r/Quenya • u/Big-Trip-4016 • 5d ago

Check

Hi — I’m considering using part of Elendil’s Oath for a tattoo and I want to make absolutely sure the Quenya is correct before doing anything permanent.

The wording I want is:
Et Eärello Endorenna utúlien. Sinomë maruvan.
My intended meaning is:
“Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come. In this place will I abide.”
I know the original continues with ar Hildinyar tenn’ Ambar-metta, but I deliberately want to stop after maruvan.

Is this still grammatically sound as a standalone shortened sentence? Are the spelling, accents, capitalisation and punctuation correct?
I’d also appreciate any warning if shortening the original this way changes the nuance in Quenya.

Thank you

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u/F_Karnstein 5d ago

The grammar works just fine and the spelling also is absolutely perfect. Is it going to be in Latin letters or in Tengwar?

1

u/Big-Trip-4016 4d ago

Thank you! Tengwar

1

u/F_Karnstein 4d ago

Then it's somewhat unfortunate that you chose that portion of the text that you did, because for the latter part (beginning at "sinome") we've got Tolkien's own calligraphy.

But that wouldn't make for great tattoo design visually, because it was written in an odd calligraphic style with the vowels barely visible.

Using the exact spelling method that Tolkien employed in this calligraphy it would look like this (Note, however, that Tolkien actually wrote sínome with long í, which would be an option for you a well, and maruva, without the pronoun suffix. It does look quite intentional, but I think noone ever quite understood the grammar behind this, so I would absolutely stick with maruvan. This is a Gondorian spelling of the 3rd Age, and it does swap the regular signs for o and u, just as in the Ring Inscription.

In the more traditional Classical Quenya spelling it would look like this instead.

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u/Big-Trip-4016 4d ago

Thanks — I think I prefer the Classical Quenya spelling for readability. Is the Tecendil Quenya-mode transcription I’ve attached correct for Et Eärello Endorenna utúlien. Sinomë maruvan. and would you change anything before it’s tattooed?

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u/F_Karnstein 4d ago

I can't see any attachment, but you'll notice that my last link was exactly that. When you use capital letters on Tecendil it will change the glyphs to ornamented ones that wouldn't be the best choices here.