Hi there! Welcome to the Terms and Conditions Page!
Definitions:
We/Us/Our/Ours = the translators and writers and web designers of RealElvish.net.
I/Me/My/Mine = Fiona Jallings, the head translator and owner of RealElvish.net.
You/Your/Yours = user of RealElvish.net’s services.
RealElvish.net = these three websites: RealElvish.net, the RealElvish Academy, and the RealElvish Store.
Terms of Service
This document comes into effect January 12th of 2019.
The terms of service may be updated in the future, and all users will be bound to the updated version when it comes into effect as well.
By using RealElvish.net’s services, you are agreeing to abide by these rules. Whether or not you read this page, you are expected to abide by it. But don’t worry; the rules are straight-forward.
Any questions you have can be relayed to me (Fiona Jallings, the website’s owner) using the Contact form.
Also of Import: The Privacy Policy
Harassment and Spam Policy
If you send harassing or spam messages to anyone on the website or abuse your commenting powers to post spam or harass someone, your account will be deleted. I will not issue a warning or explanation if I feel that you have violated this policy, because harassers and spammers are not worth the time.
If you are being harassed by another member, let me know, and I will do what I can to limit the harasser’s contact with you, though my abilities are limited to deleting messages, comments, and the harasser’s account.
Other Misuses of Accounts That Will Get Your Account Deleted:
- Selling or giving your account to someone else. They’re already free, so I’m not sure why you’d do this, except to give access to a spammer or a harasser.
- Trying to hack the website.
- Taking other users’ contact information without their consent, no matter what you want to use it for. I don’t make that information public in the first place, so the only way you could have this information is if you violated the previous rule.
- Fraud, theft, other illegal stuff that I don’t even know exists yet – this is not your haven for illegal behaviour, and if I find out, I remove your account.
- Taking the free material available on the website without permission and selling it or selling access to it. The free material is meant to be a public resource.
- What does count as breaking this rule would be copying a page of the website without permission and publishing it as your own. For example, copying a phrasebook, then selling it as your own phrasebook.
- What doesn’t count as breaking this rule would be taking a few translations and using them in your own work. For example, using some Sindarin phrases in the dialogue of your novel or working a Tengwar transliteration into a piece of artwork that you sell. This is part of the works being a public resource, and I encourage it.
- I provide two phrasebooks for reposting, but you must leave access to these phrasebooks free for all, with no pay-barriers between them and the general public.
Membership Levels
Free Membership
This is available on all three RealElvish websites, and it comes with the following privileges:
- Ability to comment on the pages, posts, and translations set up to allow commenting.
- Ability to sign up for the Monthly Newsletter.
- Blog updates sent to your e-mail, if you want it.
- Access to the Private Message system.
Donator Membership
This is available only on the main RealElvish website. The donations can be of any amount, and there is no extra charge associated with being a donator. The privileges are the same for a Free Membership, but with one Bonus:
- Your name or alias, whichever you prefer, will be added to the list of donators along with the amount you donated.
- If you donate $20 or more, I will provide you with free custom translation services for a month, within reason.
- Donations can’t be taken back.
Paid Membership – $20 a month
Paid Memberships are only available on the RealElvish Academy website. The privileges are the same for a Free Membership, but with a few bonuses:
- I will provide you with free custom translation services for the rest of the month, within reason.
- Access to the teacher-led translation courses, which involve getting translations annotated and corrected by me directly.
Paid Membership Rules and Restrictions:
They are subject to all of the same rules that free accounts are subject to, with a few additions.
- If a payment is missed, then you will be bumped down to a Free Membership.
- If you break the rules that get your account deleted, you will not be refunded.
- Your progress in the lessons depends on you completing your homework. If you drop out of a course from not turning in homework, you won’t be refunded.
Contributors
Contributors are writers, translators, and vendors. They are subject to the same rules as everyone else. Anyone caught breaking these rules will find their account deleted.
