Sindarin
Sindarin or Grey-elven is the most common language of the Elves in the Third Age. Originally used by the Sindar (Grey-elves) of Doriath in Beleriand, it was picked up by the Noldor in exile, who started to speak their language, Quenya, only when amongst themselves. After the War of Wrath and the destruction of Beleriand, the remnants of these Elves fled to the kingdoms of their cousins, the Silvan Elves. The Sindarin tongue was quickly adopted and replaced the Silvan tongue, which now survives mainly in the names of various places.[1]
Sindarin was also used by the Men of Númenor, whose ancestors learned it from the Elves. It fell out of use as most Númenóreans forsook their friendship with the Elves, but the Faithful, those who remained Elf-friends, kept it. Sindarin was used in the realms these Elf-friends founded after the destruction of Númenor: Gondor and Arnor. Even then, however, Westron was much more commonly spoken, and among Men Sindarin has come to be used mostly only for names of places and people. In Gondor, Sindarin is only spoken daily by those living around Minas Tirith and Dol Amroth.[2]
As it is such a widespread language, many places where Sindarin is not spoken, and their people and creatures, are commonly referred to by Sindarin names by outsiders. A good example of this is Forochel "Northern Ice" and its inhabitants the Lossoth "Snow-horde", who call themselves Lumi-väki, and the Gauredain "Wolf-men".
Sindarin has grammatical rules unlike many other languages. Chief among these are mutation and umlaut. Mutation refers to the modifying of initial consonants in words following other words and in compounds. Umlaut is the "heightening" of vowel sounds, used forming compounds containing i and in plurals.
Common Terms
See External Links for many more definitions and details.
Directions
- forod, forn - north
- rhûn, amrûn - east
- harad, harn - south
- dûn, annûn - west
Colours
- baran - golden brown
- calen, laeg - green
- caran, naru, ruin - red
- celebrin - silvery
- glaur - gold
- luin - blue
- malen - yellow
- mith, thin(d) - grey
- morn - black
- nim, fain - white
- rhosc, rhosg - brown
- ross - coppery
Geography
- ael, loeg - pool
- amon, dol - hill
- cirith - cleft
- duin, sîr - river
- eryn, glâd, taur - forest
- falas - shore
- gwaith - region, folk
- imlad, nan - valley
- lang - passage
- orod - mountain
- nen - water, lake
- parth - field
- talath - plain
- tol - island
- -an(d), (n)dor, -ian(d), -ien - land
Habitations
- bar, bâr - home
- barad, minas - tower
- gobel - (walled) town
- lond - haven
- ost, garth - fortress
People
- bess - woman
- adan - Man (the race, particularly those whose ancestors were the Elf-friends of Beleriand)
- dîr - man (adult male)
- edhel - Elf
- -eth - feminine suffix
- gwaith - folk
- gwen - maiden
- hadhod, naug - Dwarf
- iell, sell - daughter
- ion - son
- -on - masculine suffix
- orch - Orc
- perian - Hobbit
Objects and Substances
- amath, thand - shield
- ang - iron
- celeb - silver
- crist - cleaver
- gond, sarn - stone
- hathol - axe
- lang, magol, megil - sword
- malt - gold
- raud - metal
- rust - copper
- sigil - dagger, necklace
- tawar - wood
External Links
- Sindarin - Tolkien Gateway
- Realelvish.net - site with many resources for learning Sindarin
- Hiswelókë's Sindarin Dictionary - dictionary featuring English-to-Sindarin and Sindarin-to-English word lists
- Parf Edhellen - searchable dictionary site featuring Tolkien's languages, including a lot of Sindarin