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Sí qente Feanor
English
Qenya
Sarati

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“Néri ur natsi nostalen máre,
ar váro naltur an ómi karmar ulqe núsimar.”
Sí qente Feanor n·istaléra varúse qentier
nóvo san i malto ísier i nosta.
“Qarda qentien no máre nar i hondor nérinwe,
ar ómu nalto úsiére i limbelu tuktalla nai mára,
nalto fustúme ma Melkon i var limpilto var túkielto –
en i úmavaisor listanelto in otso qarda.”
“Men are not beings good by nature,
but rather are they to all deeds evil inclined.”
Now said Feanor the wise in other manner than was said before
by those from whom this birth was known.
“Less than good, I said, are the hearts of these men,
and although their having escaped the long search may be good,
they can be smelled by Melko whom they are bound to or have looked for –
there on the throne of hate they blessed the great evil.”

Commentary
Sí qente Feanor “Now said Fëanor” comes from one of the notebooks in which Tolkien wrote The Book of Lost Tales, his first version of the tales that ultimately became The Silmarillion. It is in the same notebook than the tale of the Nauglafring (the Necklace of the Dwarves), but the association is otherwise more than flimsy. This prose Qenya text was published in transcription with a detailed analysis and a translation by Christopher Gilson in Parma Eldalamberon n° 15. We replaced the macrons of the original by acute accents – following Christopher Tolkien’s choice when transcribing Qenya names – and edited the punctuation (it is quite scanty in the original). The translation is Christopher Gilson’s.

The text is transcribed in sarati or “letters of Rúmil”, written vertically from top to bottom and from left to right. The signs are used according to Tolkien’s valuation for Quenya. We made use of Måns Björkman Berg’s typeface Sarati Eldamar.  Open this mode in Glaemscribe

References
Parma Eldalamberon: The Book of Elven-tongues. Edited by Christopher Gilson. Cupertino (California): 1971-  . 🌍 Eldalamberon.

The works of John Ronald Reuel and Christopher Tolkien are under the copyright of their authors and/or rights holders, including their publishers and the Tolkien Estate.
Quotations from other authors, editors and translators mentioned in the bibliography are under the copyright of their publishers, except for those whose copyright term has ended.
Last update of the site: September 22nd 2019. Contact us: