Tolkien
Thomas Honegger
t.m.honegger@gmx.de
http://www.
db-thueringen.de/
content/top/
index.xml
Languages
‘Early’ Languages
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Animalic (invented by his young
cousins Mary and Marjorie Incledon)
Dog nightingale woodpecker forty
= You are an ass
Nevbosh (New Nonsense; developed by
Marjorie and Ronald)
Nevbosh
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Dar fys ma vel gom co palt ’Hoc
Pys go iskili far maino woc?
Pro si go fys do roc de
Do cat ym maino bocte
De volt fact soc ma taimful gyroc!’
There was an old man who said ‘How /
Can I possibly carry my cow? / For if I
were to ask it / To get in my basket / It
would make such a terrible row!’
(Carpenter 44)
‘Early’ Languages
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Naffarin (showed a great deal of
Spanish influence); abandoned in
favour of
Gothic
Joseph Wright, 1910, Primer of the
Gothic Language, Oxford: At the
Clarendon Press.
historic language which had ceased to
be spoken in the 16th or 17th centuries
(‘Krimgotisch’)
Gothic
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Gothic texts: Ulfila Bible translation
(4th century)
commentaries on the gospels
(‘skeireins’)
list of 68 words written down by the
Flandrish nobleman Ogier Ghiselin of
Busbecq (ambassador to
Constantinople in 1560-62).
Gothic
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Example from Marcus X, 14-15
‘letiπ πo barna gaggan du mis jah ni
warjiπ πo, unte πize ist πiudangardi gudis.
amen, qiπa izwis: saei ni andnimiπ
πiudangardja gudis swe barn, ni πauh
qimiπ in izai.’
‘Let the children go to me and not hinder
them, to such is the kingdom of God. Amen,
I tell you: who not accepts the kingdom of
God like a child, not comes into it.’
Gothic
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Example by Tolkien
Brunaim bairiπ Bairka bogum
laubans liubans liudanei,
The birch bears fine leaves on shining
boughs
gilwagroni, glitmunjandei,
it grows pale green and glittering
bagme bloma, blauandei
the flower of the trees in bloom
The Languages of
Arda
Valarin
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Valarin = language of the Valar;
according to Kloczko, some of the
names in Valinor cannot be explained
within an Elvish framework, e.g. Lake
Irtinsa
further examples: mirub = wine; maxal
= legal, in accordance with authority;
phana = illuminated
Valarin
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the Valar, when communicating with the
Elves, use Elvish and Valarin remains a
‘secret’ language used by the Valar and
Maiar among themselves. Nevertheless,
some of the words in the Elvish
languages and in Khuzdul show strong
similarities to Valarin words.
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Khuzdul
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secret language of the dwarves
names of places and mountains:
Azanulbizar = Vale of Dim Streams
Barazinbar = Caradhras = Redhorn
Bundushathûr = Fanuidhol =
Cloudyhead
Zirakzigil = Celebdil = Silvertine
single words: baruk = axe, kheled =
mirror, gabil = great, powerful
Entish
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slow, sonorous language of the Ents
and the Huorns (Sind. hu- = speaking;
orn = tree)
a-lalla-lalla-rumba-kamanda-lindorburúme
part of the name of the hill in Fangorn
where Merry & Pippin meet Treebeard
Black Speech
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Ash nazg durbatulûk,
One ring to rule them all
ash nazg gimbatul,
One Ring to find them
ash nazg thrakatulûk
One Ring to bring them all
agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.
and in the darkness bind them.
