Letter 230

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Letter 230
Recipient	Rhona Beare
Date	8 June 1961
Subject(s)	Aragorn, Languages

Letter 230 is a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien and published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Summary

Rhona Beare had a number of questions about the first two volumes of The Lord of the Rings which Tolkien answered:

• Aragorn's boast that he was of Númenor "unmingled" referred to his paternal line of ancestry.

• Treebeard was using ancient Elvish in an Entish fashion in his songs, not Entish sounds. Tolkien listed the elements of his songs with translations.

• Mae govannen meant "well met."

• Treebeard's greeting to Celeborn and Galadriel meant "O beautiful ones, parents of beautiful children."

• Tolkien translated lines 2, 4, 6, 7, and 9 of the song of praise in "The Field of Cormallen".

See also

• Letter to Rhona Beare (8 June 1961) (the letter in its original)