Fantasy writers and readers, linguists, world-builders and
people who just enjoy Peter Jackson movies all have cause for celebration: it’s
the 121st anniversary of the birth of JRR Tolkien. The 1937
publication of The Hobbit forever changed popular culture and vocabulary of
fantasy fiction. My life was forever changed hen I received The Hobbit and The
Lord of the Rings as a ninth birthday present, scary stuff for a kid. The
paperback volumes were the 1960s Ballantine editions, with covers by Barbara
Remington.
On crisp day this past autumn, I was taking photographs on
the beach and in the decades-derelict military buildings at Fort Tilden, a
decommissioned military base, now national parkland. In an old ammunitions bunker, with a
crumbling roof and mud floors, with still-visible tracks, the few intact walls
were covered with graffiti, which I expected.
What I didn’t expect was graffiti in elvish writing; someone with a
spray can and fairly obscure knowledge had gone to the bother of sneaking in
after park closing and leaving a message few could read.
The Internet is brilliant for this sort of thing. Is there anyone who could translate this? If you know anyone
who might be able to, please pass it on. It seems a fitting to decipher the message on Mr. Tolkien’s
birthday.
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