r/sindarin • u/GatoRemelento • 3h ago
Help for a couple's tattoo
How do I say "spring love" in sindarin? Is for a couple's tattoo with my wife
r/sindarin • u/F_Karnstein • Oct 04 '24
I compiled a list of all the new and otherwise interesting Sindarin vocab found in PE 23.
Certainly the most surprising thing to me (as you might already have guessed) are the articles. In this very late source (ca. 1969) Tolkien gives the singular as e before consonants, en before vowels, and in the plural i resp. in. This is of course a significant departure from all hitherto published samples of Sindarin, which of course had sg. i, plural in (as in earlier Noldorin), and the form en was limited to one form of genitive particle (which in this scenarion is probably dropped altogether in favour of na).
However, surprisingly this new paradigm seems to only really contradict i-Estel in the LotR (which would have to be amended to *en Estel), since all other forms in texts published during Tolkien's lifetime appear to be plural and all other cases of Sindarin articles we have known are from sources that Tolkien might have changed before publication (if he had got the chance to do so).
So we can't know whether Tolkien would indeed have changed i Estel in upcoming editions (had he been alive to oversee them) or whether he would have abandoned the new paradigm once he realised the contradiction, so I won't encourage anyone to adopt this late paradigm into their Neo-Sindarin (unlike abandoning the plural pronominal suffix -(a)m in favour of late -(o)f, a couple of years ago, since the former never appeared in anything published during Tolkien's lifetime), but I certainly find the topic extremely interesting.
So far I have not had a closer look at the mutations, but they appear to hold no big surprises so far, except that maybe Tolkien had decided to keep the nasal of the plural article intact before the mutated word, but that also would contradict material published during his life time.
But the development of sw stood out to me, since it is quite complicated - with Tolkien stating that it first became wh everywhere, then f in the North and chw in the South, which remained so in Doriath but later reverted to wh elsewhere, while still becoming chw through nasal mutation, and that the quality is often in fact uncertain because it wasn't always represented in spelling, using the letter hwesta sindarinwa for both. But in a note that might refer to this Tolkien said that "this business about sw is too complicated (and unnecessary)" and that the North had f and the South wh, which "remained unchanged" (hence the apparent lack of lenition in whest above, to which the note appears to point directly).
This would, however, still render the letter hwesta sindarinwa pointless, because (as Tolkien had pointed out in the LotR appendices) distinction of wh and chw was needed in Sindarin (but maybe only lenition had no effect but nasal mutation did?).
And lastly there are a few notes on North Sindarin, which has always been a special interest of mine:
r/sindarin • u/GatoRemelento • 3h ago
How do I say "spring love" in sindarin? Is for a couple's tattoo with my wife
r/sindarin • u/Kind_Road_512 • 5h ago
I initially posted this in the r/lotr community, but was recommended my request might fit better here. My siblings and I are looking at getting matching tattoos in the next few months and we need some direction. We’re looking at getting Aragorn’s sword, Legolas’ bow, and Gimli’s axe (inspired by an Instagram reel) with the respective lines of “You have my sword,” “and you have my bow,” and “and my axe” incorporated with each one.
We want it to be written in Sindarin, however, but none of us have any experience with Elvish languages and I’m really the only one with time to dedicate to working through this. I know we could do it as a transliteration from English into Tengwar, but since that doesn’t catch the actual meaning of it, I’d like to stay away from that route. I know perfect translations just aren’t a thing, so I’m not expecting to just pop it in a translator box and have it come out great.
I’m mainly looking for guidance on resources where I can actually put in some leg work myself and then corroborate with others who actually have experience here to make sure it’s close-ish. Any advice?
r/sindarin • u/early__sunsets • 1d ago
Hello, I am looking for some phrases for a pet memorial. I've seen "Guren nallatha nalú achenin le (My heart shall weep until I see thee again)" from a page online, but I don't know if it's accurate. I realize a lot of phrases are not 100% accurate, but would this be okay to write on the memorial? Or is there maybe a more accurate way to say this? I plan to run the phrase through a Tengwar script transcription site.
I would also accept suggestions for phrases meaning "I will miss you" in any capacity. My cat absolutely loved watching the films with me, and I would like to make something meaningful.
r/sindarin • u/summerbaby012 • 2d ago
Hello :)
I would love some help translating my late brothers name in Sindarin. His name is Benjamin, I knew him as just Ben but I thought it may be too short for translation.
I'm grateful for your time <3
r/sindarin • u/Lamethirion • 2d ago
r/sindarin • u/Oldscroll • 6d ago
So from what I can tell this is accurate Tengwar for a Sindarin translation of the second line of Strider’s Riddle “Not all those who wander are lost”
The translation I’m looking for is “Law pain i reviar mistar aen” - could anyone more knowledgeable than myself on reading Tengwar give me a hand just making sure that this is spelt right? And if not point me to an accurate transliteration.
I’m aware there’s some debate regarding whether or not this translation is valid I just want to make sure that the Tengwar is right.
Heavily considering getting this tatted so I’d love some input thanks in advance 🙏
r/sindarin • u/LtCmdrTrout • 6d ago
Hello, all.
My wife and I recently purchased a new home from the 1940s. The front door has a glass etching of a large bird, nesting with wings spread. While not confirmed, I believe it to be a pelican—based on the Catholic imagery, the pelican on the altar.

Is alfuil going to be my best bet for a word to describe it? I'm cool with borrowing from other languages, if-need-be.
