Alec Seelau's Tattoo
This is the letter he sent us:
Hello,
My name is Alec Seelau. I'm a renaissance man living in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa. I didn't know if you still updated the Tengwar in Reality
website, but just in case you did, I thought I would share my tattoo
with you. I had it made in honor of the love of my life, Lorien. Her
parents were obviously huge fans of the books and named her after the
beautiful forest. I have loved Tolkien and fantasy in general for as
long as I can remember. When I ended up with this girl with the elven
name, I knew what I wanted to do. I translated a line from a poem in
The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Chapter 6, "Lothlórien"--the
line, in part, reads "Lórien the fair." Under the watchful eye of the
Elfscript message board, I translated it into Sindarin: Lórien i vain.
I then wrote it using the Tengwar script, and in keeping with
suggestions, wrote the definite article not as a separate letter, but
as a dot over the adjoining word. I then had it tattooed on my chest
in black characters, with pink contrasting underneath (Lorien's
favorite color). The tattoo was done by Arbuckle at Arbuckle's Tattoo
and Piercing Emporium. I have included a picture of myself and, of
course, one of the elven handiwork.
Back |