[igorus]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

"Child of the Lord":
Quenya hína i heruo*, Sindarin hên i chîr.
*or heruhin, if you prefer to make it a compound - like 'Ring-Lord' rather than 'Lord of the Rings'.

Where did the extra O in heruo come from? I've never seen that before. Other than that, that seems to be a solid translation.
BTW, did you write the translation yourself or did you get it from somewhere? I'd like to see the source, if that is possible.

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Guys, you are indeed mixing Quenya with Sindarin. They have similar words for "child", but not the same. In Quenya it's "hína/híni", in Sindarin "hên/hîn" ("chên/chîn" after a vowel).

Igorus, I believe you were almost right the first time– in Quenya it should be "Héruhin", with an accent on the "e" (assuming you mean THE Lord, not A lord). Though "Eruhin" would have the same significance.

I think that's about as good an answer as you're going to get, but be aware that Tolkien's languages are incomplete, and that he kept revising them throughout his life– something to keep in mind before you rush to the tattoo parlour.

Edit:X'd with Pitch; fixed typo.

Definitely not rushing in any way. I've been trying to figure this out for close to a year now. hehe. Nerwen present an entirely new possibility. Putting an accent on the E to signify THE? I haven't seen this, but I am quite new to Quenya, so I wouldn't be surprised if I missed a few things.
I know Eruhin is close, but I'm going for a rather specific meaning, and Child of The One is just too broad.

Originally Posted by Galin

So in general we have to wonder sometimes with respect to Tolkien changing his mind, and also there are matters like usage and idiom to consider.

Agreed. I guess if the translation isn't perfectly clear, that would give me a bit of creative liberty and choose the translation that I feel works best for me, or even the one that would seem the prettiest when using Tengwar. Besides, I doubt any one would see the tattoo and "dude, you spelled that wrong." Unless I see one of you fine people in the street some day.

Thank you so so so very much to everyone for all of your input and help. Like I said, I've been trying to do this on my own for a long time, so I'm glad I have people like you to help me out. All of your great expanses of knowledge are greatly appreciated.