Comments by Röandil

These are the 10 posts of 143 by Röandil.

  • Translation Help: Sindarin

    This one's tricky, as we don't have examples of such a hortative ("we"-imperative) in late writings. I think in light of that, a simple "we go" is fine.

    "Go" is more likely to be men- in late-period Sindarin, and -m for first-person plural is hard to reconcile with later etymologies, so I'd say exclusive menif ("we, but not you, go") or inclusive menib ("we, and you, go"). Some authors argue that Sindarin lost this clusivity distinction and would recommend -f for both, which I think is fine!

    Another option might be a simple (a) tolo! "(oh) come!" addressed to the group in question.

  • Looking for Sindarin(?) to English assistance, please.

    It’s a blend of Sindarin and Quenya elements, and the intended meaning is a bit hard to parse, actually:

    S. aelin “lakes, pools” + Q. -esse (singular locative suffix) = perhaps “in the pool(s)”? Na is a prepositional form in both languages meaning “to, towards”; they could also mean the Quenya verb ná “is.” Megil is Sindarin: “longsword.” All together, maybe “In the pool(s) is a longsword”?

    I’m lost on hiradhin; hir- is a verb in Quenya meaning “to find,” but there’s also a Goldogrin (early-draft Sindarin) word diradhin “once upon a time” I suppose they might have misread. Thi might be an error for Sindarin thî, a transient form of the adverb “now.” Magol is Noldorin (later-draft Sindarin) for “sword” and was replaced by later megil, used above. So… “once upon a time now a sword”?

    Whatever the intent, it’s very clear they didn’t consult someone familiar with the Elvish languages!

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  • Questions about a cobbled-together name, “ Tarwëndil”

    Approximating English pronunciation, “tar-WEN-dil,” with the second and third syllables rhyming with “when” and “deal” respectively.

    Navigate to this IPA reader, paste /tarˈwɛndil/ into the query bar, select “Carla [Italian]” from the voice dropdown, and click “Read” for a pretty good Elvish accent.

  • Questions about a cobbled-together name, “ Tarwëndil”

    You're very welcome. Please feel free to post any other questions or ideas here! We're a fairly responsive and active community.

  • Questions about a cobbled-together name, “ Tarwëndil”

    I’d recommend against that, too, I’m sorry: taru is a Gnomish (very early draft-Sindarin) noun for “cross, crossing” and so wouldn’t combine sensibly with the -ndil suffix. The corresponding Qenya (again, very early draft-Quenya) form is a noun meaning “horn,” as of an ox or bull.

    We don’t see the form taru in mature, late-period Quenya, so any meaning of a name Tarundil would be pure conjecture.

  • Questions about a cobbled-together name, “ Tarwëndil”

    I see. I don’t want to rain on your parade, but for something as permanent as someone’s name, I’d actually recommend against all these forms in favor of a name already attested.

    Tolkien’s linguistic material is still being (periodically) published, and there’s always a chance that some new note will invalidate a vocabulary item or grammatical framework — a recent major publication, for example, overhauled our understanding of Sindarin verbs almost completely. It’s the same reason I recommend against fully translated tattoos.

  • Questions about a cobbled-together name, “ Tarwëndil”

    It likely was one of those words, yes.

    I’m going to disagree with Tamas, however — while tarwe does fit the phonology of late Quenya, its root (√TARA “across”) later took the form √THAR. Using the same derivational suffix, this would yield *tʰar-wē > þarwe, sarwe in the later conceptual period, so the name should likely rather be þarwendil Þarwendil or Sarwendil.

  • Diligence

    I think the closest match is probably Noldorin (draft-Sindarin) bara "fiery, eager" from the Etymologies. Assuming it holds up in the later conception, this adjective wouldn't be used by itself as a name; you wouldn't, for example, see an Elf just named Bara, but I suppose you could see Faelor i Vara "Faelor the Fiery" (= "eager," "zealous," etc.) as a description of said Faelor.

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  • Request to Review a Hodgepodge Name

    I see. That íle comes from very early draft Quenya (probably mid-late 1910s) and was replaced by later formations.

  • Request to Review a Hodgepodge Name

    We don’t have a word for “midnight” attested in any of the Elvish languages, as far as I can see, so I can’t really speak to its viability for your given meaning.

    With a vowel length correction, it could be Quenya for “Daughter of Every Night”: il- “every, all” + lóme “night” + -iel “-daughter (or general feminine suffix).”