 elfcon (also elfcon), short for "elvish linguistic fellowship convention", is a convention first proposed by jorge quiÃ±Ã³nez, and then organized and originally hosted by bill welden, dedicated to the study of the languages created by j. r. r. tolkien. "elfconners" is a loose term to refer to any attendee of an elfcon, but the term is by some narrowed in use to refer to a specific group of people involved with unpublished linguistic writings by tolkien. == e. l. f. conventions == the elfcon was the annual open conference of the e.l.f., advertised in the e.l.f. journals. the purpose of elfcon was to present scholarly papers on any subject relating to tolkien's invented languages, and then to discuss the paper amongst the attendees, and to serve as a friendly gathering of folks who share a common intellectual pursuit. there were four elfcons: *first annual colloquium on the languages of middle-earth, later referred to as elfcon i (1991) *second annual coloquium on the languages of middle-earth, also known as elfcon ii (1992, report in vinyar tengwar #23) *elfcon iii (1993) *elfcon iv (1994) elfcons ended in 1994, but tolkienist conventions organized by bill welden continue: "international conference on j.r.r. tolkien's invented languages" == "elfconners" == originally the term "elfconner" simply meant "attendee of an elfcon". the term "elfconners" has subsequently been used by critics (and formerly and in passing by one member), at least in quotation marks, to refer to the group of editors appointed by christopher tolkien and granted access by him to unpublished wriitngs by j. r. r. tolkien on his invented languages, although some members have rejected the term both as a misnomer and as intentionally derogatory, and the group prefers the both accurate and neutral term "the editorial team". christopher tolkien, as the holder of the copyrights of his father's works, in 1992 invited christopher gilson, carl f. hostetter, arden r. smith and patrick h. wynne to undertake a project to analyse, edit and publish material written by tolkien concerning his invented languages and alphabets. bill welden was later brought into the project at their request. members of the project report that these previously unpublished writings extend to some 3000 pages of linguistic material, consisting chiefly of photocopies supplied by christopher tolkien to the editorial team throughout the 1990s and handwritten notes made by the editorial team in the bodleian library in 1992. work based on some of this material was presented during the elfcons, and those in attendance were unofficially allowed to look at the photocopies and take notes for private use. however, according to hostetter, frequent unauthorized sharing of such no
Tolkien_linguistic_studies