Is Elfish Knowledge?

[Graham Durant-Law]

I've been holidaying in New Zealand for the past week, although I did give a presentation to the New Zealand Knowledge Management Network. I spent most of my time in and around Wellington, which meant that I did the mandatory Lord of the Rings tour. This tour got me thinking about the value of "knowledge". Why?

Well there was no doubt our guide was knowledgeable. What he didn't know about J.R. Tolkien, the Lord of the Rings trilogy of books, how and where the films were made, or Peter Jackson the film director, probably wasn't worth knowing. It certainly didn't want or need to know more! In fact his depth of knowledge on this narrow subject was astounding. For example he found linkages I hadn't appreciated, and in many cases didn't care about. It was all a bit much though when he started speaking Elvish*. The guide was even telling me that people come on the tour and spend the whole day conversing exclusively in Elvish! I have enough trouble with English, and can barely speak Pidgin English and Hebrew both languages spoken by millions, let alone learning a synthetic language. So is Elvish a representation of knowledge, and if it is is it valuable? ...

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