Elvish- How many people can speak or are learning to speak elvish?

[Fyara]

Personally i just started to speak and write it but i will eventually get the hang of it. Once i do get the hang of it oh boy will i ever have fun talking to people.

Elen sila lumenn omentilmo

[Meela]

I will learn eventually, although I'm more interested in the other languages. I saw a book today that teaches you elvish, so I may invest in that and get started.

[elfearz1]

I found a book that teaches Elvish, which I have been looking for FOREVER, but it was $16 and I only had $10 on me at the time. I'm sure it will be gone the next time I go back to the bookstore.

[Amarantha_Daisy]

I'm learning Elvish as well. Sindarin, to be more specific.

What's the title of the book you guys saw? I'll have to keep an eye out for it... smilies/wink.gif

[Knight of Gondor]

Where do you learn it? And the rumor I've heard is that there is the current version, which is the movie and such, and then there's the real Tolkien version.

I'd be interested in picking up a few real phrases, too, but I'd rather concentrate on Spanish for my real language to learn. Adios! smilies/wink.gif

[Shenaran]

I'm learning three Middle Earth languages at once...Quenya, Sindarin, Black Speech/Orkish.

This is the site I use the most.

ardalambion.com (http://ardalambion.com/)

[lady evenstar]

I'm learning to speak Quenya and Sindarin. I know how to write in Tengwar off by heart. I know the whole alphabet. I also did see a book in Borders on all 14 languages but it was $16 so I couldn't get it. I was mad.

[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

I'm working with Quenya lessons from Ardalambion. When I downloaded them I looked some of the exercises and I didn't believe that I could ever say something like :"the woman is watching the greatest ship" in Quenya. The feeling is so amazing when you actually can!

[Child of the 7th Age]

I think some of you may be referring to Ruth Noel's paperback book which is $16 and says it is a guide to all 14 of Tolkien's languages.

I don't speak elvish and am not trying to learn, but I have heard many folk say that this book is not reliable. You are better off going to the Ardalmabion web site. So if you haven't bought it, I would hold off.

sharon

[Fyara]

kool i gotta order me one of those:P

[Arwen1858]

I'd be interested in picking up a few real phrases, too, but I'd rather concentrate on Spanish for my real language to learn. Adios!
Same here. I really need to work on my Spanish more, so I can't really devote too much time to learning Elvish, but I would love to learn a little bit. Would ardalambion be the best place to learn? I know some of the Elvish from the movies, and a few other words, but not much. And where do y'all find books to teach you? Where would I look for those at?
Arwen

[Phervasaion]

I want to learn the language but i can never seem to get round to it. Hopefully i will start soon though.

[Amarantha_Daisy]

I'm taking lessons at Council of Elrond (http://www.councilofelrond.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=EZCMS&file=index) They're really fun smilies/smile.gif They even have homework, hand-corrected by the people who run the site. *huggles site* I highly reccomend it.

I've heard that Ardalambion is a very good site, but I haven't been there myself, as of yet.

I've also heard that Ruth Noel's book isn't a good one... Apparently he makes up a lot of things, and some stuff is totallly *not* Tolkien's Elvish...

[Laivine]

I too would recommend the Ardalambion (http://www.ardalambion.com) site. It deals with things that are pure Tolkien, which in my opinion is quite important if you actually want to learn the languages of Middle Earth. Elvish isn't a complete language, there are many words that doesn't exist in Quenya or Sindarin, and by using Ardalambion you might not get to say anything you want too, but atleast you'll be saying it correct smilies/smile.gif

[ October 25, 2003: Message edited by: Laivine ]

[vanwalossien]

Couldn't possibly agree more Laivine smilies/smile.gif Ardalambion is most reliable, Helge (the guy who made it) really knows what he's talking about. I'm halfway through his Quenya course, and though I'm not very good at it, I'm learning.
As to the question 'How many people can speak or are learning to speak elvish?' the only answer I can think of is; more people than you'd think! smilies/biggrin.gif

[Shenaran]

I'm also using the lessons atCouncil of Erond (http://www.councilofelrond.com/index.php) site, they have put together a good workbook.

