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Stālāg Corpus


Namárië

Ai! laurië lantar lassi súrinen,
Yéni únótimë ve rámar aldaron!
Yéni ve lintë yuldar avánier
mi oromardi lisse-miruvóreva
Andúnë pella, Vardo tellumar
nu luini yassen tintilar i eleni
ómaryo airetári-lírinen.
Sí man i yulma nin enquantuva?
An sí Tintallë Varda Oiolossëo
ve fanyar máryat Elentári ortanë
ar ilyë tier undulávë lumbulë;
ar sindanóriello caita mornië
i falmalinnar imbë met, ar hísië
untúpa Calaciryo míri oialë.
Si vanwa ná, Rómello vanwa, Valimar!
Namárië! Nai hiruvalyë Valimar.
Nai elyë hiruva. Namárië!

J. R. R. Tolkien, “The Lord of the Rings”, “The Fellowship of the Ring”, ch. 8, “Farewell to Lórien”


In English: “Ah! like gold fall the leaves in the wind, long years numberless as the wings of trees! The long years have passed like swift draughts of the sweet mead in lofty halls beyond the West, beneath the blue vaults of Varda wherein the stars tremble in the song of her voice, holy and queenly. Who now shall refill the cup for me? For now the Kindler, Varda, the Queen of the Stars, from Mount Everwhite has uplifted her hands like clouds, and all paths are drowned deep in shadow; and out of a grey country darkness lies on the foaming waves between us, and mist covers the jewels of Calacirya for ever. Now lost, lost to those from the East is Valimar! Farewell! Maybe thou shalt find Valimar. Maybe even thou shalt find it. Farewell!”


In Stālāg

Ā! Ktōtawō ssē kwōru zērō ar alikyĕ,
Talhu sab dmŏllurram nok pårissa lasta jur!
Talhu sab kos īzlesasĕmi ybis dultēbō din åtta utsumma ssē
Nēmō kēkey azga lutuggya ar
Vardaro ttenna hazŏbuhhwa li
Nīr dēwu īlbalĕ takkezō hytusō ōnamo, sunaddō na keziggō, aro.
Itar atto i hjker ū tta kidindelorā?
Atto kē Dakådr, Varda, Dēwwa Keznamr,
Attikobĕko Nosō uts skuhyō ssē takkezō widu isaduddot,
Na ås ōbalu kos zdulō yĕddo li nus;
Na nīzō kwano utso dokonikk erdos llō kåpo lihisō jdessa nnar,
Na otī kos Kalakirjō jekkjetu ŏs hēzāzo attikō lē.
Ttilān atto, ziazō uts nīn dis Valimar ttilos!
Juyō ar! Lal Valimar isiskasazĕ ba.
Lal ye isiskasazĕ. Juyō ar!


Comments

The original version of this poem, whose name means “Farewell”, was written in Quenya, possibly the most beautiful-sounding constructed language, created by J. R. R. Tolkien and appearing in “The Lord of the Rings” and other works. (If you saw the first movie of the LotR trilogy, there are several bits of Quenya in there, though not this song.) Namárië is sung by Galadriel, the Lady of the Elvish kingdom of Lothlórien. Explaining the meaning of the lyrics would require a long recounting of the Tolkien mythos, but in short, it is an exile’s lament for the lost country, the blessed land of Valimar, from which she has been banished by Varda, one of the Powers that rule the World.


Interlinear translation

 1. ā! ktōtawō ssē  kwōru  zērō ar alikyĕ
    ah gold-O  like leaves wind in fall-3p

 2. talhu sab   dmŏllurram nok pårissa lasta   jur
    long  years uncounted  3p  trees-O wings-O as

 3. talhu sab   kos īzlesasĕmi ybis    dultēbō din
    long  years P   passed-3p  sweet-O mead-O  of

    åtta   utsumma    ssē
    fast-O draughts-O like

 4. nēmō   kēkey  azga   lutuggya ar
    west-O behind tall-O halls-O  in

 5. Vardaro ttenna hazŏbuhhwa li
    Varda-O blue-O vaults-O   under

 6. nīr   dēwu  īlbalĕ     takkezō hytusō  ōnamo,
    where stars tremble-3p 3sFH-O  voice-O song-O

    sunaddō na keziggō,   aro
    holy-O  and queenly-O in-O

 7. itar atto i    hjker ū  tta kidindelorā?
    who  now  that cup   1s to  refill-3s-3s-PRO

 8. atto kē  Dakådr, Varda, Dēwwa   Keznamr,
    now  FRU kindler Varda  stars-O queen

 9. Attikobĕko     Nosō       uts  skuhyō  ssē
    always:white-O mountain-O from cloud-O like

    takkezō widu  isaduddot,
    3sFH-O  hands raise-3s-3p-PRF

10. na  ås  ōbalu kos zdulō  yĕddo    li    nus;
    and all paths P   deep-O shadow-O under are

11. na  nīzō   kwano  utso   dokonikk llō kåpo
    and grey-O land-O from-O darkness 1pO between-O

    lihisō jdessa  nnar erdos,
    foam-O waves-O over stand-3s

12. na  otī  kos Kalakirjō   jekkjetu ŏs
    and mist P   Calacirya-O diamonds APP:LOC

    hēzāzo       attikō   lē
    cover-APV-3s always-O up_to

13. ttilān   atto, ziazō  uts  nīn     dis   Valimar ttilos
    lost-CMB now   east-O from COP-CMB about Valimar lost-3s

14. juyō    ar! lal Valimar isiskasazĕ ba.
    peace-O in  2s  Valimar find-As-3s DES

15. lal ye isiskasazĕ. juyō    ar!
    2s  A  find-As-3s  peace-O in


Notes

  1. In line 4, kēkey ‘behind’ is actually a deictic, not a preposition; it means ‘the place behind the line of sight’, and is used in this context and similar ones in the sense of ‘beyond the horizon’.
  2. The possessive that refers to Varda is not the common 3rd person feminine singular possessive, but the oblique form of the honorific feminine pronoun, takkezō. This shows the degree of reverence due to the Queen of the Stars.
  3. In line 7 there’s an interesting polymorphemic word, kidindelorā ‘s/he will refill it’. The root is kid- ‘full’. Then comes -in, which is a verb former (it makes causative verbs from adjectives, ‘full’ → ‘fill’). And finally -del-, which is an iterative affix (‘re-’).
  4. In line 8, the root of Dakådr ‘kindler’ is dak(r)- ‘fire’; the affix shows an agent or habitual performer.
  5. The particle kē is the so-called frustrative attitudinal mark; in this case it shows something that went wrong from the point of view of the speaker.
  6. Line 12 shows the use of the antipassive voice (hēzāzo ‘it covers’) to allow a formerly agentive verb to take a non-agentive subject. Since otī ‘mist’ is an inanimate subject, it cannot be the subject of the basic verb hēzo ‘s/he covers it’. The locative applicative ŏs shows the function of the former patient.
  7. In line 13, ttil- is glossed as an adjective (‘lost’), though it is in fact a stative verb (‘be lost’), which should be interpreted as middle or passive, according to context.
  8. In the same line, dis ‘about’ is a general (discursive) topic marker, which may be better glossed as ‘regarding’, ‘with respect to’, ‘relative to’.
  9. In line 14, juyō ar, literally ‘in peace’, is intended as a greeting; juy means ‘inner peace’, especially achieved by meditation. The particle ba is a desiderative attitudinal mark.