Tolkien Speaking Elvish - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Joy · 02-15-2002, 11:33 PM

If you would like to hear Tolkien speaking Elvish, go to Namarie

This is found in the chapter "Farewell to Lorien"

Maeglin · 02-16-2002, 04:35 AM

IIIHHH!!! [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img]

That sounds like lapish and not magically beautiful att all!

(My appologies to anyone being a laplander, wich I doubt)

Aralaithiel · 02-16-2002, 10:09 AM

Those English accents will do that. Now, if we could get Hugo Weaving to read that, ahhh...!!! He did the BEST job of pronouncing Elvish in FOTR, in my opinion. And listening to his recitation of Elrond's healing words to Frodo IS magical! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Joy · 02-16-2002, 03:14 PM

Check out Svenska Teatern Go to Musik m.m and listen to Namarie. It is sung by a Finnish Choir. Very slow, beautiful and haunting. Sends chills up my spine in places.

[ February 16, 2002: Message edited by: Joy ]

Maeglin · 02-17-2002, 12:14 PM

Is it only I who have bad taste or does anyone else think that that didn't sound very beautiful either?

[ February 17, 2002: Message edited by: Maeglin ]

Mayla Took · 02-17-2002, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Is it only I who have bad taste or does anyone else think that that didn't sound very beautiful either?

I agree with you Meaglin, I didn't like it that much. It needed more harmonys or something. I really like the Howard Shore LOTR music though!

Mayla Took · 02-17-2002, 04:26 PM

I do like the way Tolkien speakes Elvish though! Not quite how I pronounce words but I still think it sounds so cool!

02-18-2002, 05:34 AM

i like it, somehow..

Carannillion · 02-18-2002, 03:07 PM

I think Tolien sounded right, somehow. Not splendidly mystical (he has a somewhat aged man's voice, you know) but right, and I liked listening to it. If I become as proficient in Elvish as I would like, I may even be able to listen to him speaking words, not just recognizing it as an Elvish sample I can't make out...

dragongirlG · 02-18-2002, 04:09 PM

Hmm...Tolkien sounded a little strange, but true, his voice isn't Liv Tyler's or anything...personally I thought she sounded the best speaking Elvish as Arwen. Well it's pretty cool that someone got a recording of that though, it's so nice to hear what the author wants it to sound like.

Cheers, dragongirlG

Jjudvven · 02-18-2002, 04:25 PM

Well... Tolkien should know how it sounds... [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Aralaithiel · 02-18-2002, 07:45 PM

Hey..at least it doesn't sound as bad as Leonard Nimoy singing about Bilbo! OMG that was AWFUL!!!!!!!!!! [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] [img]smilies/redface.gif[/img]

The Squatter of Amon Rûdh · 02-19-2002, 05:58 AM

I liked it. It sounded more foreign than when other people speak it.

Quote:

at least it doesn't sound as bad as Leonard Nimoy singing about Bilbo! OMG that was AWFUL!

Who wrote that dreadful song? Why did Leonard Nimoy sing it? Couldn't he see that it was rubbish? And that video: well, it's best not to talk about it. He's a better singer than William Shatner, though.

Quote:

Those English accents will do that. Now, if we could get Hugo Weaving to read that...

My argument is simple: Tolkien invented the language, along with all of the intended pronunciations. Therefore his manner of speaking it must be the closest to the correct mode and thus accentless. If it sounds like Lapp, that's hardly surprising since much of the parent languages were Germanic and Scandinavian.

As for English accents: I shan't heap my indignant scorn on that concept, I shall merely repeat the old adage that Britain and America are two countries divided by a common language.

Calencoire · 07-02-2002, 06:32 PM

Wow [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] ummmmm... it sounded a little rough, but it still sounded really good. He was really fluent! I wish I could speak tit like that...