[StarJewel]

I am also trying to learn Sindarin, and agree that Ardalambion is one of, if not the best site around. Council of Elrond also has a list of resources, here are a couple that I have checked out:
http://www.elvish.org/gwaith
http://www.jrrvf.com/hisweloke/sindar/

The original language for these sites is not English, just to warn people.

[Airerûthiel]

I started learning Quenya at the Ardalambion website, but I found it a bit long-winded and there was a lot of sifting-through required before getting down to the actual lesson. However I will say that there is a very good Quenya-English dictionary attached to the course (although it doesn't include all the words that appear in the course itself).

I might try Council of Elrond at some point because I really want to learn Elvish...but Ardalambion is good, it's just a question of time. Personally I like my languages in small bite-sized chunks, rather than three-course meals as it were.

[Scott]

As far as I can tell from my own personal experiences, the Noel book is nice for a brief introduction to the languages that Tolkien created, but as far as getting past what the different phrases in the Sil, the Tril, and the Guy in the Hill mean (the Silmarillion, the Lord of the Rings, and the Hobbit smilies/smile.gif), it appears that Noel has never even glanced at the published Etymologies of Tolkien's works. For Sindarin, use the Council of Elrond and Ardalambion as a backup. For Quenya, there's no beating Ardalambion. As for the other languages, there's not too muchthat's been done as far as tutorials that I have seen. Don't get me wrong, though - the Noel book is a good buy and a decent read to get oneself started.
~Scott.

[Orofaniel]

Would ardalambion be the best place to learn?

I wuld without doubt say Adalambion! (http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf)

CoE (Council of Elrond) has only 'shorthened' the lessons from Ardalambion. So, I think that Ardalambion is more 'advanced'. I'm trying to learn Quenya, and I use both of the sites..... smilies/biggrin.gif

I have to say taht CoE have woorkbooks that are pretty good. IN that way you'll do lessons and you 'monitor' will correct you on your mistakes. I've learned a lot from those...Well, at least I think so. smilies/rolleyes.gif

[Galenondowen]

I always try to learn Elvish! And I did stumble into Ardalambion, I'm really glad for that. ^_^ So I tried learning Sindarin first, as my friend recommended, since it's easier... But I wasn't good at gramma, and as soon as I saw the long page of pure text... I felt dizzy... Well, I have high hope in the Quenya course though... But I've been really busy with my upcoming public exam, and I just can't find any time for that... smilies/frown.gif For other Useful languages, I only know Chinese and English... smilies/biggrin.gif

[Whynethelyn]

Quel amrun. Amin esse Whynethelyn. (but you all can call me Whyn or Whyneth)

I'm learning Quenya from this really cool website. It's free and all you have to do is download the lessons. They are easy to understand and they give you a quiz at the end of each lesson. There are 20 lessons in all. It takes a long time, but they teach you all kinds of things including: where to place stress marks, pronunciation, how to take apart and decode words, and a lot more. I've just finished lesson 1 and it was really great. The website is here...
Quenya Course (http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf/qcourse.htm)

[The Elusive Spirit]

I'v tried to learn elvish but I'm having a hard time finding a good source. I have a running list of good and bad sights (more bad than good). Every time I go on a sight to find more info I find out it's bad. I have a book about all the languages but have heard it's unreliable. Also,I can't seem to find time. Plus I'm allready studying German. My advice is to really be carefull about what you find on the net. Many sights are not genuine Tolkien.

[Arwen1858]

Whyn, thanks for putting up the link! It looks good!

Elusive Spirit, does your sig say, 'But why is the Rum gone?' in German? I'm just guessing, and wondered if it meant that.
Arwen

EDIT: YAY!!!! I've made 500 posts!!!!!!!

[ October 30, 2003: Message edited by: Arwen1858 ]

[Failivrin]

i am learning from ardalambion and i really like it. i am on about lesson 6 i htink. i learnt more grammar from those 6 lessons than from 13 years of english, french, german and latin lessons smilies/tongue.gif

[Finwe]

I wouldn't really recommend Ruth Noel's book because of a few discrepancies in her Quenya grammar. I know that normally such a slight should be overlooked, but I would much rather trust the Ardalambion site, where I completed all the lessons. Of course, that was a few months ago, so now I forgot everything and have to go back and do them all over again.

