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      ⸱           ⸱          ⁊         ⁊                  ⸱     ⁊  ⁊                        ⁊      ⸱   ⸱ ⁊       :            ⁊         ⸱        :                ⸱              
Ealle sǽ on worulde hí oferlidon, sohton hí nyston hwæt ac ǽfre wolde hyra heorte westweard, forðamðe hí ofhyngrede wurdon ðære undéadlican blisse ðære Eldalie 7 swa hyra wuldor wéox swa ǽfre hyra langung 7 hyra unstilnes wurdon ðe má ætiht....... þá forbudon ða Eldan him on Eresse úp to cumanne, forðam hí mennisce wǽron 7 déadlice 7 þéahþe ða Wealdend him langes lífes úðon ne mihton hí alýsan hí of ðære woruldméðnesse ðe on ealle men ǽr ðam ende færeð 7 hí swulton efne hyra héacyningas, Éarendles yrfenuman, 7 hyra líffæc þúhte ðam Eldum scort. Forðon hit swá gefyrn arǽdde se Ælmihtiga ðæt hí steorfan sceoldon 7 þás woruld ofgyfan ....... ac hí ongunnon murcnian, sægdon ðæt þis forbod him unryht þuhte. Þonne on dígle asendon hí scéaweras on Avallon ða dyrnan láre ðara Eldena to asméaganne; ne fundon ðeah nawðer ne rúne ne rǽd ðe him to bóte wǽron .......
All the seas in the world they sailed, seeking they knew not what; but their hearts were turned ever westward, for they were become greatly desirous of the undying bliss of the Eldalie, and as their power and glory grew so was their longing and their unquiet ever the more increased ....... Then the Eldar forbade them to land on Eresse, for they were of human kindred and mortal; and albeit the Powers had granted them long life, they could not release them from the weariness of the world that comes upon all men ere the end, and they died, even their high-kings, descendants of Éarendel; and their life-span seemed short to the Eldar. For thus had the Almighty ordained it, that they should die and leave this world ....... But they began to murmur, saying that this prohibition seemed to them unjust. Then they sent out in secret spies to Avallon to explore the hidden knowledge of the Eldar; but they discovered neither lore nor counsel that was of any avail to them .......
                 ⁊     ⁊  ⁊       ⸱                      ⁊          :                ⸱                 ⁊         ⸱     ⸱     :            ⁊         ⁊   ⸱       ⁊   ⁊                         ⸱       ⁊                
Hit gelamp siþþan ðæt se fúla Déofles þegn ðe Ælfwina folc Sauron nemneð wéox swíðe on middangearde 7 hé geaxode Westwarena miht 7 wuldor 7 ðæt hí gyt holde wǽren Gode; ongunnon úpahæfenlice swaðeah ... Þá gehyrde Westwarena cyning æt his sǽlidum be Saurone ðæt he wolde cyning béon ofer eallum cyningum 7 héalicran stól habban wolde ðonne Éarendles afera sylf ahte. Þonne sende hé Tarcalion se cyning bútan Wealdendra rǽde oþþe Eldena his ǽrendracan to Saurone, abéad him ðæt he on ofste on Westfoldan cwóme þǽr to ðæs cyninges manrǽdenne to búganne 7 hé Sauron lytigende geéadmédde hine ðæt he cwóm, wæs þeah inwitful under, fácnes hogode Westwarena þéode. Þá cwóm he úp æt sumum cyrre on Rómelonde ðære hýðe 7 sóna adwealde fornéan ealle ða Númenóriscan mid wundrum 7 mid tácnum; forðam he mihte mycel on gedwimerum 7 drýcræftum ....... 7 hí geworhton mycelne ealh on ðam héan “munte” ðe Meneltyúla — ðæt is to secganne Heofonsýl — hátte — se ðe ǽr wæs unawídlod; dydon ða hálignesse to hǽðenum hearge 7 þǽr onsægdon unasecgendlíce lác on unhalgum wéofode ... swa cwóm se déaþscúa on Westfarena land.......
It came to pass afterward that the foul servant of the Devil whom the people of the Ælfwinas call Sauron grew mightily in the Great Lands, and he learned of the power and glory of the Westware, and that they were still faithful to God, but were behaving arrogantly nonetheless ... Then the King of the Westware heard news from his mariners concerning Sauron, that he desired to be King over all Kings and to have a more exalted throne than even the heir of Éarendel himself possessed. Then he, Tarkalion the King, without counsel either of the Powers or of the Eldar, sent his ambassadors to Sauron, commanding him to come with all speed to Westfolde, there to do homage to the King. And Sauron, dissembling, humbled himself and came, being filled with malice beneath, and designing wickedness against the people of the Westware. He landed then one day at the haven of Rómelonde, and straightway he deluded well nigh all the Númenóreans with signs and wonders; for he had great craft in phantoms and in wizardry ... and they builded a great temple on that high mountain that was called Meneltyúla (that is to say the Pillar of Heaven), which before was undefiled, they did worship at a heathen fane and there they did sacrifice unspeakable offerings upon an unholy altar ... thus came the Deathshadow upon the land of the Westware
