Sindarin
king’s letter
King’s Letter
Elements
Word Gloss Aragorn Arathornion Edhelharn “Aragorn Arathorn’s son the Elfstone” aran Gondor ar Arnor ar Hîr i Mbair Annui “king of Gondor and Arnor and Lord of the Westlands” anglennatha i Varanduiniant erin dolothen Ethuil “will approach the Bridge of Baranduin on the eighth day of Spring” egor ben genediad Drannail erin Gwirith edwen “or in the Shire-reckoning the second day of April” ar e aníra ennas suilannad mhellyn în phain “and he desires to greet there all his friends” edregol e aníra tírad i Cherdir Perhael (i sennui Panthael estathar aen) Condir i Drann “in especial he desires to see Master Samwise (who should be called Fullwise) Mayor of the Shire” ar Meril bess dîn, ar Elanor, Meril, Glorfinniel, ar Eirien sellath dîn “and Rose his wife; and Elanor, Rose, Goldilocks and Daisy his daughters” ar Iorhael, Gelir, Cordof, ar Baravorn, ionnath dîn “and Frodo, Merry, Pippin and Hamfast his sons” a Pherhael ar am Meril suilad uin aran o Minas Tirith nelchaenen ned Echuir “to Samwise and Rose the King’s greeting from Minas Tirith, the thirty-first day of Stirring”
This document, the longest extent text in Sindarin, was part of an the omitted epilogue to The Lord of the Rings written in the early 1950s and first published by Christopher Tolkien on in Sauron Defeated in 1992 (SD/128-131). It was a letter from Aragorn to Sam informing Sam of the king’s impending visit. Christopher Tolkien described three versions of the text, with various translations. Another version, the earliest draft, was published in J.R.R. Tolkien, the Art of the Manuscript in 2023 (AotM/63).
The analysis here is based on the first version of the letter given by Christopher Tolkien, which has the clearest English translation on SD/128. However, the final uin is altered to ned as in the final version (SD/129). Other than this change, the only major differences in the three versions given by Christopher Tolkien is in word order and the inclusion of ar Arnor “and Arnor” among the lands ruled by Aragorn. The earliest draft has a few additional differences.