As to the discrepancies in Noel's book, they have to do with the aorist tense and the past tense in Quenya. Ardalambion uses the most recently published information about Tolkien's languages, and Helge updates his lessons as often as he gets new information on Quenya.

[Daisy Brambleburr]

I'd love to learn Sindarin, and I do know a few phrases here and there, but I am studying A Level German and GCSE Spanish at school, and I really need to concentrate on then. I only started Spanish in September, but I am so rubbish it's untrue. And I just took a look at the Ardalambion website, and that block of text made me feel a bit apprehensive. I think I'll stick to learning simple phrases at the moment. Maybe I'll learn properly when I have more time on my hands...

Changing the subject slightly, there are some websites out there that you should watch out for if you want to learn 'real' elvish. Some are listed on the councilofelrond.com as ones that teach 'incorrect elvish'. I believe www.grey-company.org (http://www.grey-company.org) is one. Take a look at the list here. (http://www.councilofelrond.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=EZCMS&file=index&page_id=3)

[ November 01, 2003: Message edited by: Daisy Brambleburr ]

[Elizabeth Elindel]

Ruth Noel's book is OK, if you want something short to glance at. It's not that big, nor is it enough to keep you busy for some time. :-) In my guess... that's what I thought. I'm learning - or I was. I'm starting up again, I think. smilies/biggrin.gif

[Mantauriel]

Fluent Elvish speaker here! Mae Governen to all! smilies/biggrin.gif

[Gorwingel]

I can't speak a bit of elvish here, but I do congradulate anyone who can. I am terrible at learning languages so I don't think I'll ever give it a try.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Hi! I'm a learning/learned Quenya speaker, although my Sindarin leaves much to be desired. I can act very knowledgable, though, around uneducated ones

Quetal Quenya?
Quetan Quenya!
Inyë Tar-Eldar!
Atarinya na Finrod, ar amilinya na Amarië i Vanyar, Valinorello, mi Oiolossë! Namarië.

Yours, if you want to smilies/tongue.gif
->(I just said it above)

[ November 18, 2003: Message edited by: Nilpaurion Felagund ]

[ArathorofBarahir]

The only elvish I know are the words and phrases in the movies, that I have memorized.

[ November 02, 2003: Message edited by: ArathorofBarahir ]

[Lotessa]

I must confess that I do use the Grey Company Elvish, which I hear isn't true to Tolkien, but it's fun to learn. smilies/biggrin.gif

[Maethorien]

I've been using councilofelrond.com's Sindarin course. It works quite well, and it's nice to get a personal response on your exercises. Also, they have a very nice Useful Phrases section. It can be found here (http://www.councilofelrond.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=EZCMS&file=index&page_id=5). It's very entertaining to tell your enemies to go kiss an orc in Sindarin, and then watch them stare at you in confusion.

[StarJewel]

Just wondering, is there anything wrong with the Sindarin grammar in the Ruth Noel book? That is what I am studying now.

[Neneithel]

The Ruth Noel book is very out of date and a lot of assumptions about grammar she used in it have been proven false by Tolkien's notes. Council of Elrond at http://www.councilofelrond.com/ is the best place to learn Sindarin.

Neneithel

[kittiegirl]

Um, I can write it(more than one kind too), but I cannot speak it yet.
My friend is supposed to teach me how to speak it.

[Sapphire_Flame]

I'm learning Sindarin, using Ardalambion, Fellowship of the Wordsmiths, and the indicies of the Silm and UT. Council of Elrond is a very good site for getting started.

But whatever you do, DON'T USE GREY-COMPANY ELVISH!!! It is completely inaccurate, and to be avoided at all costs.

Abedithon le,

~*~Aranel~*~

[Failivrin]

if you can speak some german, www.sindarin.de (http://www.sindarin.de) is supposed to be quite good. i am studying GCSE german and i could understand it. i nthe end i decided not to study it so as not to confuse it with my Quenya...

...and the fact that i seem to find the phrase Herzlich Wilkommen inexplicably funny, ao i just sat there giggling for about 10 minutes.

[Lady Snickerdoodle]

I can write in both Sindarian and Quenyan Tengwar and I'm learning how to speak Quenyan from various websites and books. http://www.uib.no/people/hnohf is a great site (i have no idea what the url is about but its called Ardalambion and it's really thorough) u can download courses from there and stuff. Oh yeah, i think u should get ur friends learning too, otherwise it will be very boring just talking to yourself or other ppl u don't know... oh i shouldn't be saying that in a forum... jk.

