2023-08-03

As runas anglo-saxãs segundo Tolkien (1943) | The Anglo-Saxon runes according to Tolkien (1943)

 Em 3 de agosto de 1943 J.R.R. Tolkien escreveu a duas jovens fãs d'O Hobbit (Leila Keane e Pat Kirke) que lhe haviam perguntado sobre as runas que aparecem naquele livro. Além de textos no idioma anglo-saxão - escrito em letras tradicionais e modernas - e em tengwar, ele lhes mandou uma tabela dando o valor e o significado de cada runa. Esta tabela está transcrita aqui - e publicada em meu blog exatamente 80 anos depois que foi enviada.


On 3 August 1943 J.R.R. Tolkien wrote to two young fans of The Hobbit (Leila Keane and Pat Kirke) who had asked him about the runes that appear in that book. In addition to texts in the Anglo-Saxon language - written in traditional and modern letters - and in tengwar, he sent them a table giving the value and meaning of each rune. This table is transcribed here - and published on my blog exactly 80 years after having been sent.





2023-07-28

Referência para os Álbuns de Tintim | Reference for the Tintin Albums

 


A Canonical Reference for the Tintin Albums

Ronald Kyrmse
kyrmse@gmail.com
2023-07

 This proposal could have been in French, for the Tintin albums were originally written in that language. However, since English has become “canonical” on the Web, this may be the way to reach a wider audience, including Francophones: maybe not too heavy a sacrifice.

 Tintinology may well be classed with the sciences, even though it may be debatable whether under Art Criticism (for which the mention of the term ligne claire for Hergé’s drawing style should suffice), under Sociology or under (an)other discipline(s). No matter what, it is clear that there exists the need for a concise notation in order to enable reference to the various works. Holmesians (who are called Sherlockians in America) refer to “their” 56 short stories and 4 novels (and to some apocryphal material) by standard four-letter abbreviations: thus HOUN is The Hound of the Baskervilles, SCAN is A Scandal in Bohemia and REDH is The Red-Headed League.

 Should we employ a simple numbering scheme, from 1 to 24, for the canonical albums? This has the advantage of extreme conciseness and internationality. Something may also be said for letters running from A to X. This presents the fortuitous advantage that the “unknown” letter X will stand for the incomplete Alph-Art album.

 In favour of abbreviations it can be said that they have a more mnemonic character. Those who use them will not be obliged to have resource to memory or to a list of albums to find their references with ease. In this proposal, they should be derived from the first significant word (noun, adjective, verb), always excluding such components of the title as Tintin and pays (and its translations) – just as Holmesians do not include the word Adventure in their abbreviations.

 They should, then, be two- or three-letter abbreviations, since four letters seem to be above the requirements for a mere 24 albums. I here propose three, since two would from the very start cause conflicts among COngo and COke, OReille and OR noir, SEcret and SEpt. I try to avoid subterfuges like CN × CK, OR × ON, SE × 7B in these cases. The same argument, then, applies to other languages. In the attached table I give – in addition to the original French – proposals for English, German and my native language, Brazilian Portuguese. It should be noted that even the adoption of three-letter abbreviations does not guarantee the absence of conflicts – these have been solved ad hoc. Examples are BLack Island × BLack Gold and REd Rackham × REd Sea. An examination of the German abbreviations will show that even further compromises – some debatable – were necessary due to syntactic considerations (and KÖN might be written as KOE if confusion with KON is feared).

 I propose to notate album, page and frame as in the following examples, using commas to divide numerical information:

 

Character

First appears

Name first mentioned

 

Archibald Haddock

CRA 14,9
9,14,9

CRA 43,5
9,43,5

Tryphon Tournesol /
Cuthbert Calculus

TRE 5,6
12,5,6

TRE 5,13
12,5,13

Dupond et Dupont /
Thompson & Thomson

CON 1,1
2,1,1

CIG 5,13
4,5,13

 Here are some more instances, illustrating the use of C for the cover, T for the title page, and subscript year numbers for historically different versions:

 

 

Appears on…

 

Syldavian mountains through the legs of the Moon rocket

OBJ C
16 C




Black Gold in Arabic

ORN C
15 C




A culprit

BIJ T
21 T




Tintin escorted by kilted British soldiers; Elegant in Yiddish

ORN48 16,5
1548,16,5




Tintin escorted by Khemkhâh soldiers

ORN71 16,5
1571,16,5





Table of Canonical Abbreviations for Tintin Albums

 

Album No.

