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| Quenya |
| Quenya has it's
roots in Common (Primative) Elvish which was spoken by the Elves who awoke in Cuiviénen.
It is an ancient language spoken by the Vanyar and Noldor who each have their own dialect.
The Ainur of Aman also adopted Quenya after the arrival of the Elves. A few words of
Valarin, the language of the Valar were adopted into Quenya and modified accordingly, but
the Valar encouraged the Elves to form words of their own devising. The revolt of the Noldor brought Quenya to Middle Earth. The Noldor found their lost kin speaking Sindarin and they soon adopted this tongue as well, for the Sindar did not quickly master the language of the Noldor. Quenya began to expand by adopting words from Sindar and Khuzdul, the language of the Dwarves. However, King Thingol of Doriath banned the use of Quenya throughout his realm when he learned of the killing of his Teleri kin by Fëanor's host during the Noldor revolt in Aman. Thus Sindarin came to be the most commonly used language by the Noldor, though they still conversed in Quenya amongst themselves. Eventually the Quenya of the Exiles began to differ slightly from the Quenya of those remaining in Aman. Although Quenya was banned in Thingol's realm, it was learned and used by scholars of the Edain. They may have used the more archaic form of Quenya due to their frequent contact with the Elves of Tol Eressëa and Valinor. The Númenoreans used it in matters of government, place names, and even personal names as was common with the royalty. However, it was never used as a spoken language among the Edain. At the end of the First Age many Noldor had returned to Aman, though some remained in Middle Earth. Through these remaining Noldorin Eldar and the Númenoreans, Quenya was still preserved outside of Aman. In the Second Age, "the noblest tongue in the world" would become banned once again. As the Númenoreans became jealous of Elven immortality, they ceased communications with Tol Erresëa and Valinor. The 20th king of Númenor broke with ancient tradition and took the throne under an Adûnaic name, Adûnakhor, Lord of the West. Under him, the teaching of Quenya and Sindarin was not allowed and they fell out of use. The Elf-friends, the Faithful, kept them alive in secret. Unknown to the ruling parties, they still recieved visits from the Elves, though it was a dangerous practice. The 23rd king, Ar-Gimilzôr completely banned the use of Elven language, even destroying many of the ancient books written in Quenya or Sindarin. Only Adûnaic was permitted. The Elves were also completely banned from the isle of Númenor and those caught welcoming them were punished. Though Ar-Gimilzôr's son Inziladûn turned from the ways of his predecessors and took a Quenya name, Tar-Palantir (Far-Sighted), it was too late. After his death, his faithful daughter Míriel was forced to marry Ar-Pharazôn who brought destruction down upon Numenor. Quenya survived once again outside of Aman when Elendil, Isildur, Anárion and other Faithful escaped the sinking of Númenor. There, they established the realms of Gondor and Arnor where the knowledge and noble traditions of Númenor would continue. The kings reclaimed the custom of taking Quenya names. The Fourth Age saw the last of the Noldor returning to Aman, but Aragorn sought to preserve knowledge of the Eldarin languages in his realm. He took for himself the Quenya name of Elessar Telcontar and his son was given the name of Eldarion. Most likely the rulers of Gondor who followed them kept this tradition and Quenya was not forgotten in Middle Earth while their realm endured. A well known example of Quenya is;
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| The Languages: Return to the list of languages found in J.R.R. Tolkien's writings. |
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