117
votes
Accepted
Elvish tattoo - can it be translated into English?
What is seen in the image means "The world is ahead". The first part is hidden, but it is likely a variation of "Home is behind".1
In The Lord of the Rings books
The quote Home is behind, the world ...
- 10.8k
57
votes
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How many fictional languages did Tolkien create?
Ardalambion, a fansite dedicated to analyzing Tolkien's invented languages, has asked this very question; according to him the answer is somewhere between 2 and 20, depending on how permissive you are ...
- 161k
45
votes
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Did Tolkien think about language evolution when the speakers are immortal?
Tolkien wrote an essay on this subject in 1960, called "Dangweth Pengolod." The essay is rather long, so I'm not going to quote the whole thing, but the highlight for me is this passage:
[T]o the ...
- 161k
44
votes
Accepted
What does Eru Ilúvatar's name mean?
Eru Ilúvatar means the “All Father”
Eru 'The One', 'He that is Alone'
Ilúvatar 'Father of All’
The Silmarillion, Index of Names
The name Ilúvatar is a compound of two words, Ilu/Ilúvë ("the all&...
- 76.1k
43
votes
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Translation of the writing around Gondor's banner
It's the Ring Verse.
This is almost certainly a fan image as MPF points out in the comments below. The Gondorians had no reason to display the Ring Verse on a banner, and almost certainly were unaware ...
- 76.1k
37
votes
Elvish tattoo - can it be translated into English?
The best I've been able to do is "- the world is -d".
There are five separate words visible in the image, but only four of them are distinct enough to make out the characters.
I'm 100% confident ...
- 161k
37
votes
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In what language did Túrin converse with Mîm?
Most likely Sindarin
It was certainly not Khuzdul, as Mîm says they do not teach that tongue, futher, Mîm is described as initially speaking a foreign language:
They have no name, save in the dwarf-...
- 76.1k
34
votes
What did Christopher Tolkien mean by "Tolkien's fifteenth invented language"?
The original listing of these languages is so much more complicated than this, because Tolkien always changed or created new dialects.
Tolkien's glossopoeia has two temporal dimensions: the internal (...
- 7,954
30
votes
In what language did Túrin converse with Mîm?
It would appear Mîm did indeed speak Sindarin, given this passage from Narn i Hîn Húrin from Unfinished Tales:
Then Mîm clapsed Túrin about his knees, saying: "Mîm will be your friend, lord. At ...
- 3,697
29
votes
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What dialect or language was the inspiration for Gollum's speech?
I can only find one reference to Gollum's mode of speech in the Letters.
I believe there is only one error remaining in the text from which the Puffin was printed: like for likes (6th imp. p. 85 line ...
- 20.9k
25
votes
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What does this say in Elvish?
I admit to little skill, but it appears to say approximately "stargazing."
[s][t+a][r][ng+a][z+i][n][ng] (Note that there is no simple "g" sound in Quenya.)
I ruled out Sindarin in favor of Quenya ...
- 109k
24
votes
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Why was Ondolindë always referred to as Gondolin?
Tolkien, a Translator
As I've stated previously, Tolkien envisioned himself, and the world around him, as part of Arda, and was therefore not an author creating a world, but a translator of histories ...
- 76.1k
23
votes
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What is Gandalf's Westron name, and why does he sign with a "G" rune?
We don't know
You can find a list of all known words from Westron here. Including both the present-day Westron that the hobbits use and the archaic version that the Rohirrim use, there are only 53 ...
- 85.1k
22
votes
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Is Gálmód male?
YES, ALMOST CERTAINLY MALE
The first question is easiest to answer: Tolkien tells us that Galmod is Grima's father! But we need to look a little deeper to see how.
The Rohirrim generally reckon ...
- 7,387
21
votes
Accepted
By what name are the Pelennor Fields known to the commonfolk of Gondor?
I don't know how anyone can do more than make a plausible guess by following Tolkien's conceit that English == Westron and come up with a name in English meaning something like "fenced, encircled ...
