Many ages ago, Liam Butler‘s father wrote a letter to Christopher Tolkien, asking him if it would be possible to release a new edition of The Hobbit entirely written in Erebor Dwarven runes. Unsurprisingly, he never got a reply. I’m sure Christopher Tolkien had better things to do than to translate a full book into a fictional alphabet after a request from a fan. Fast forward many years, Liam decided to take on the task for a Christmas present to his dad. Behold:

I’ve been sitting in this for a while but here goes. When my father was young he wrote a letter to Christopher Tolkien, asking if it would be possible for The Hobbit to be published in Erebor Runes. Of course he never got a reply, as who would be stupid enough to sit there and translate an entire book into a fictional alphabet. I was. I sat at my desk for 8 hours every day for 4 months. Hand writing the entire of The Hobbit into Erebor Runes for his Christmas present. It is full of mistakes and errors but it remains one of the things I am most proud of.

And the award for best son of the year goes to… Liam!

Yeah, I feel totally inadequate now.

[Liam Butler]