[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Mithadan

This thread is a combination of good detective work and logic coupled with necessary speculation. An alternative to struggling to determine if, how and when Earendil became fluent in Mannish tongues, Occam's Razor may provide an alternative.

Earendil hoped to deliver an appeal for aid against Morgoth on behalf of both Elves and Men to the Valar. He planned to deliver the appeal, if he was allowed to present it, in the languages of both races. He does not need to become fluent in the Mannish tongues. He only must deliver the message. To do so, he needs to learn only enough to make his entreaty or he could simply memorize (or even write down and read) the messages.

Okay, now I'm imagining him dropping his note cards in the Ring of Doom, and all the Valar watching as he scrabbles to put them back in the right order.

The thing about the appeal being a prepared script is... why stop at those languages? Even if Haladin is entirely extinct (which presupposes that nobody who ever had to deal with That Lot In Brethil made it out of Doriath), the Druedain are attested at the Havens. There are Nandor originally from Ossiriand hanging around. There's probably even a scholar who speaks rudimentary Khuzdul. If the appeal was prepared, then Earendil made a conscious decision to appeal on behalf of the Noldor, the Sindar, two of the three houses of the Edain, and no-one else. It seems a little harsh, right?

Of course the whole question is moot - I missed Tolkien's explanation right above the quote I started with:

Originally Posted by HoME XII - The Problem of Ros

In the havens of refuge, when Morgoth's conquest was all but complete, there were several tongues to be heard. Not only the Sindarin, which was chiefly used, but also its Northern dialect; and among the Men of the Atani some still used their Mannish speeches; and of all these Earendil had some knowledge.

So Earendil learnt all four languages from his neighbours, case closed.

So why didn't he use North Sindarin as well as Doriathrin? Well, according to a note on why Thingol despised Beren's accent:

Originally Posted by HoME XII - The Problem of Ros

He [Thingol] had small love for the Northern Sindar who had in regions near to Angband come under the dominion of Morgoth, and were accused of sometimes entering his service and providing him with spies. The Sindarin used by the Sons of Feanor also was of the Northern dialect; and they were hated in Doriath.

Which a) shows Thingol to be even more racist than I already knew, b) makes it all the funnier that Doriathrin was the first of the three Sindarin dialects to die out, and c) explains why Earendil didn't use North Sindarin - they probably weren't spies, but just in case, it's probably best to leave them out of it, eh?

hS