French

English

German

Portuguese (Brazil)

 

1

SOV
Tintin au pays des Soviets

SOV
Tintin in the Land of the Soviets

SOW
Tim im Lande der Sowjets

SOV
Tintim no País dos Sovietes

2

CON
Tintin au Congo

CON
Tintin in the Congo

KON
Tim im Kongo

CON
Tintim no Congo

3

AME
Tintin en Amérique

AME
Tintin in America

AME
Tim in Amerika

AME
Tintim na América

4

CIG
Les Cigares du pharaon

CIG
Cigars of the Pharaoh

ZIG
Die Zigarren des Pharaos

CHA
Os Charutos do Faraó

5

LOT
Le Lotus bleu

BLU
The Blue Lotus

BLA
Der Blaue Lotos

LOT
O Lótus Azul

6

ORE
L'Oreille cassée

BRO
The Broken Ear

ARU
Der Arumbaya-Fetisch

IDO
O Ídolo Roubado

7

ILE
L'Île Noire

BLI
The Black Island

INS
Die Schwarze Insel

ILH
A Ilha Negra

8

SCE
Le Sceptre d'Ottokar

KIN
King Ottokar's Sceptre

KÖN
König Ottokars Zepter

CET
O Cetro de Ottokar

9

CRA
Le Crabe aux pinces d'or

CRA
The Crab with the Golden Claws

KRA
Die Krabbe mit den goldenen Scheren

CAR
O Caranguejo das Pinças de Ouro

10

ETO
L'Étoile mystérieuse

SHO
The Shooting Star

STE
Der geheimnisvolle Stern

EST
A Estrela Misteriosa

11

SEC
Le Secret de La Licorne

SEC
The Secret of the Unicorn

EIN
Das Geheimnis der „Einhorn“

SEG
O Segredo do Licorne

12

TRE
Le Trésor de Rackham le Rouge

RER
Red Rackham's Treasure

RAC
Der Schatz Rackhams des Roten

TES
O Tesouro de Rackham, o Terrível

13

SEP
Les Sept Boules de cristal

SEV
The Seven Crystal Balls

SIE
Die sieben Kristallkugeln

SET
As 7 Bolas de Cristal

14

TEM
Le Temple du Soleil

PRI
Prisoners of the Sun

SON
Der Sonnentempel

TEM
O Templo do Sol

15

ORN
Tintin au pays de l'or noir

BLG
Land of Black Gold

GOL
Im Reiche des Schwarzen Goldes

OUR
Tintim no País do Ouro Negro

16

OBJ
Objectif Lune

DES
Destination Moon

REI
Reiseziel Mond

RUM
Rumo à Lua

17

MAR
On a marché sur la Lune

EXP
Explorers on the Moon

MON
Schritte auf dem Mond

EXP
Explorando a Lua

18

AFF
L'Affaire Tournesol

CAL
The Calculus Affair

FAL
Der Fall Bienlein

CAS
O Caso Girassol

19

COK
Coke en stock

RES
The Red Sea Sharks

KOH
Kohle an Bord

PER
Perdidos no Mar

20

TIB
Tintin au Tibet

TIB
Tintin in Tibet

TIB
Tim in Tibet

TIB
Tintim no Tibete

21

BIJ
Les Bijoux de la Castafiore

CAS
The Castafiore Emerald

JUW
Die Juwelen der Sängerin

JOI
As Joias da Castafiore

22

VOL
Vol 714 pour Sydney

FLI
Flight 714

FLU
Flug 714 nach Sydney

VOO
Voo 714 para Sydney

23

PIC
Tintin et les Picaros

PIC
Tintin and the Picaros

PIC
Tim und die Picaros

PIC
Tintim e os Pícaros

24

ALP
Tintin et l'Alph-Art

ALP
Tintin and Alph-Art

ALP
Tim und die Alphakunst

ALF
Tintim e a Alfa-Arte

Brazilian Portuguese titles are by Companhia das Letras; previous editions have divergent titles:
5 – O Loto Azul (Flamboyant, Record)
6 – A Orelha Quebrada
8 – O Cetro de Otokar (Flamboyant, Record)
9 – O Caranguejo das Tenazes de Ouro (Flamboyant, Record)
12 – O Tesouro de Rackham o Terrível (Flamboyant, Record)
19 – Carvão no Porão
22 – Vôo 714 para Sidnei (Record)
23 – Tintim e os Tímpanos (Record)