Raefindel · 07-02-2002, 07:56 PM

It was cool to hear Tolkien's own voice. I expected him to have a lower voice, more baritone, ya know? That's what you get for "expecting"

Orofacion of the Vanyar · 07-02-2002, 10:59 PM

I've heard this before. I for one loved it. Tolkien's the only one that can truly speak elvish the way it was intended. Tres beau!

Guinevere · 07-03-2002, 07:48 AM

Thank you, Joy, for giving this link !

I enjoyed very much hearing Tolkien himself reciting Quenya !!
Well, perhaps I had imagined his voice differently and he spoke a bit fast for me, but otherwise it sounds beautiful, and much as I had thought it would. Fullsounding, with rolling R`s and all.Of course it does sound foreign .Very unlike English anyhow. (My mothertongue is German and I can speak Italian , for me the pronounciation rules for Quenya seem less tricky than those for English!)
You can`t compare this to the Elvish spoken in the FotR movie: that was all Sindarin !!

Otherwise I agree with all that the "Squatter of Amon Rudh" has written.

Thank you also for the music of Svenska Teatern, Joy ! I liked the other songs too, especially Tinuviel. (It helps that I know Norwegian, its very similar to Swedish)

Namarië, Guinevere

Joy · 06-04-2004, 04:18 PM

The Svenska Theatern site no longer has Sagan om Ringen or the songs.

davem · 06-05-2004, 02:29 AM

Harper Collins have released recordings of Tolkien reading & singing poems & songs from LotR on Cd - the recordings also include him reading the whole of Riddles in the Dark from Hobbit

In UK:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...236304-2089236

In US:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

Roccotari Eldandil · 06-24-2004, 10:39 PM

Yippee! I love this. As a student of Quenya, it's wonderful to hear this pronounced! Some of the first few words are different though...instead of yéni there's "inyar" and some wording changes. I think this was mentioned in the 1st lesson of Ardalambion.com's Quenya course. Check there if you want more.
I LOVE TOLKIEN!!! (well, duh, otherwise I wouldn't be on here.) He's so cool.

Joy · 06-24-2004, 10:59 PM

Here I am reading Namarie - http://kingdomwarrior.jlym.com/Namarie.zip It is a large file - about a meg in space.

EDIT: I zipped the file now and it is a bit smaller and faster to download.

I think that part of the "Voice" changes could be because of British accent and also he is speaking fast.

PaleStar · 06-27-2004, 05:15 PM

Joy, I love your voice! You sound like you've been speaking Quenya for a long while.
*smiles*

Thulorongil · 06-28-2004, 10:06 PM

I had heard that recording of Tolkien before. It really is interesting to hear him speak it. I wish I could have heard that Finnish choir. He does speak rather fast, but it make it more "authentic" as someone speaking their native language would go quicker. (Just ask my friends!)

Yeah, the recording has some different words than those in LotR. The recorded version has inyar únóti nar instead of yéni únótimë and inyar ve lintë yulmar vánier ra rather than yéni ve lintë yuldar (a)vánier as in LotR. Does anyone know why?

The sound of it kind of feels weird, though. More of a repetitive, bouncing almost in the middle of each phrase as he must get through the long syllables of each word before dropping off at the end. Quenya always seems like it should be more flowing, and it is that way when Joy reads it. And everyone will have their own voice and dialect. I guess we're also all used to hearing poetry in our own languages, though, so anything seems strange. I do love the feel of each word, with such pure vowels and expressive sounds.

Lalaith · 06-29-2004, 05:31 AM

I really enjoyed your reading, Joy!
For those of you who find the Tolkien reading a bit strange, try listening a few times, I found it grows on you with repeated listening.

A few things about the different languages mentioned: Lapp (Sami) and Finnish on the one hand and the Germanic/Nordic/Scandinavian languages on the other are entirely unrelated.

Finnish (which is fiendishly difficult to learn) is not an Indo-European language, and is not related to any other language in Europe except Hungarian. The language of the Lapps (or more politely, the Sami) is really many dialects and belongs to the same family as Finnish.

