Letters from Middle Earth

[Maciliel]

Hi folks - I usually post over at SF-fandom, where the original of this thread is posted. afro-elf suggested that I post it over here too, so I'm putting up the opening post and a couple of other posts that I made to it. The original thread at SF-Fandom has gotten quite long and is filled with fascinating letters and other documents contributed by very talented people indeed. Go here for more:
http://www.sf-fandom.com/vbulletin/s...s=&threadid=77

Dear Friends,

As some of you already know, I recently came into possession of a trunk full of old letters – some seeming to be originals, while others appear to be painstakingly transcribed and already quite old copies of very ancient documents. While all such antiquities are of inestimable value, what I hope will be of interest to you is that these are written in Quenyan, Sindarin, Dwarvish, Westron and Rohirric, as well as less used or less-known languages and dialects of Middle Earth. There are even some that appear to be in the tongues of Khand and the Harads. The pages are covered in Tengwar, the Cirth and even some, much to my amazement, in Sarati. As I am busy with the demands of work, family and my own on-going project of transcribing a collection of family papers to disk, I am writing to ask if you would be interested in helping me translate these priceless missives.

It appears the letters were written over the course of the first four ages of Middle Earth and by a large collection of people. They cover quite a range of matters - from mundane daily business to heart-wrenching declarations of love written on the eve of battle, from amusing accounts of parties and endearing recollections of family events to important documents of state. There seem to be several series of on-going correspondence, the contributions of both parties included. In some cases there are letters from several people regarding an event, situation or other topic. I’ve tried my hand at translating a few of them (see below), but as you know, my time is limited.

While I know you have your own busy lives to lead, it is my hope that this endeavor might prove an interesting diversion for dreary February evenings or at such times that you find yourself free of care, yet wanting some intriguing pursuit to occupy your mind. And while there is no rush, I will wait with eager expectation to see what light your efforts may shed upon the contents of this trunk, thereby furthering our knowledge of Middle Earth.

Most sincerely,
Maciliel

P.S. Please take note that inaccuracies, oddities, anachronisms, discrepancies or peculiarities of any sort that occur in any of the translations are most likely attributable to the difficulties involved in deciphering such ancient manuscripts. You see, so many of them are so faded and fragile -- the inks are deteriorating and the parchments, vellums and papers crumble and deteriorate with even the most careful handling. And of course, there may be errors in the aged facsimiles of even older originals. I am sure however, that if anyone does notice information that seems problematic, they will let the translator know so they can take another look at the manuscript.

P.P.S. I would like to thank Dixieberry for her help with putting the documents into plastic archival sleeves. It was quite a delicate and time consuming endeavor that went much more quickly and enjoyably thanks to her capable assistance.