           ⁊       ⁊           ⸱                        ⁊       ⸱ ⁊     ⸱     ⁊        ⁊       ⁊      :     :     :     :
Þæs ofer fela géara hit gelamp ðæt Tarcalione wearþ yldo onsǽge 7 þý wearð he hréow on móde 7 þa wolde he be Saurones onbryrdingum Avallon mid fyrde gefaran, forðamðe Sauron him sægde ðæt ða Eldan him on wóh éces lífes forwyrnden ..... wǽron Westwarena scipfyrda swaswa unarímedlic ígland on ðære sǽ 7 hyra mæstas gelíce fyrgenbéamum on beorghliðum, 7 hyra herecumbol gelíce þunorwolcnum; wǽron hyra segl blódréad 7 blacu ..... Nú sitte wé on elelande 7 forgytað ðære blisse ðe iú wæs 7 nú sceal eft cuman nǽfre. Ús swíðe onsitt Déaþscúa. Wóh biþ seo woruld. Feor nú is Niwelland.
Many years afterward it came to pass that old age assailed Tarkalion, so that he became exceedingly sad in mind, and he determined then (being goaded by Sauron) to invade Avallon with an army; for Sauron said to him that the Eldar refused to him the gift of everlasting life, wrongfully ..... The fleets of the Númenóreans were as uncounted islands in the sea and their masts were like unto tall trees upon the mountain-sides, and their war-banners like to thunder-clouds, and their sails were bloodred and black ....... Now we dwell in the land of exile and forget the bliss that once was and now shall come again never. Heavy lies upon us the Deathshadow. Bent is the world. Far now is the Land that is fallen low.
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                       ⸱           ⸱      ⁊      :      ⸱ ⁊       ⸱    : ⁊         ⸱            ⸱ ⁊              :
Ac þá þá Tarcaligeones foregengan dyrstlǽhton þæt híe on þæt land astígen and híe þǽr dydon micel yfel ond atendon Túnan þa burg, þá hréowsode Ósfruma and he gebæd him to þam Ælmihtigan, and be þæs Scyppendes rǽde 7 léafe onhwierfed wearþ worulde gesceapu. Wearð Ósgeard from eorþan asundrod, 7 micel æfgrynde ætíewde on middum Gársecge, be éastan Ánetíge. 7 þa sǽ dufon niþer inn on þæt gin, ond mid þam bearhtme þara hréosendra wætera wearþ eall middangeard afylled; 7 þara wætergefealla se þrosm stanc up oþ heofon ofer þara écra munta héafdu.
But when those who went before Tarcalion dared to go up into the land, and did there great evil and set fire to the city of Tuna, then the Lord of the Gods grieved, and he prayed to the Almighty; and by the counsel and leave of the Creator the fashion of the world was changed. Ósgeard [Valinor] was sundered from the earth, and a great abyss appeared in the midst of Gársecg [the Ocean], to the east of Ánetíg [the Lonely Isle]. And the seas plunged down into the chasm, and all Middle-earth was filled with the noise of the falling waters; and the smoke of the cataracts rose up to heaven above the heads of the everlasting mountains.
     ⸱        :      ⁊      ⸱               :          ⸱                :
Þǽr forwurdon eall Westfarena scipu, and adranc mid him eall þæt folc. Forwurdon éac Tarcaligeon se gyldena 7 seo beorhte Iligen his cwén, féollon bútú niþer swaswa steorran on þystro and gewiton seoþþan of eallra manna cýþþe. Micle flódas gelumpon on þam tíman and landa styrunga, and Westfolde þe ǽr Númenor hátte wearð aworpen on Gársecges bósm and hire wuldor gewát.
There perished all the ships of the Westfarers, and all that people were drowned with them. There perished also Tarcalion the golden and bright Ilien his queen; they fell both like stars into the darkness and passed out of all men’s knowledge. There were great floods in that time and tumults of the lands, and Westfolde, which before was named Númenor, was cast down into the bosom of Gársecg, and its glory perished.