- 39.4k
20
votes
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Why would Bilbo agree to arbitration in the Khuzdul language?
There's no answer given in the movie1, but there are a few equally plausible explanations:
He didn't read that far. When he reads the contract, Bilbo is more than mildly hung up on the liability ...
- 161k
20
votes
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What is Tolkien's name for the language of Rohan?
Tolkien calls it "Rohan", "Rohanese", and "Rohirian". An often-used fanname is
"Rohirric", but that has never been used by Tolkien.
Rohan
This seems to be the ...
- 85.1k
18
votes
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Were the Sindar illiterate before the Flight of the Noldor?
No, they had their own writing system
Although it is hard to find a source for the exact date, Tolkien Gateway supposes that it was created during the Chaining of Melkor. It seems to be easily deduced ...
- 76.1k
17
votes
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Did Tolkien invent enough Dwarvish to carry on a conversation?
No
There simply aren't enough words in Tolkien's Khuzdûl to carry on a conversation. This is noted by Christopher Tolkien in History of Middle-earth, when remarking on the use of the language in the ...
- 161k
17
votes
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Is the Númenórean language Adûnaic supposed to be English?
I need to establish one thing first:
The Common Tongue is not English
The Common Tongue is another of Tolkien's constructed languages, more properly called Westron. From Appendix F:
The language ...
- 161k
17
votes
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How much Dwarvish appears in Tolkien's work?
The most comprehensive Tolkien linguistic resource I have ever found, by far, is...
Ardalambion
It looks like a website from 1992, but it's got enough info and analysis to keep you entertained for ...
- 38.3k
17
votes
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Who or what is "Nampat" in the chant of the Orcs in the Rings of Power?
I think there is no alternative to taking the makers at their word. According to the x-ray feature on Amazon Prime, under "General trivia", the word is defined as:
"Nampat," the ...
- 57.5k
16
votes
Accepted
Are all "C" words pronounced with a hard "K" or just Elven ones?
In the invented languages, "C" is always hard
There's a note near the end of the first part of Appendix E which clarifies this:
In names drawn from other languages than Eldarin the same ...
- 161k
15
votes
How are numbers written in the languages of The Lord of the Rings?
Quettar Special Publication No.1, "The Writing Systems of Middle-earth", by David Doughan and Julian Bradfield, published in 1987.
The Eldar used both a decimal and a duodecimal system, the ...
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14
votes
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What does this elvish text from UC Irvine say?
It appears to be gibberish, unfortunately. The closest I could get to the characters in your image is as follows:
Starting in the upper left corner and working around in a clockwise fashion, it ...
- 68.8k
14
votes
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Which language is more fully developed, Klingon or Quenya/Sindarin?
Definitely Klingon
Although Tolkien's writings on Quenya and Sindarin are extensive, there simply isn't enough to carry on realistic conversations; unless you're willing to go into some of the fan ...
- 161k
14
votes
Does the Black Speech have a name?
The Black Speech certainly has a name. Sauron was the language inventor, and surely somewhere in his grammar notes he would have given it a name. Tolkien never reveals a "proper" name nor offers a ...
- 7,387
13
votes
Elvish transcription - Upon the Hearth the Fire is Red
As far as elvish goes, the transcription is incorrect. Rather, your idea that this is elvish is incorrect. What you have there is the same text in English language using the Tengwar alphabet. The ...
- 606
13
votes
Accepted
What does the Elvish word "Ai!" mean?
As another answer states, ai is used for "Alas" in Sindarin. However, it's not clear that Legolas is speaking Sindarin at this moment. Typically, when a character is speaking a foreign language, ...
- 20.1k
13
votes
Was it just coincidence that "Barad-dûr?" sounds like an English phrase?
"Barad" is used in other names:
Barad Eithel
Emyn Beraid
As is "Dûr":
Emyn Duir
Dol Guldur (Guldur = dark sorcery)
While it's possible that Tolkien designed all these words around "Barad Dûr" ...
- 20.6k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible