dawson's son, Michael sent a mail to the [[Tolkien Mailing List]] inquiring the identity of his mother's friend. He asked whether such a letter by Tolkien has been published in [[Humphrey Carpenter]]'s "''[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]]''" so that he would identify and trace that Dorothy. Nobody could help Michael Dawson identify Dorothy, since the letter had never been published.
===Significance and authenticity===
Linguists of [[Tolklang]] and [[Elfling]] considered the Elvish sentence another piece of the "Quenya puzzle"; most importantly, the previously unknown words ''sa'' "that" (introducing a secondary sentence) and ''nó'' "before". They also corrected the first word ''meriu'' as a misread ''merin'': u and n tended to look identical in Tolkien's handwriting, and the word was supposed to be a verb in [[Quenya#Pronouns|1st person singular]].
 
The Quenya sentence, known as "Merin Sentence", has been critically analyzed in publications such as [[Tyalië Tyelelliéva 14|''Tyalië Tyelelliéva'' 14]] by [[Lisa Star]].
 
Some of the oddities concerning the phrase were that Michael Dawson sent his mail on April 1st ([[Wikipedia:Fool's Day|Fool's Day]]), and afterwards nobody could contact him<ref name="Helge">[http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf/less-d.rtf Lesson 20]</ref>. [[Carl F. Hostetter]] and [[Christopher Tolkien]] (who was forwarded Dawson's mail by Hostetter) said that they had not encountered these 'new' words as such in any of Tolkien's unpublished papers.<ref name="Carl"/>
 
It is of note that the vocabulary of the sentence fits ''[[The Etymologies]]'' suggesting that the letter to Dorothy was not written later than the ''[[Lord of the Rings]]''<ref name="Helge"/>. In later publications, the word ''sa'' has been seen again in a text as "that"<ref>{{VT|49}} p.18</ref> but the word ''nó'' was given as "but".<ref>{{VT|41}}</ref>
{{references}}


On [[April 1]] [[1999]], Dawson's son, Michael sent a mail to the [[Tolkien Mailing List]] mentioning that he is inquiring about Dorothy's full name and date of that letter, and for that reason he asked whether that particular letter has been published in "''[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]]''"
==External links==
==External links==
*[http://tolklang.quettar.org/messages/Vol34/34.99 An excerpt of Michael Dawson's mail] in [[Tolklang]] mailing list.
*[http://tolklang.quettar.org/messages/Vol34/34.99 An excerpt of Michael Dawson's mail] forwarded to [[Tolklang]] mailing list.
*[http://tolklang.quettar.org/messages/Vol35/35.02 Analysis] of the Quenya phrase by [[Helge Fauskanger]]
*[http://tolklang.quettar.org/messages/Vol35/35.02 Analysis] of the Quenya sentence by [[Helge Fauskanger]]
*[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/elfling/message/569 Analysis] by [[David Salo]] on [[Elfling]] mailing list
*[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/elfling/message/569 Analysis] by [[David Salo]] on [[Elfling]] mailing list
*[http://www.elvish.org/elm/merin.html Info on the "merin sentence"]
*[http://www.elvish.org/elm/merin.html Info on the "merin sentence"]
[[CATEGORY:Letters]]
[[Category:Letters]]
[[Category:Internet]]

Revision as of 00:44, 2 December 2013

Dorothy 196? is an alleged letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to a certain miss Dorothy written "years before" 1968.

  • Authenticity: "...most likely genuine. If it isn't, it is a particularly well-informed and elaborate hoax" - Carl F. Hostetter[1].
  • Publication: Only one Quenya sentence published in mailing lists.

Comment and Excerpt

Dorothy had sent J.R.R. Tolkien a letter asking him how to say "Merry Christmas" in Elvish; Tolkien replied that the Elves did not celebrate Christmas but they had a generic wish: Meri[n] sa haryalye alasse "I hope that you have happiness" (adding in a case of a mortal: nó vanyalye Ambarello "before you pass from the world").

Legacy

In a letter dated October 14 1968 Dorothy mentioned Tolkien's letter and the Elvish phrase to a Ms Dawson with whom they shared love for Tolkien's work. In her letter, she transcribed the first word as Meriu.

On April 1 1999, Dawson's son, Michael sent a mail to the Tolkien Mailing List inquiring the identity of his mother's friend. He asked whether such a letter by Tolkien has been published in Humphrey Carpenter's "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien" so that he would identify and trace that Dorothy. Nobody could help Michael Dawson identify Dorothy, since the letter had never been published.

Significance and authenticity

Linguists of Tolklang and Elfling considered the Elvish sentence another piece of the "Quenya puzzle"; most importantly, the previously unknown words sa "that" (introducing a secondary sentence) and nó "before". They also corrected the first word meriu as a misread merin: u and n tended to look identical in Tolkien's handwriting, and the word was supposed to be a verb in 1st person singular.

The Quenya sentence, known as "Merin Sentence", has been critically analyzed in publications such as Tyalië Tyelelliéva 14 by Lisa Star.

Some of the oddities concerning the phrase were that Michael Dawson sent his mail on April 1st (Fool's Day), and afterwards nobody could contact him[2]. Carl F. Hostetter and Christopher Tolkien (who was forwarded Dawson's mail by Hostetter) said that they had not encountered these 'new' words as such in any of Tolkien's unpublished papers.[1]

It is of note that the vocabulary of the sentence fits The Etymologies suggesting that the letter to Dorothy was not written later than the Lord of the Rings[2]. In later publications, the word sa has been seen again in a text as "that"[3] but the word nó was given as "but".[4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/elfling/message/6616
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lesson 20
  3. ↑ Vinyar Tengwar, Number 49, June 2007 p.18
  4. ↑ Vinyar Tengwar, Number 41, July 2000

External links

Retrieved from "https://tolkiengateway.net/w/index.php?title=Letter_to_Dorothy&oldid=236118"