Tolkien found Finnish a beautiful language (it is an indication of his linguistic brilliance that he mastered it!) and did indeed use it as an inspiration for Quenya.

Joy · 08-15-2005, 11:50 PM

Thank you so much Enca

I want to do some others, but can't find my mic (O Orofarnë is the hardest to do in my opinion).

Ardamir the Blessed · 08-16-2005, 04:09 PM

Anar posted:

Quote:

Do you know who is the person speaking at this recording and where is he from?

I am that person. That sample is just one of many that I have recorded. All can be found in the Pronunciation Recordings section of my Tolkien site here.

Joy · 08-16-2005, 04:34 PM

Neat, thanks for the link Amandir. I am downloading the zip file for the words.

I would love to learn Finnish actually.

I have heard that it is a difficult language, but I have heard that Danish is too - and I am doing fairly well in that.

02-15-2002, 11:33 PM	#1
Joy Spirit of a Warrior Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Wandering Posts: 1,012	Tolkien Speaking Elvish If you would like to hear Tolkien speaking Elvish, go to Namarie This is found in the chapter "Farewell to Lorien" __________________ God bless, Joy KingdomWarrior@hotmail.com http://kingdomWarrior.jlym.com As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

02-16-2002, 04:35 AM	#2
Maeglin Wight Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Nan Elmoth Posts: 136	IIIHHH!!! [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] That sounds like lapish and not magically beautiful att all! (My appologies to anyone being a laplander, wich I doubt) __________________ The fool speaks of what he knows. The wise knows what he speaks of.

02-16-2002, 10:09 AM	#3
Aralaithiel Ghost Eldaran Queen Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: A remote mountain in Valinor Posts: 353	Those English accents will do that. Now, if we could get Hugo Weaving to read that, ahhh...!!! He did the BEST job of pronouncing Elvish in FOTR, in my opinion. And listening to his recitation of Elrond's healing words to Frodo IS magical! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] __________________ A lelyat, wen! (Quenya Elvish for "You go, girl!"

02-16-2002, 03:14 PM	#4
Joy Spirit of a Warrior Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Wandering Posts: 1,012	Check out Svenska Teatern Go to Musik m.m and listen to Namarie. It is sung by a Finnish Choir. Very slow, beautiful and haunting. Sends chills up my spine in places. [ February 16, 2002: Message edited by: Joy ] __________________ God bless, Joy KingdomWarrior@hotmail.com http://kingdomWarrior.jlym.com As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

02-17-2002, 12:14 PM	#5
Maeglin Wight Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Nan Elmoth Posts: 136	Is it only I who have bad taste or does anyone else think that that didn't sound very beautiful either? [ February 17, 2002: Message edited by: Maeglin ] __________________ The fool speaks of what he knows. The wise knows what he speaks of.

02-17-2002, 04:26 PM	#7
Mayla Took Wight Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Shire Posts: 152	I do like the way Tolkien speakes Elvish though! Not quite how I pronounce words but I still think it sounds so cool! __________________ Good Things Come in Small Packages. (And don't you forget it!) Pippin:"What is that?!?" Merry:"This, my friend, is a pint!" Pippin:"It comes in PINTS?!?....I'm getting one!" "Don't let your heads get too big for your hats! But if you don't finish growing up soon, you are going to find hats and clothes expensive." Bilbo to Merry and Pippin "Fool of a Took! This is a serious journey, not a hobbit walking-party. Throw yourself in next time, and then you will be no further nuisance. Now be quiet!" Gandalf to Pippin in Moria E-mail me at mailto:ThirdAgeHobbit@hotmail.comThirdAgeHobbit@hotmail.com</A> Oh, and please rate me. THANKS!

02-18-2002, 05:34 AM	#8
Thranic Guest Posts: n/a	i like it, somehow..

02-18-2002, 03:07 PM	#9
Carannillion Wight Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Mici Firya Posts: 135	I think Tolien sounded right, somehow. Not splendidly mystical (he has a somewhat aged man's voice, you know) but right, and I liked listening to it. If I become as proficient in Elvish as I would like, I may even be able to listen to him speaking words, not just recognizing it as an Elvish sample I can't make out... __________________ A cry for the people, but there's noone there to hear...

