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🧝Elvish translation

alaskawaii

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Jun 20, 2024
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Hi! I have been wanting an elvish script tattoo for some time now - I have just been trying to decide what I want it to say.

Is there someone in here that could transcribe this for me? I don’t want to use that silly tengwar website, I would rather have help from one of you 🙏 Not sure which elvish language I would want, I guess whichever would be the best looking on my arm lol

From Tom Bombadil :

Keep up your merry hearts, and ride to meet your fortune.


Any help is very much appreciated as I have been trying to find the perfect quote for many years and I believe I have finally found the perfect one 🫶
 
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I just started learning Tengwar the other day, and I honestly use this alphabet (https://www.omniglot.com/conscripts/tengwar_eng.htm) to translate. Also, I use the Common Mode.

If I have it aright, it should be:

Keep up your merry hearts , and ride to meet your fortune .
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TLDR: If you'd like to learn how to read the whole phrase Commonly, I have a detailed list below for how I translated this Tengwa by Tengwa; otherwise, the above is all you need. :)

Keep: The first Tengwa which looks like a sharp q represents c or k. Following, the two forward slashes placed above the Tengwa that looks like a fancy p represent the double e. And the fancy p-like Tengwa upon which the ee rests actually represents p.

Up: The vowel is represented by the forward slash hooking back to the left, and it sits atop the fancy p-like Tengwa. This we recognize from the previous word as the same Tengwa for the letter p.

Your: There are two Tengwar for y, but this one (which looks like an incomplete lower case a) is used because y is a consonant here. Following is a dipthong consisting of o and u, or ou. The o is represented by the forward slash hooking to the right down. Note the difference of hook between the individual vowels u (from the preceding word, "up") and o, here. In the dipthong's case, o sits atop another character which represents the u. This combination is the dipthong and specifically represents "ou". And r is the following letter. The Tengwa which represents it can almost be seen as an r with a very long, curling front tail. Similar to the Tengwar for y, there are two different Tengwar for r. This Tengwa for r is used after a vowel and/or at the end of a word.

Merry: The letter m in Tengwar does look like an m with a line going through the bottom. The e is represented by the forward slash above the following. This part is tricky because first you'll recall this Tengwa for r is the same vowel-following r as from the previous word "your". However, since there are two r's in a row for this word, this is indicated by a horizontal line underneath but not touching the Tengwa. And the last letter y is represented by the other Tengwa for y (shaped like an i with a crescent shaped dot on top), as it represents y as a vowel. I personally find this letter confusing because it is not listed this way on the Tengwar alphabet, but it is the Common way of writing it.

Hearts: The upside down y-shaped Tengwa represents h. Following, we have another dipthong, this one consisting of e and a. The forward slash on top is our good friend e. The c-shaped marking upon which it rests is the a in the dipthong. After the dipthong ea, we have the vowel-following Tengwa for r once again. Then we have a Tengwa for t, which looks like an incomplete p. The s plural is indicated by the horizontal line and hook stretching from the previous Tengwa.

And: This one is simple, as Tengwar literally has the whole of the symbol for the word itself. Horizontal line positioned over the m-like, long-stemmed Tengwa and the dot underneath all together in this fashion mean "and".

Ride: First time we use the other type Tengwa for r. This is the type used when the r precedes a vowel. The Tengwa looks like a fancy y. Following, we have a dot on top of an m-like, long-stemmed Tengwa (you'll recognize this from part of "and"). The dot on top of such represents the vowel for i. The m-like, long-stemmed Tengwa represents d. And the dot underneath such represents e (for when e comes at the end of a word).

To: The t is represented by the incomplete p-shaped Tengwa, as we saw prior. And o is represented mainly by the forward slash and right hook on top of the following, though the vertical line underneath is indicatory of it being a vowel at the end of a word.

Meet: The m is represented by the same Tengwa used in "merry". The double e following is again represented by a double forward slash, as seen in "Keep". The Tengwa which the ee sits upon is again the incomplete p-shaped Tengwa for t.

Your: Identical to the first "your", thank goodness for that!

Fortune: The Tengwa for f is alike to a b or upside down sharp q. The vowel o is represented by the forward slash and right hook again, which sits atop the Tengwa for r when following a vowel. The Tengwa for t is again the incomplete p-shaped like one. The vowel u is represented by the forward slash and hook back left, which sits atop the m-like Tengwa for n, and the dot beneath once again represents e at the end of a word. And you're done! 🥳

(I won't feel bad if you don't read this all. I mainly did it for myself as it's all part of the joy of learning!)
 
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Very thorough and educational! Stellar job explaining how to read the Tengwar!

Ride: First time we use the other type Tengwa for r. This is the type used when the r precedes a vowel. The Tengwa looks like a fancy y. Following, we have a dot on top of an m-like, long-stemmed Tengwa (you'll recognize this from part of "and"). The dot on top of such represents the vowel for i. The m-like, long-stemmed Tengwa represents n. And the dot underneath such represents e (for when e comes at the end of a word).
One thing of note, should this say the bolded letter is ‘d’, not ‘n’? There is no ‘n’ in “ride,” and there was no other mention of what character would represent the ‘d’.
 
One thing of note, should this say the bolded letter is ‘d’, not ‘n’? There is no ‘n’ in “ride,” and there was no other mention...
Indeed you are correct, gwanunig nín! I also found later I accidentally described the n character the same way as d, and that has now been fixed as well. Thank you for your thorough double-checking, bless your heart! ☺️
 

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