Black Speech
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created by Sauron during the Dark
Years of the Second Age. Intended as
an ‘evil Esperanto’ for his servants, yet
proved too complex for most of the
orks and trolls, so that the main
speakers were the Nazgûl and the
higher-ranking officers of Sauron
(‘Mouth of Sauron’)
Black Speech
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Ash nazg durbatulûk,
One ring to rule them all
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ash = one
nazg = ring
durba- = to govern
-tul- = them
-ûk = all
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Black Speech
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ash nazg gimbatul,
One Ring to find them
gimba- = find
ash nazg thrakatulûk
One Ring to bring them all
thraka- = to bring
Black Speech
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agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.
and in the darkness bind them
agh = and
burzum = shadow, darkness
ishi = into
krimpa- = bind
Black Speech
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individual words and sentences
Uglúk u bagronk sha pushdug
Saruman-glob búbhosh skai. (‘The
Uruk-hai’ 466)
Uglúk to the cesspool, sha! the
dungfilth; the great Saruman fool, skai!
Uglúk to the dung-pit with stinking
Saruman-filth - pig-guts gah!
ghâsh = fire; olog = troll; oghor = wild
men
Orkish
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mostly names: Bolg, Gothmog, Gorbag
origin: Melkor-Morgoth ‘creates’ the
orks during the First Age. It is assumed
that the orks of Angband all spoke the
same language, Orkish
from the Second Age onwards, the orks
developed as many dialects/languages
as there are tribes and peoples of their
race
Human languages
Westron = Common Speech
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Westron = sôval phâre
origin goes back to the 19th century of
SA when Númenorean mariners
established permantent settlements in
Middle-earth (primarily for trade)
The Adûnaic spoken in these towns
begins to be influenced by the
surrounding languages => Adûnaic
based pidgin
Westron = Common Speech
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After the downfall of Númenor, Adûnaic
is more and more replaced in Middleearth by either Westron (creolisized
pidgin) and Sindarin (due to languagepoliciy of the last Númenorean kings)
Rohirric
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Rohan? Rohanese? Rohanic?
A northern speech, more archaic than
the Westron
translated as Old English (Mercian)
Hobbitic
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originally also a northern speech
(hobbits lived on the upper part of the
Anduin close to the Rohirrim)
gave up their original language when
entering the Shire and adopted Westron
as their first language
Westron names of hobbits:
Maura
= Frodo
Hobbitic
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Ban (< Banazîr) Galpsi
= Sam (Samwise) Gamgee
Razar (Razanur) Tûk
= Pippin (Peregrin) Took
Kali (Kalimak) Brandagamba
= Merry (Meriadoc) Brandybuck
Hobbitic
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kuduk (kûd-dûkan)
= hobbit
kûd = hole => holdûkan = dweller => bytla
=> kûd-dûkan = hol-bytlan
kûd-dûkan > kuduk
hol-bytlan > hobbit
Hobbitic
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banakil
= halfling (half-man)
the Shire = Sûza < ON sysla = district
Laban-neg
= Bag-end
Other Human Languages
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Dunlending (forgoil)
Wose
Haradric
Khandic
etc.
The Languages of Arda
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Edouard Kloczko, 2002, Dictionnaire
des Langues des Hobbits, des Nains,
des Orques etc. Argenteuil: Arda.
Ruth S. Noel, 1980, The Languages of
Tolkien’s Middle-earth, Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Elvish
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Jim Allan, 1978, An Introduction to
Elvish, Frome: Bran’s Head.
Ruth S. Noel, 1980, The Languages of
Tolkien’s Middle-earth, Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Edouard Kloczko, 1995, Dictionnaire
des Langues Elfiques. Toulon: Tamise.
Elvish
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Helmut W. Pesch, 2003, Elbisch:
Grammatik, Schrift und Wörterbuch,
Bergisch Gladbach: Bastei Lübbe.
Helmut W. Pesch, 2004, Elbisch: Lernund Übungsbuch, Bergisch Gladbach:
Bastei Lübbe.
Wolfgang Krege, 2003, Elbisches
Wörterbuch nach J.R.R. Tolkien,
Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta.