02-18-2002, 04:09 PM	#10
dragongirlG Wight Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Stock, the Shire Posts: 151	Hmm...Tolkien sounded a little strange, but true, his voice isn't Liv Tyler's or anything...personally I thought she sounded the best speaking Elvish as Arwen. Well it's pretty cool that someone got a recording of that though, it's so nice to hear what the author wants it to sound like. Cheers, dragongirlG

02-18-2002, 04:25 PM	#11
Jjudvven Wight Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: The Land to the West Posts: 154	Well... Tolkien should know how it sounds... [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] __________________ "I don't know all of you as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you, half as well as you deserve."

02-18-2002, 07:45 PM	#12
Aralaithiel Ghost Eldaran Queen Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: A remote mountain in Valinor Posts: 353	Hey..at least it doesn't sound as bad as Leonard Nimoy singing about Bilbo! OMG that was AWFUL!!!!!!!!!! [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] [img]smilies/redface.gif[/img] __________________ A lelyat, wen! (Quenya Elvish for "You go, girl!"

07-02-2002, 06:32 PM	#14
Calencoire Haunting Spirit Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Rivendell Posts: 89	Wow [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] ummmmm... it sounded a little rough, but it still sounded really good. He was really fluent! I wish I could speak tit like that... __________________ Where there is life, there is hope

07-02-2002, 07:56 PM	#15
Raefindel Sword of the Spirit Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Washington State Posts: 1,313	It was cool to hear Tolkien's own voice. I expected him to have a lower voice, more baritone, ya know? That's what you get for "expecting" __________________ Blessed be the Lord my Strength, Who trained my hands for war and my fingers to fight. Psallm 144:1

07-02-2002, 10:59 PM	#16
Orofacion of the Vanyar Wight Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Clayton, NC Posts: 102	I've heard this before. I for one loved it. Tolkien's the only one that can truly speak elvish the way it was intended. Tres beau!

07-03-2002, 07:48 AM	#17
Guinevere Banshee of Camelot Join Date: May 2002 Location: Switzerland Posts: 5,830	Thank you, Joy, for giving this link ! I enjoyed very much hearing Tolkien himself reciting Quenya !! Well, perhaps I had imagined his voice differently and he spoke a bit fast for me, but otherwise it sounds beautiful, and much as I had thought it would. Fullsounding, with rolling R`s and all.Of course it does sound foreign .Very unlike English anyhow. (My mothertongue is German and I can speak Italian , for me the pronounciation rules for Quenya seem less tricky than those for English!) You can`t compare this to the Elvish spoken in the FotR movie: that was all Sindarin !! Otherwise I agree with all that the "Squatter of Amon Rudh" has written. Thank you also for the music of Svenska Teatern, Joy ! I liked the other songs too, especially Tinuviel. (It helps that I know Norwegian, its very similar to Swedish) Namarië, Guinevere __________________ Yes! "wish-fulfilment dreams" we spin to cheat our timid hearts, and ugly Fact defeat!

06-04-2004, 04:18 PM	#18
Joy Spirit of a Warrior Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Wandering Posts: 1,012	The Svenska Theatern site no longer has Sagan om Ringen or the songs. __________________ God bless, Joy KingdomWarrior@hotmail.com http://kingdomWarrior.jlym.com As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

06-05-2004, 02:29 AM	#19
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	Harper Collins have released recordings of Tolkien reading & singing poems & songs from LotR on Cd - the recordings also include him reading the whole of Riddles in the Dark from Hobbit In UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...236304-2089236 In US: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846 __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."

