_ pron. _me.
Sindarin
nín
adjective. my
nin
pronoun. me
nín
pronoun. my
nin
pronoun. me
nin
pronoun. me
nîn
wet
_ adj. _wet. Q. nenya. >> Nindalf
nîn
noun. tear, tear; [ᴱN.] weeping
nîn
adjective. wet, watery
nínui
noun/adjective. watery
nínui
noun/adjective. the month of february
ae adar nín
Ae Adar Nín
Tolkien’s translation of the Lord’s Prayer into Sindarin, composed sometime in the 1950s, first published in the “Ae Adar Nín” article in Vinyar Tengwar #44 (VT44/21). According to Bill Welden, it is written on the back of the postcard used to write version V (the second-to-last version) of Átaremma, Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the same prayer. Tolkien omitted the last two lines of the prayer from the Sindarin translation.
Tolkien did not provide an explicit translation, so the English text is from the common English translation of this prayer among Catholics. English words with no Sindarin counterpart are in brackets. Further discussion can be found in the analysis of the individual phrases. My analysis largely follows that of Bill Welden’s “Ae Adar Nín” article (VT44/21-30), though I also consulted David Salo’s analysis of the prayer (GS/231-3).
ae adar nín i vi menel
our Father who [art] in Heaven
The first line of Ae Adar Nín, Tolkien’s Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer (VT44/21). The first word Ae is probably a variation of the vocative a “O”. The second word is adar “father”, modified by the possessive pronoun nín “my”, with the adjectival element following the noun as is usual in Sindarin. The fourth word is i “who” followed by vi the lenited form of mi “in” and menel “heaven”. There is no Sindarin word for “to be” in this phrase, as there is in English (“art”).
Both Bill Welden and David Salo point out (VT44/22, GS/231) that Tolkien’s use of the 1st-person-singular possessive pronoun nín “my” in this first phrase (where the original prayer had “our”) is somewhat peculiar, since elsewhere in the prayer he used mín for the 1st-person-plural possessive “our”. Bill Welden suggested that Tolkien may have use the 1st-singular here to connote greater intimacy (VT44/22).
As pointed out by Bill Welden (VT44/23-4), Tolkien did not use Q. menel for the Christian Heaven in the final Quenya version of the prayer, replacing it with the name Q. Eruman. Elsewhere, S. menel properly referred only to “the heavens” (holding the stars) and its application to the Christian Heaven would not be appropriate (MR/387). Perhaps Tolkien would have replace S. Menel with a Sindarinized form ✱Eruvan of the Quenya name, if he had made the same change in the Sindarin prayer.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> ae Adar nín i vi Menel = “✱O Father mine who [art] in Heaven”
alae! ered en echoriath, ered e·mbar nín
[?behold!] the mountains of Echoriath, the mountains of my home!
nin
me
(object form of ”I”) nin; as indirect object anim or enni ”for myself, (to) me”.
nín
my
nín (following a noun with article: i adar nín, ”my father”). Not to be confused with nîn ”watery, wet” or as noun ”tear”, or the pl. form of nên ”water”. In a very few attested cases, the pronoun ”my” appears as an ending -en added to a noun (lammen ”my tongue”, guren ”my heart”).
nín
my
(following a noun with article: i adar nín, ”my father”). Not to be confused with nîn ”watery, wet” or as noun ”tear”, or the pl. form of nên ”water”. – In a very few attested cases, the pronoun ”my” appears as an ending -en added to a noun (lammen ”my tongue”, guren ”my heart”).
nîn
watery
(wet); no distinct pl. form. Note: nîn is also used as a noun ”tear” and as the pl. form of nên ”water”; there is also the possessive pronoun nín ”my”.
nínui
5~B5hJ adjective. tearful
Nîn (tear) + -ui (full, having that quality).
nínui
watery
(tearful); no distinct pl. form
-en
suffix. my
a
o
; O Elbereth Gilthoniel A Elbereth Gilthoniel. The alternative form ae may be used when the next word begins in a: Ae Adar nín, O my Father (VT44:23). By another theory, ae represents a + the definite article i (✱a i Adar nín "o the Father of mine").
nend
watery
1) nend (pl. nind), 2) nîn (wet); no distinct pl. form. Note: nîn is also used as a noun ”tear” and as the pl. form of nên ”water”; there is also the possessive pronoun nín ”my”. 3) nínui (tearful); no distinct pl. form
nírnaeth
tear-gnashing
; no distinct pl. form. 2) nîn; no distinct pl. form; pl. níniath. Note: nîn is also used as a noun ”tear” and as the pl. form of nên ”water”; there is also the possessive pronoun nín ”my”.
nîd
wet
nîd (damp, tearful); no distinct pl. form. 4) nîn (watery); no distinct pl. form. Note: nîn is also used as a noun ”tear”; there is also the possessive pronoun nín ”my”.
nîd
wet
(damp, tearful); no distinct pl. form. 4) nîn (watery); no distinct pl. form. Note: nîn is also used as a noun ”tear”; there is also the possessive pronoun nín ”my”.
nend
watery
(pl. nind)
a
interjection. o
interj. o. A Elbereth Gilthoniel 'O Elbereth Who lit the Stars'.
enni
pronoun. to me
gêl
noun. weeping
limp
adjective. wet
loen
adjective. soaking wet, swamped
limp
adjective. wet
limp
wet
(no distinct pl. form).
loen
soaking wet
(swamped), no distinct pl. form.
mesc
wet
1) mesc (lenited vesc, pl. misc). Also spelt mesg. 2) limp (no distinct pl. form). 3)
mesc
wet
(lenited vesc, pl. misc). Also spelt mesg.
nend
adjective. watery
nîr
tear
_(noun) _1) nîr (construct nir) (weeping). No distinct pl. form; coll. pl. níriath. Noun ”
nîr
tear
(construct nir) (weeping). No distinct pl. form; coll. pl. níriath. Noun ”
nîr
weeping
nîr (construct nir) (tear). No distinct pl. form; coll. pl. níriath.
nîr
weeping
(construct nir) (tear). No distinct pl. form; coll. pl. níriath.
The acute accent in nín has sometimes been regarded as an error for a slanted macron in the manuscript, since all the other attested personal adjectives from Sauron defeated all have a circumflex accent. It was however noted that if the acute accent is confirmed, then this word is probably an enclitic, see HL/73. The acute accent is now confirmed by VT/44