[Morgoth the Great]

i have always prided myself on NOT speaking elvish. i know the odd phrase, e.g. Mae Govannen, but i do not, and have never wished to learn either Quenyan or Sindarin. the reason for this is simple. it is not a complete language, and thus not everything in it can be. i also believe that Tolkien left it unfinished for a purpose.

[Hennet Dragonborn]

About a year ago, I went to the grey company web site and printed off about 21 pages of Quenya terms and phrases. I'm starting to get the hang of it... it's not as difficult as one might expect. No conjugations to worry about, no wierd twists in certain words, you just take the words you know and string them together. I'm also taking a little bit of calligraphy to learn how to write in the Tengwar alphabet so that I can write the language as well.

[the guy who be short]

I was learning a while ago,but then my damned homework took over! I havn't learnt anything for a few months, but I did use Ardalambion too, and Immust recommend it, despite the dry language.

[ November 18, 2003: Message edited by: the guy who be short ]

[Lumiel]

Well, I know a little...mostly insults smilies/tongue.gif but hey it's fun to insult people in Elvish! I hope to learn more eventually, but I can sometimes get the gist of a simple phrase...SOMETIMES...lol.

[Neneithel]

The Grey Company stuff is not Tolkien's. It's a poor copy, Sindarin and Quenya crushed togeter and blended with gibberish.

[lindil]

"it is not a complete language"

I did not know there was such a thing?!

As to wether any further strivings toward completeness will ever be generally accepted by mainstream speakers of Quenya that is another question, but with the publication of many, many fragments, poems, prayers, etymologies, etc in the Vinyar Tengwar Journal (http://www.elvish.org) and JRRT's old but still relevant Qenyaqesta Lexicon in Parma Eldalamberon 12 [dig around onabove link and you will find it], our number of stems and roots and words has grown greatly.

btw, if some [like myself] find Helge's course a wee bit much to start off with, the following has been provisionally recommended:

Nancy Martsch's [i]Basic Quenya (http://www.elvish.org/resources.html)

I hope to order a copy soon myself.

[Elizabeth Elindel]

I've got a web site that someone said is good on here - it's called the counel or something like that. What I want to know is - how does this web site work? How do I figure everying out about it? Is this the best web site to use?
Elizabeth

[ November 22, 2003: Message edited by: Elizabeth Elindel ]

[Estelyn Telcontar]

If you have questions about the functioning of another website, please ask the people there to explain it to you. We'll be happy to answer questions about the Barrow-Downs here. Thanks!

[lordess _mystique]

I think it's so amazing that Tolkein actually thought of these languages...rules, grammar and all. I don't know much about Tolkien, but he must have been on lonely man. smilies/frown.gif

[Neneithel]

Not lonely, well-loved by many friends throughout his life. He was simply a genius and used his incredible mind. If I had his intelligence, I would do the same.

[Finwe]

I don't think many people have that willpower and creativity to create such a vivid world, full of such diverse races and languages. It's almost as if Middle-earth exists as a world of its own, somewhere in a parallel dimension to Earth.

[Morgoth the Great]

"it is not a complete language"
I did not know there was such a thing?!


are you saying that there are no complete languages? because then what would make them Incomplete? There is no Tolkien language that is complete. For example, you could easily translate The Barrowdowns into Spanish or French, but not Quenyan, its just impossible because there arent enough words in the Quenyan language.

[Tirinvo]

Yes, that is true, but how does that define a language as complete or incomplete. Before Shakespeare, the english language was missing not just a few words, but many, and, even though Shakespeare had written mostly in an outdated for of English, many a word was accredited to his name. Yet wasn't English considered "complete" before him? A list of words does not make a language complete or incomplete. The great thing about language is that it never can be completed as long as someone can speak it.

[Lossentilien]

I've been printing off lessons from CoE, which I've found incredibly useful.

In terms of a language being complete, I don't think it's possible, as languages constantly change, the meaning of words can be altered through the years and new words appear. So to refer to a language as complete or incomplete wouldn't really make sense...Just a thought...