The accents above the last letter of many of Tolkien's names indicates that the letter is to be pronounced as its own syllable. Such as in Aulë, which is "OWL-eh". Short E sound as in "effort". In names like Fëanor the accents represent much the same thing; the ëa combination is not diphthongal, as in "eat", but rather two distinct vowel syllables, "FEH-ah-nor".
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