Tapestry of Dreams, Part 2 Discussion

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

The use of language is a critical element in LotR. I tried to encourage us, in our attempt to be canonical, to use language that was as simple as possible, as a way of being true to Tolkien who used almost all Anglo-Saxon based word choice in LotR.

On a similar, but not identical note...

I'd like to take a little umbrage at your use of "Translation" thus far. And I mean it as inoffensively as possible.

Specifically, I'm referring to the incidents with Raefindan, where he starts recognizing connections between Rohirric and his own "home" language- English. Such as when he decides there's a real connection between "Edgar" and "Ædegard".

The thing here is that if we accept that English is merely used in lieu of Westron, then we have to accept that Anglo-Saxon is merely used in lieu of Rohirric. Therefore, it CANNOT be possible, as presented, for Raefindan to hear the phonetic and linguistic connections between Ædegard and Edgar, because Ædegard is merely a substitution for the "real" Rohirric name- which might likely have the same meaning, but which certainly wouldn't have a discernable phonetic similarity that Raefindan could recognize.

Similarily, I'm a little bit queasy about Raefindan's use of words that Mellonin, Aeron, and others don't understand. While it is entirely possible for bits of English to slip into his speech, with English being used as a translation for Westron, it really blurs the lines of what is translation and what is real English.

I bring this up purely because LMP has started off on language. It's an issue that gave me a few twitches in my cheek when reading the story. And it's a really minor issue- but if you want to be as canonical as possible, one has to remember the Translator's Conceit.

Do I even make sense?