Ósanwe-kenta

From Tolkien Gateway

The Ósanwe-kenta, or "Enquiry into the Communication of Thought", is a summary by an unnamed editor of a longer treatise by Pengolodh of Gondolin.

The subject-matter is sanwe-latya (Quenya for "thought-opening", but better translated as "telepathy"). Pengolodh included it as an appendix to the Lhammas because of the implications of tengwesta ("grammar, language") on thought-transmission, i.e. with the development of language, telepathy became more difficult and all but fell out of use among the "incarnated" (those beings with hröa).

True-life history[edit | edit source]

The essay was written in c. 1959-60 by J.R.R. Tolkien as a typescript of eight pages, separately paginated, numbered 1-8, and appended to the major work Quendi and Eldar. The existence of this essay was revealed by Christopher Tolkien in Morgoth's Ring[1], published in 1993. It was published and edited by Carl F. Hostetter for the first time in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 39, July 1998. From the same editor, the essay was later included as a chapter of The Nature of Middle-earth (2021)[2]. A related and short manuscript, "Etymological Notes on the Ósanwe-kenta", was published in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 41, July 2000. This latest essay is mostly a list of linguistic roots.

External links[edit | edit source]


References

  1. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Five. Myths Transformed", "[Text] X", p.415
  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part Two. Body, Mind and Spirit: IX. Ósanwe-kenta", pp. 205-216