Science has found Earendil!
 

He's 12.9 billion light-years away, is made exclusively of hydrogen and helium, and (relativity being what it is) exploded 12.9 billion years ago.

WHL0137-LS, AKA Earendel

"[The newly-discovered star] has the wonderful name of Earendel, and that's actually from Tolkien." - Michelle Thaller, NASA astronomer

For bonus points, that second link shows Thaller's Tengwar tattoo (described by the clueless reporter as "writing in the elvish language that Tolkien created for works like The Silmarillion") It's not obviously the Ring Inscription, so anyone care to hazard a transliteration/translation?

hS

- Is that a Silmaril that shines now in the West?
- No, dolt, that's an airplane!

So I won't be able to make this joke anymore, huh?


Well, I tried. I discovered something in the process, and that is Google Images is not to be trusted with a reliable tengwar alphabet transliterator.

And I got... *drumroll*... nonsense:


RISRYIDANSNITNEIWNRUNR... (it looks like it might be continuing underneath the sleeve, and maybe the last letter is not R either). I won't swear by the vowels, it's hard to say exactly where the little apostrophe is pointing. But make of this what you will. :/

Right?! I've just tried it myself, and got:

risrwobansnoptheohnurn[r]

I mean... it could have 'the oh Nurn' in, but why would you write that?!

It has to be a classic mode, not a complete mode a la the Mode of Beleriand, because of that very clear A-tehta over the ando or umbar seven characters in. And I've tried interpreting it as literally typing in a Tengwar font (seen that before), but the really obvious numen - silme - numen in the middle comes out as 585 or 5*5, depending on font. Maybe she tattooed her password on there?

hS

It's Earendil's coordinates. Gotta be.


...


Seriously, if we had the chance to interview this woman who has literally seen the edges of the known universe, what are the chances that the first question would be about the tattoo? Priorities, priorities... :D :rolleyes:

:eek: Ooookay I just googled it, and there is much more to that tattoo! It goes allllll the way up one arm and down the other.

See her explanation, where she states that it's a Sindarin translation of the first verse of Elton John's The One:

I saw you dancin' out the ocean
Runnin' fast along the sand
A spirit born of earth and water
Fire flyin' from your hands

The first link also has a pic of the original calligraphed version, which begins:

I sor yu dansin oot the oosun
runin fast along the and
a spirit bor of urth and worat...

^_^ That's not Sindarin.

(This isn't even the first time I've discovered someone's late beloved told her they'd written a message in an Elvish language but actually used English... how does that happen twice?!)

hS