Off the top of my head, it seems to me that everyone in ME speaks a common
tongue -- eagles, spiders, trolls, goblins, dwarves, hobbits, elves. I
can't think of anything in a different language except the writing on the
swords which Elrond translates.
I am reminded of Star Trek and other science fiction shows where everyone can
understand each other. I am thinking about "why?" It seems that the
stories aren't about overcoming language difference but overcoming other
differences and the language barrier would only cloud these differences.
In some ways, I think this is a Western and somewhat simplistic view of the
world. It suggests that if we could only get past the language
differences, we could understand each other. But language is part of a
culture which permeates our perception of the world at a very deep level.
In some ways, JRRT refers to these differences in the polite forms of address
of each culture (e.g., "at your service" and the way Gandalf knew the proper
response to the eagles).
Well, now I'm rambling, but I a trying to think about the
"why?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Letter 27: I picture a fairly human figure, not a kind of ‘fairy’ rabbit as some of my British reviewers seem to fancy: fattish in the stomach, shortish in the leg. A round, jovial face; ears only slightly pointed and ‘elvish’; hair short . . .’