06-24-2004, 10:39 PM	#20
Roccotari Eldandil Haunting Spirit Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: the stables of Lorien Posts: 79	Yippee! I love this. As a student of Quenya, it's wonderful to hear this pronounced! Some of the first few words are different though...instead of yéni there's "inyar" and some wording changes. I think this was mentioned in the 1st lesson of Ardalambion.com's Quenya course. Check there if you want more. I LOVE TOLKIEN!!! (well, duh, otherwise I wouldn't be on here.) He's so cool. __________________ "Come, come!" he shouted, swinging his axe. "Since Gandalf's head is now sacred, let us find one that is right to cleave!" -Gimli, after hearing Galadriel's message to him in TTT

06-24-2004, 10:59 PM	#21
Joy Spirit of a Warrior Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Wandering Posts: 1,012	Here I am reading Namarie - http://kingdomwarrior.jlym.com/Namarie.zip It is a large file - about a meg in space. EDIT: I zipped the file now and it is a bit smaller and faster to download. I think that part of the "Voice" changes could be because of British accent and also he is speaking fast. __________________ God bless, Joy KingdomWarrior@hotmail.com http://kingdomWarrior.jlym.com As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

06-27-2004, 05:15 PM	#22
PaleStar Animated Skeleton Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 43	Joy, I love your voice! You sound like you've been speaking Quenya for a long while. smiles __________________ Then down the warrior tumbled/a long and weary way/ 'till at last he rested soundly/ among the water below/ bested by the darkness

06-28-2004, 10:06 PM	#23
Thulorongil Haunting Spirit Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: wherever the road may take me Posts: 97	I had heard that recording of Tolkien before. It really is interesting to hear him speak it. I wish I could have heard that Finnish choir. He does speak rather fast, but it make it more "authentic" as someone speaking their native language would go quicker. (Just ask my friends!) Yeah, the recording has some different words than those in LotR. The recorded version has inyar únóti nar instead of yéni únótimë and inyar ve lintë yulmar vánier ra rather than yéni ve lintë yuldar (a)vánier as in LotR. Does anyone know why? The sound of it kind of feels weird, though. More of a repetitive, bouncing almost in the middle of each phrase as he must get through the long syllables of each word before dropping off at the end. Quenya always seems like it should be more flowing, and it is that way when Joy reads it. And everyone will have their own voice and dialect. I guess we're also all used to hearing poetry in our own languages, though, so anything seems strange. I do love the feel of each word, with such pure vowels and expressive sounds. __________________ I sit beside the fire and think of people long ago, And people who will see a world that I shall never know.

06-29-2004, 05:31 AM	#24
Lalaith Blithe Spirit Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 2,779	I really enjoyed your reading, Joy! For those of you who find the Tolkien reading a bit strange, try listening a few times, I found it grows on you with repeated listening. A few things about the different languages mentioned: Lapp (Sami) and Finnish on the one hand and the Germanic/Nordic/Scandinavian languages on the other are entirely unrelated. Finnish (which is fiendishly difficult to learn) is not an Indo-European language, and is not related to any other language in Europe except Hungarian. The language of the Lapps (or more politely, the Sami) is really many dialects and belongs to the same family as Finnish. Tolkien found Finnish a beautiful language (it is an indication of his linguistic brilliance that he mastered it!) and did indeed use it as an inspiration for Quenya. Last edited by Lalaith; 06-29-2004 at 05:36 AM.

08-15-2005, 11:50 PM	#25
Joy Spirit of a Warrior Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Wandering Posts: 1,012	Thank you so much Enca I want to do some others, but can't find my mic (O Orofarnë is the hardest to do in my opinion). __________________ God bless, Joy KingdomWarrior@hotmail.com http://kingdomWarrior.jlym.com As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

08-16-2005, 04:34 PM	#27
Joy Spirit of a Warrior Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Wandering Posts: 1,012	Neat, thanks for the link Amandir. I am downloading the zip file for the words. I would love to learn Finnish actually. I have heard that it is a difficult language, but I have heard that Danish is too - and I am doing fairly well in that. __________________ God bless, Joy KingdomWarrior@hotmail.com http://kingdomWarrior.jlym.com As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?