Namárië (Quenya)
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Ai! láurië lántar lássi súrinèn,
Alas! leaves fall golden wind-in
yéni ùnótimè ve rámar áldarón!
years not-countable as trees-of wings
Yéni ve linte yúldar avániër
Years have passed like swift draughts
etc. see copy
A Elbereth Gilthoniel
(Sindarin)
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A Elbereth Gilthoniel
O Elbereth Star-kindler
silivren penna miriel
glittering slants-down sparkling like
jewels
o menel aglar elenath!
from firmament glory [of] the star-host
A Elbereth Gilthoniel
(Sindarin)
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Na-chaered palan-diriel
to-remote distance after-having gazed
o galadhremmin ennorath,
o tree-tangled middle-lands,
Fanuilos, le linnathon
Fanuilos, to thee I will chant
nef aear, si nef aearon!
on this side of ocean here on this side
of the Great Ocean.
A Elbereth Gilthoniel
(Sindarin)
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O Elbereth who lit the stars, from
glittering crystal slanting falls with light
like jewels from heaven on high the
glory of the starry host. To lands
remote I have looked afar, and now to
thee, Fanuilos, bright spirit clothed in
ever-white, I here will sing beyond the
Sea, beyond the wide and sundering
Sea.
Music
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J.R.R. Tolkien, music by Donald Swann,
1968/1978/2002, The Road Goes Ever
On, London: HarperCollins.
The Tolkien Ensemble: An Evening in
Rivendell (1997) A Night in Rivendell
(2000), At Dawn in Rivendell (2002).
Quenya & Sindarin
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situation in Middle-earth in the TA
Quenya has not been used as the
language of everyday communication
for thousands of year => ban on
Quenya by Thingol and the Grey Elves
because of the Kinslaying of
Alqualondë
=> Quenya used as the language of
learning and ritual; ‘Elven Latin’
Quenya
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based on Finnish, with Latin and Greek
influences
‘ancient’ language with many
grammatical features still visible that
have disappeared from more recent
languages
examples: grammatical cases
Quenya: Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Poss.
Instr.
Quenya
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but also
Ablativ: mindonna = from the tower
Lokativ: mindosse = at the tower
Allativ: mindollo = to the tower
plural forms: dual, general plural,
collective plural (lasset, lassi, lasseli)
dual: máryat = her two hands (má =
hand, rya = her, t = dual)
Quenya & Sindarin
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Sindarin used as language of everyday
communication
Sindarin also spoken by the Dunedain
of Gondor
Quenya & Sindarin
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differences Quenya vs. Sindarin:
S kept original th (> Q s):
Q Isil vs. S Ithil (moon)
Q mb, nd, ng > m, n / S b, d, g => *mba(Ambar, Q world) = home =>
Q mar, S bar
Q plural endings
S plural vowel mutation: amon (hill) emyn, tulus (poplar tree) - tylys (cf. Imutation)
Quenya & Sindarin
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in Sindarin the word-beginnings may
also change according to their
environment (a typical characteristic of
Celtic languages) => Welsh model for
Sindarin; but with many exceptions!
Example:
Lasto beth nîn. - Listen to my voice.
beth is a weakened form of peth ‘voice’
Quenya & Sindarin
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pedo mellon a minno
Gandalf: Speak, friend, and enter.
should have been read: Speak ‘friend’
and enter.
but the correct Sindarin should then
have read:
pedon vellon a minno (weakening of
‘mellon’ as the object of the sentence)
=> Gandalf was right, Celebrimbor had
made a slight (but vital) mistake.
Beyond LotR
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The Silmarillion
The Hobbit
Unfinished Tales
History of Middle-earth (HoME)
Smith of Wootton Major
Farmer Giles of Ham
Roverandom
Father Christmas Letters
Tolkien the Academic
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Tree and Leaf
The Monsters and the Critics
Beyond Tolkien
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…….
Philip Pullman: The Golden Compass,
The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass
The Road Goes Ever On
2. Tolkien-Seminar der
Deutschen Tolkien Gesellschaft
15.-17. April 2005
FSU Jena
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