Quenya Printable version

Quenya was an ancient Elvish language developed from an earlier form, the Common Eldarin, that the Elves speak. Quenya was developed among the non-Teleri Elves who made it to Valinor. As the years passed by, a new language called Sindarin was established, and it was like a simplified form of Quenya, therefore accepted by many and referred to solely as the “Elvish” language, and not Quenya.

The Noldor and Vanyar had slightly different dialects with Quenya, even though they were both knowledgeable clans of the three Elven clans of Middle-earth (Noldorin Quenya for the Noldor and the Vanyarin Quenya for Vanyar). The Vanyarin Quenya was also known as Quenya. The Valar adopted the language, Quenya, and influenced it by introducing new words from theirs, although these new words occurred more for the Vanyarin dialect. The Valar preferred the Vanyarin dialect because they had a particular liking for the Vanyar, and were closer to them. The Valar had their mode of speech but decided to adopt the language to communicate with the Elves of Valinor. The Third Clan, the Teleri, had a different but connected language known as the Telerin.

The Telerin dialect is the closest to the original Quenya linguistically, and it was often mistaken for Quenya. But in fact, they have an utterly varying history. Also, Quenya has a script alphabet with a written representation that is either called Tengwar or Fëanorian Characters. Another older script alphabet was called the Sarati. There was a theory from “The Lhammas” that the Quenya language was taught to the Elves by Orome, the Vala, during their first encounter with him at Cuivienen. Tolkien rejected this theory and affirmed that it came from the elves, and the Valar adopted it.

History of the Language

The Ñoldor escaped to Middle-earth [1] after the corruption of elves by Melkor. The elves communicated using Quenya until the Elu of Sindar, King Thingol of the Doriath, got the news of the events that occurred, which led to the kinslaying of his clan. Because of this, he forbade the use of Quenya in his realm. In the periods when the Sindar could still learn Quenya and speak it, the Sindar were unable to learn and master Quenya well-enough. On the other hand, the Noldorin showed the ability to learn with ease and have mastered Sindarin before the rule. The form of Quenya elves used in Endor during the Third Age in The Lord of the Rings raised a lot of interest among the scholars. It was the predominant language for official use and communication in the writings.

However, Sindarin was more common as a vernacular. Quenya shared many similarities with the Latin we know. The author called it the Elf-Latin. The Noldor were knowledgeable and so valued Quenya a lot. They would get excited if a non Elf used it well. This is what happened when Frodo encountered the Elves and made his greeting in Quenya. In The Lord of the Rings, Galadriel was the only original speaker of Quenya as she was born in Valinor. Galadriel’s poem or Galadriel's Lament, called Namárie, is the use of Quenya language in The Lord of the Rings. The Noldorin, Galadriel, and other Elves that became exiled developed a dialect different from the one in Valinor as they made it evolve for the best usage in lore.

Quenya Grammar Rule

European Languages are usually of nominative-accusative usage, and Quenya is not different. Quenya has the same usage for the subject of transitive verbs and intransitive verbs.

Nouns

Declination occurs in nouns in ten different cases: the accusative, nominative, accusative, possessive, allocative, genitive, dative, allative, ablative, locative, possessive, instrumental, and even the respective case often referred to as the mystery case. Nominative is mainly used for marking the subjects of verbs. In the spoken form of the Quenya language, it functions as the accusative case and used with a preposition. Accusative is used for marking the direct objects of verbs. This form does not apply to spoken Quenya. When the Elves moved from Aman, the form was changed for the nominative. However, it appears in the accusative for writing. The genitive is used mainly for marking origin (e.g., the highest lands of Paris).

The usage may overlap the ablative. Dative was used for marking the indirect objects of verbs (to). Instrumental is used for marking nouns used as tools or instruments. Possessive is used to express possession or establish ownership (for example, her farm, Galadriel’s power). This usage may overlap with the genitive form. Locative is used to express location or a position (at). Allative is used to express movement towards (towards). Ablative is used to express movement away from (from). The respective case or “mystery” is sometimes figurative equivalents for locative cases (for example: “about books” or “regarding books”). Four numbering forms exist in Quenya: singular, dual form, plural, and the partitive plural.

Declension (Vocalic)

Declension (Consonantal)

Verbs

The verbs are of two major types. There are basic verbs, and those formed with a basic verb base, “tire” is such a verb. It’s taken from tir, which means watch. The second type is the derivative verbs, formed with the introduction of verbal suffixes. For example, tulta (meaning summon) originates from tul (come). Other examples include kuna (meaning bend).

Pronouns

Pronouns are used as an independent word and enclitics. Although the evidence of usage suggests independent forms of pronouns are more naturally emphatic, the rules are not fully understood. In contrast, pronouns in the enclitic form are the ones in regular use. For an intransitive verb, the common thing is that the pronoun appears either as a word that is independent or enclitic. When words appear in an enclitic form, they may come in one of two forms: a short or long-form. In Tolkien’s high fiction work, different forms of verbs were used. When reconstructed verb forms are used, they indicate a question mark or asterisks. The usage for hypothetical forms is similar to that of the reconstructed form. Verb forms that are not determined cannot be included, and are therefore replaced with an em-dash (—).


Apart from the inclusive modes and the exclusive of first-person plural, the dual-mode is possible and denoted by -mme, or emme. The pronouns get declined as regular nouns do; for instance, emmen is a dative form of emme. Except in te (they), which instead takes the form tien for dative, this seems to be the most regular.

Samples of Quenya

Quenya Poem Nieninque “Snowdrop”

Norolinda pirucendëa
lendë tanna Nieliccilis
sana wendë nieninquëa
yan i wilyar antar miquelis
I·oromandi tanna lendë
ar wingildi wilwarindië
Losselië telerinwa
táli lantalasselingië.

Tripping lightly on the point of her toes,
thither came little Niéle,
that maiden like a snowdrop,
to whom the air gives soft kisses.
The mountain dwellers came thither,
and the foam-fays like butterflies,
the white people of the shores of Elfland,
with feet like the music of falling leaves.

Long Quenya Poem “The Last Ark”

Men cenuva fánë cirya
métima hrestallo círa,
i fairi nécë
ringa súmaryassë
ve maiwi yaimië?
Man tiruva fána cirya,
wilwarin wilwa
ëar-celumessen
rámainen elvië
ëar falastala,
winga hlápula
rámar sisílala,
cálë fifírula?
Man hlaruva rávëa súrë
ve tauri lillassië
ninqui carcar yarra
isilmë ilcalassë
isilmë pícalassë
isilmë lantalassë
ve loicolícuma;
raumo nurrua,⸱
undumë rúma?
Man cenuva lumbor ahosta
Menel acúna
ruxal' ambonnar,
ëar amortala
undumë hácala,
enwina lúmë
elenillor pella
talta-taltala
atalantië mindonnar?
Man tiruva rácina cirya
ondolissë mornë
nu fanyarë rúcina,
anar púrëa tihta
axor ilcalannar
métim' auressë?
Man cenuva métim' andúnë?

Who shall see a white ship?
leave the last shore
the pale phantoms
in her cold bosom
like gulls wailing
Who shall heed a white ship?
vague as a butterfly
in the flowing sea,
on wings like stars
the sea surging
the foam blowing
the wings shining
the light fading
Who shall hear the wind roaring?
like leaves of forests
the white rocks snarling
in the moon gleaming
in the moon waning
in the moon falling
like a corpse-candle
the storm mumbling
the abyss moving
Who shall see the clouds gather?
the heavens bending
upon crumbling hills
the seas heaving
the abyss yawning
the old darkness
beyond the stars falling
upon fallen towers
Who shall heed a broken ship?
on the dark rocks
under ruined skies
a bleared sun blinking
on bones gleaming
in the last morning
Who shall see the last evening?

Sample Elements

Parma - book
yana - sanctuary
Melamar - home
Avamarwa- homeless
Eämbar - Sea-dwelling
Eldamar - Elf-home; Elvenhome; Land of the Eldar
Hecelmar - Home of the Hecel
Lumbar - Shadow Home
Mittalmar “Inlands”
Valimar - home of the Valar”
Vinyamar - New Dwelling
Olorin - Gandalf
arandur - king’s servant
Aulendur - Servant of Aulë
cemendur - farmer
Cemendur -Servant of the Earth
Eärendur - Mariner
Eärnur - Servant of the Sea”
Elendur - Star-servant”
Isildur - Servant of the Moon
Meneldur - Servant of the Heavens
námondur - court-attendant, (lit.) judge-servants
Pelendur - Servant of the Border
tarwandur - gardener
Valandur - Servant of the Vala

Background

The Finnish language, [2] as an agglutinative language, had a specific influence on Quenya. Finnish was used for the phonology even when the grammar was based on inspirations from the Latin language and Greek. Quenya phonology was mainly taken from Finnish and then Latin, Spanish, and Italian influences. Some phonological rules have consonant clusters absent when beginning or ending a syllable, except the “-nt” ending of dual dative. Also, sonorants must precede voiced stops, and a non-coronal consonant need not complete a word.

For Quenya, one of the most interesting features is its use as a high agglutinating language. This means grammatical functions can be expressed simply by adding multiple affixes. For example, a Quenya word may mean the same as a sentence in English. For example, “the twilight of dawn.” in Quenya in a single word, namely tindómë. Tolkien wrote materials on the Quenya language and other languages he made, but could not publish all before his death. These famous works may have exposed his passion for language and how much he made it a hobby.

Parma Eldalamberon [3] and Vinyar Tengwar [4] journals that devote themselves to making editions and publishing his linguistic works. Authors often use constructed languages in their science fiction and fantasy writings. One of such is Klingon, others include Lapine, Newspeak, and Nadsat. In Tolkien’s writings, the Quenya language passed through many evolutions before its usage in the Lord of the Rings and Silmarillion. The changes occurred in its vocabulary and grammar. In the author’s early works, he referred to the Quenya language as Qenya. This helped scholars distinguish between the old form, Old Qenya, and Quenya.

References

1. ^The History of Middle-Earth.
2. ^Finnish language.
3. ^Parma Eldalamberon.
4. ^Vinyar Tengwar.