Writers
Writers post articles in the blog sections of the websites.
- They are the only ones responsible for the content of their articles.
- A regular posting schedule isn’t required, though it is preferred.
Website Translators
Website translators translate the content of the website into other target languages. There is a LOT of stuff to translate, and they get plenty of help from me – especially when it comes to the more complex aspects of the website pages and pulling up stuff from the databases.
- They are the only ones responsible for the accuracy of their translations.
- They are the only one responsible for making sure they are caught up in the translations.
- They are responsible for letting me know if they can’t finish the work or need a break. I can then look for someone else to pick it up while they’re gone.
- They have the right to refuse to translate something with no explanation.
- They’ll have a profile up on the Contact Us page as one of our translators, since they’re the one who speaks the language that people will want to contact us in.
Contributing Translators
Contributing translators provide phrasebooks and namelists in languages that the head translator doesn’t know.
- They are the only ones responsible for the accuracy of their translations.
- Their work won’t be posted until it is complete.
- Any translation requests they receive are theirs to keep!
- Contributing translators have the right to refuse to translate something with no explanation. Since they are part of designing the project, then they can guide it towards topics they’re more comfortable with.
- When the project is posted, they’ll get their profile included on the Contact Us page, so people can send questions about their language to them directly.
Vendors
Vendors are people who sell products with translations or transliterations on them in the RealElvish Store.
- In
order for an item to be posted for sale it must:
- Be related to Tolkien’s languages or writing systems.
- Have that linguistic content properly explained in the product description (I can help with that).
- Be easy to read and accurate. (I can also help with that – though a vendor will be charged the same as everyone else for custom translations.)
- Have no higher a rating than PG13.
- Have no political or religious messages – we want the website to be neutral ground where everyone feels welcome.
- If caught breaking one of the general rules that results in the deletion of one’s account, then any products a vendor has posted will be removed from the store as well.
Shopping and Shipping
The RealElvish Store is a multi-vendor store with curated products that have something to do with Tolkien’s languages and writing systems. Individual vendors sell the products, while RealElvish takes a commission for being the platform that they’re sold on.
- Buyers are responsible for giving the vendor the correct address and paying the asking price. If you don’t, you won’t get the product, and there isn’t much of anything that anyone can do.
- Vendors are responsible for storing the products and shipping them to their buyers – though once it’s in the hands of the third-party service that will deliver it to the buyer, it isn’t the vendor’s responsibility since it is literally out of their hands.
- If you have a conflict with a vendor, your problem is with them alone. If you want a refund, you should return the item(s) in question, including paying for the shipping yourself.
- Likewise, if you are a vendor and have a conflict with a client, the most I can do is delete accounts and make sure money is refunded.
Translations/Transliteration
I reserve the right to refuse any translation or transliteration request without explanation. This is pretty rare, but usually involves requests that are ridiculously huge (I won’t translate the whole Silmarillion for you!) or material that makes me uncomfortable (I’m not going to translate your break-up letter to your ex!). If I refuse to do a translation, I’ll let you know, but I don’t have to explain why not.
Neo-Elvish
The translations here are in the Neo-Elvish languages. Neo-Elvish is any translation in Tolkien’s Elvish languages not made directly by Tolkien. Neo-Elvish is the closest you can get to “authentic” Elvish and have original translations as well. For example, Neo-Sindarin and Neo-Quenya are the Elvish languages that appear in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies.
Since not all of Tolkien’s notes on his languages have been published yet and are still currently being published, Neo-Elvish languages change quickly. Old translations reflect the knowledge available at the time, as well as any translations here. Since we cannot see the future, we are not responsible for translations becoming outdated when new material is published. That is the risk that you take on when you use Neo-Elvish languages.
Tengwar
The Tengwar are a writing system, not a language. Here’s a link to a thorough description for beginners: Basics of Tengwar for Tattoo Seekers.