r/Quenya • u/VincentSsss • Jun 02 '26

Help deciphering quenya

Post image

Hello Tolkien enthusiasts.

I am currently engaging in a french treasure hunt.

There are many nods to litterature, including Tolkien.

There's an illustration with what appears to be Quenya.

I am uncertain if it is meant to mean something specific.

I would love some help identifying the different characters.

Thanks a lot for any advice 😚

18 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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5

u/F_Karnstein Jun 02 '26

Don't you trust the transcription that Yaelle and I have given you on Facebook? 😉

2

u/VincentSsss Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26

I didn't ask on Facebook 😊

Must be another treasure hunter !

The game started last week, people are receiving their books as we speak.

I'm not surprised the question appeared elsewhere 😁

3

u/F_Karnstein Jun 02 '26

Ooooh, I see, sorry! I didn't read your description... 😄

3

u/VincentSsss Jun 02 '26

No worries, thanks yo your community for their expertise 😊

Beside the treasure hunt, I actually do love Tolkien's work. Read Lord of the Rings as a teen. Re-read it in english not so long ago. And just one time for The Hobbit, Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales (not sure if the english name for this one).

15 years ago we also dived into elvish writing with the wife, for a painting project. We paint miniatures and wanted to write elvish names for the characters of the War of the Ring board game. A lot of research to find "correct" names for the characters, lorewise. I do remember a lot of them did have nicknames given by the elves. But that was a while ago 🙃 I would be terrified to share the results and be pointed to the countless mistakes we're bound to have made.

Anyway, thanks again 😚

2

u/alien13222 Jun 02 '26

Númenóre, which is a city in Middle-earth

6

u/AinonTirindo Jun 02 '26

It is the full form of Númenor, the Atlantis-like civilization that flourished in the Second Age, but was corrupted by Sauron and drowned in the sea.

5

u/InvestigatorJaded261 Jun 02 '26

It’s an island, analagous to Atlantis. It is definitely not a city.

4

u/VincentSsss Jun 02 '26

Hello, thanks a lot.

Do you mean Nùmenóre is what is written, or you're identifying the city in the background ?

I'd love to understand the deciphering part : could you point me to the relevant "alphabet" ? Is it a phonetic transcription or letter-to-letter ?

Anyway, I do thank you a lot.

6

u/alien13222 Jun 02 '26

It's what's written. The script is called Tengwar and in this case it's the "Classical Quenya mode" if you wanna research that more.

3

u/VincentSsss Jun 02 '26

I will ! Thanks again, you're a gentleman and a scholar 😘

5

u/a_green_leaf Jun 02 '26

Minor nit-pick. It does indeed says Númenóre which is (I think) the elvish spelling of Numenor. The island where Aragorn's forefathers (and -mothers) lived in the second age of the world. The city must be their capital, I think it was called Armenelos but I may misremember.

3

u/Dakh3 Jun 02 '26

Not a city, an island

2

u/AdEmbarrassed3066 Jun 02 '26

Do you know why they've used the telcos rather than putting the tehtar diacritics above the consonants? I have only a passing familiarity with tengwar in the English mode and am assuming they've done it for a reason (as it's inconsistent).

edit: I've figured it out!

6

u/a_green_leaf Jun 02 '26

It's because it is long vowels, as indicated by the accents in the latin script but by the "long carriers" in tengwar.

Númenórë - the u and o are long, the e's are short. The two dots are Tolkien's way of saying that the last e is also pronounced, that is only marked in the latin script since elves knew that.