David I. Salo is a

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

who worked on the languages of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

for the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, expanding the Elvish languages (particularly Sindarin) by building on vocabulary already known from published works, and defining some languages that previously had a very small published vocabulary. In 2003, when still a graduate student in

linguistics Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure ...

at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

, he provided the Elvish language translations for Peter Jackson's film trilogy. In 2004 he published the well-reviewed book ''A Gateway to Sindarin''.

Salo on Tolkien's languages

Enthusiast

Salo's interest in Tolkien's languages arose when he read Tolkien's works as a boy. As an

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

Macalester College Macalester College () is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 2,174 students in the fall of 2018 from 50 U.S. states, four U.S te ...

he studied Latin, Greek, and linguistics, and used the knowledge gained to improve his understanding of Tolkien's languages. In 1998 he was among the founders of the Elfling mailing list for Tolkienist language enthusiasts. In 2004 he published a linguistic analysis of Sindarin: ''A Gateway to Sindarin: A Grammar of an Elvish language from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings'' (). This book was reviewed in 2006 in volume 3 of the journal ''

Tolkien Studies ''Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review'' is an academic journal publishing papers on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. The journal's founding editors are Douglas A. Anderson, Michael D. C. Drout, and Verlyn Flieger, and the current editors a ...

'', and it was further reviewed in the context of Tolkienian linguistics as a whole in volume 4 of ''

'' (2007).

Film language consultant

Salo was contracted for The ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy to write all the material in Elvish, Dwarvish, and other languages for the films, as well as to assist with other language-related items such as the

Tengwar The Tengwar script is an artificial script, one of several scripts created by J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of ''The Lord of the Rings''. Within the fictional context of Middle-earth, the Tengwar were invented by the Elf Fëanor, and use ...

and Cirth inscriptions which appear in the films. Salo also translated the lyrics for the films' soundtracks: many of these are sung in Sindarin in Howard Shore's long and innovative music score for the film series. Subsequently, Salo provided similar services as the Tolkien language consultant for ''The Hobbit'' film series.

References

External links

Salo's former Midgardsmal language blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salo, David 1969 births Linguists from the United States Constructed language creators Living people University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Tolkien linguistic studies Tolkien studies