Philippa Boyens was primarily responsible (with
some contributions by Fran Walsh) for the selection (or
composition) of the source text as well as the language
into which that text would be translated. It was then
left to David Salo to prepare the translations. When the
vocabulary or structure of any language was
insufficient, he extrapolated syntax or created
vocabulary. Some translations were straight, some were
'rewritten' in their translated language to achieve a
more poetic feel in terms of meter.
Salo then sent the translated material to Shore who
chose what he liked and 'put it together in a way that
made sense musically' (Salo, Voices from Middle-earth,
Music From the Movies, issue 42, page 47)
Salo was also responsible for the translations of
non-English dialog and for linguistic ornamentation of
various props (i.e. Elvish writing on Sting).
