"GL2" - читать интересную книгу автора (vol12)

in the siege of the Hornburg. That at least was not secret, and had
been heard on many a field since the world was young. Baruk
Khazad! Khazad ai-menu! 'Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are
upon you!'
Gimli's own name, however, and the names of all his kin, are of
Northern (Mannish) origin. Their own secret and 'inner' names,
their true names, the Dwarves have never revealed to any one of
alien race. Not even on their tombs do they inscribe them.
Here follows the text of the essay which I have called Of Dwarves and
Men.

... only in talking to others of different race and tongue, the
divergence could be great, and intercommunication imperfect.(1)
But this was not always the case: it depended on the history of
the peoples concerned and their relations to the Numenorean
kingdoms. For instance, among the Rohirrim there can have
been very few who did not understand the Common Speech,
and most must have been able to speak it fairly well. The royal
house, and no doubt many other families, spoke (and wrote)
it correctly and familiarly. It was in fact King Theoden's native
language: he was born in Gondor, and his father Thengel had
used the Common Speech in his own home even after his return
to Rohan.(2) The Eldar used it with the care and skill that they
applied to all linguistic matters, and being longeval and reten-
tive in memory they tended indeed, especially when speaking
formally or on important matters, to use a somewhat archaic
language.(3)

The Dwarves were in many ways a special case. They had an
ancient language of their own which they prized highly; and
even when, as among the Longbeard Dwarves of the West, it
had ceased to be their native tongue and had become a 'book-
language', it was carefully preserved and taught to all their
children at an early age. It thus served as a lingua franca
between all Dwarves of all kinds; but it was also a written
language used in all important histories and lore, and in record-
ing any matters not intended to be read by other people. This
Khuzdul (as they called it), partly because of their native
secretiveness, and partly because of its inherent difficulty,(4) was
seldom learned by those of other race.
The Dwarves were not, however, skilled linguists - in most
matters they were unadaptable - and spoke with a marked
'dwarvish' accent. Also they had never invented any form of
alphabetic writing.(5) They quickly, however, recognized the
usefulness of the Elvish systems, when they at last became
sufficiently friendly with any of the Eldar to learn them. This
occurred mainly in the close association of Eregion and Moria
in the Second Age. Now in Eregion not only the Feanorian
Script, which had long become a mode of writing generally used
(with various adaptations) among all 'lettered' peoples in con-