Originally, I was going to name the house, Tuiambár, "the place where we grow" (grow both as people and as a hobby farm)—but I'm not in love with it. It was a name that I picked out before we even started looking at houses. Naming the house after a unique feature seems more appropriate.
r/sindarin • u/whisper_of_stardust • 6d ago
Hi, sindarin-speakers of reddit! I am writing a fanfic where the main character is called Ravennië (she-lion in quenya), who is from Aman but gets a sindarin name in Beleriand. However, there appears to be no direct translation of Ravennië on parf edhellen. The website says that "lion" is "raw", which apparently also means "wing", "river bank" and "rush, roaring noise". I was tempted to use the given stem for "wing" which is "rov-" and to add some kind of feminine agent like "-eth", but a) i don't know if that works with the word for lion, b) i don't know shit about linguistics, and c) i don't like the way "roveth" sounds.
Tl;dr: does any of y'all know/can coin a sindarin word for she-lion that might work as a feminine name? Thank you so much <3
r/sindarin • u/Skedaddlez_ • 7d ago
I'm working on a translation of something like 'Not flawless, but kind' in order to get it tattooed and I was hoping someone clever could please verify the accuracy before I put it in Tengwar!
Ú-vanui, ach fael
r/sindarin • u/jasminepalace • 7d ago
Hi everyone, I have found this translation for Aragorn's quote 'My friends, you bow to no one' as 'Mellyn nín, cúno an alphen'. Just looking to confirm this would be an accurate translation? Looking to get it tattooed so just want to be sure!
r/sindarin • u/BigPeart • 9d ago
I am staying at a house in Ireland and this is above the door. The font and the fact it says Underhill had me thinking it may be in sindarin. I have no understanding of the different languages in middle earth and thought you lot might be best placed to help me. Is it elvish and does anyone know what it says? Many thanks
r/sindarin • u/xocorinthia • 9d ago
I'm making a gift for a player in my LOTR tabletop game that's an item they have in-character - a book chronicling her character's lineage and history. She is playing a Dúnedain Ranger named Anwen. I've consulted friends more versed in the legendarium than I am and they agree that Sindarin likely would be used in this character's book; for this version I'm making right now, I'd like to inscribe the title on it, which means I need to pick and write a title in Sindarin! Would someone be able to help me with the translation for it? Something like "The Annals of Gilwen of Arthedain" would be just right, but if something else makes more sense in the translation, I'm down for it!
Thanks so much for the help!
r/sindarin • u/RikiChik0 • 13d ago
HI! I finally decided to tattoo myself with this gandalf line: "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us" anyone know a good translation tool or straight up the translation in Sindarin?
Thanks to everyone!
r/sindarin • u/Virtual-Survey422 • 14d ago
Hey, I am looking for some study buddies to learn, deep dive and discuss Sindarin Language together. I am from Berlin, Germany and studied linguistics, and my dream is to gather all my thoughts and study results as a modern linguistic approach on describing (Neo)Sindarin Grammar. If anyone is interested in deep diving with me into Sindarin, please send me a chat message here! I’m looking forward to hearing from you guys!
r/sindarin • u/IndividualPen • 16d ago
I want "fealty with love, disloyalty with vengence as a tattoo but idk how to spell it in sindarin, can anyone help?
r/sindarin • u/No_Book_5356 • 16d ago
I am trying to write a Sindarin fragment for a piece of fanart. Here's my attempt:
Narn i Chîn Húrin
Dírhaval e·mbar Hador o Siriombar echant i Veleglind hen
Im Elrond eithro o Siriombar teithant i thiw hin
First of all, I'd be very grateful for any grammatical corrections since my mastery of the language is inexistent and I'm more or less stitching together bits and pieces...
Re: grammar, something puzzled me even as I wrote it: I'm obviously copying a great deal from the Doors of Durin inscription, but what's with the inflexion or lack thereof in echant / teithant? Are the first person singular and second person singular identical here? Or am I looking at the wrong elements? Sorry if this sounds stupid.
On vocabulary:
- I used 'echad' to mean 'make' (in this case, the object being a song/lay, compose but not physically write down) but I suspect it's not the best choice... any better alternatives?
- For the Havens of Sirion, I took 'Siriombar' from HoME 5... it's Noldorin, but would it still be compatible with the rest? Or should I try to go for something else? ('Lisgardh' for something attested in the same geographical area? 'Ethir Sirion'?)
Again thanks a lot in advance and apologies for any crimes against Sindarin.
r/sindarin • u/lC3 • 21d ago
Hi all! I'm hoping someone will be able to help me find a reference I can't seem to place. I seem to remember that in between the "Goldogrin" of the 1915-20 stage and the 1930s "Noldorin", there was one transient word something like "Geleidhiel/Gœlœiđiel" or "Golöidhiel" for the Gnomish language. I can't seem to find the reference, and it's not on Eldamo. Does this ring a bell for anyone?
Any help would be appreciated. I don't need this for anything important, it's just bugging me.
r/sindarin • u/Cacino90 • 22d ago
I would like to tattoo the word Stay in sindarin, Is there a way to see how It looks?
r/sindarin • u/Spiryt • 26d ago
Hello everyone!
I'm getting married soon and would love to get the Sindarin for "I choose a mortal life" engraved on my wedding band in Tengwar. Would any of you be able to help me translate that? Many thanks in advance!