Commentary
When writing his unfinished novel The Notion Club Papers, J. R. R. Tolkien intended to put in a curious document in Old English written in tengwar. In the narrative frame it is intended to provide a link between the legends of Númenor, ancient England and today. The document is introduced into the story by one of its main characters, Alwin Arundel Lowdham, who inherited it from his father Edwin. Edwin Lowdham is supposed to have written glimpses got in dream of an ancient manuscript written by Ælfwine Wídlast (“the far-travelled”), a mariner of Anglo-Saxon times that learnt of Númenor.

The Old English text exists in several versions, in tengwar as well as in the Latin alphabet, and in different dialects. Here we have assembled two fragments, separated by the line of dots. The first part, from Sauron Defeated pp.313-314, is the longest of Old English texts in The Notion Club Papers; it is written in the Late West Saxon dialect, the “classical” form of Old English based on the “Winchester standard” of the late 10th and 11th centuries, that spread to become the first standard of English in the final period of Anglo-Saxon England. A corresponding tengwa transcription (in intent at least, for there are errors) is given pp. 319-320. The second part is a fuller account of the downfall of Númenor, given in Sauron Defeated p. 316; it is in a slightly different language called Early Old Saxon, examplified by the works produced under the patronage of Alfred the Great, king of Wessex from 871 to 899. Typical differences are for instance the forms for “they” (Late vs. Early híe) or “great” (Late mycel vs. Early micel). The second part is also characterized by Old English spellings for Elvish names (Tarcaligeon for Tarcalion, Iligen for Ilien).

The symbol here reproduced as 7 stands for a similar sign in use in Anglo-Saxon writing. It is an abbreviation from the ancient system of Tironian notes and is read and / ond.

The text is transcribed in tengwar or “letters of Fëanor”. Tolkien created two different adaptations of the general use of the Third Age to Old English, presented in Sauron Defeated pp. 318-327. We especially attempted here to emulate the mode of the so-called “Text I”. We made use of Måns Björkman Berg’s typeface Tengwar Eldamar.  Open this mode in Glaemscribe

References
Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. Sauron Defeated – The End of the Third Age: The History of The Lord of the Rings, part four & The Notion Club Papers & The Drowning of Anadûnê. Edited by Christopher Tolkien. London: HarperCollins, 2002. 482 p. (The History of Middle-earth; IX). ISBN 0-261-10305-9.

The works of John Ronald Reuel and Christopher Tolkien are under the copyright of their authors and/or rights holders, including their publishers and the Tolkien Estate.
Quotations from other authors, editors and translators mentioned in the bibliography are under the copyright of their publishers, except for those whose copyright term has ended.
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