Namárië

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The first stanza of "Namárië" written in Tengwar script.

"Namárië" is a poem by J. R. R. Tolkien written in Quenya, a constructed language, and published for the first time in The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, Chapter "Farewell to Lórien"). It has the subtitle "Galadriel's Lament in Lórien", which in Quenya is Altariello nainië Lóriendessë. The poem appears only in one other book by Tolkien, The Road Goes Ever On.

The Quenya word namárië is a reduced form of á na márië, meaning literally "be well", an Elvish formula used for greeting and for farewell.[1]

"Namárië" is the longest Quenya text in the The Lord of the Rings and also one of the longest continuous texts in Quenya that was ever written by Tolkien.[2] It was rewritten many times by Tolkien before it reached the form that was published (see Early versions below). Many Tengwar versions were made by Tolkien. An English translation is provided in the book.

Early versions

The first version of "Namárië" was published in The Treason of Isengard pp. 284–285. The text is in Quenya, but Tolkien did not provide a translation and some of the words are unlike those used in the final poem. Many words can be found in the Etymologies.

Although there are words that can be recognized by consulting the appendices of The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and The Lost Road, the sentence structure and spellings marks this form as different from the Quenya Tolkien decided on. For example, there are many parts ending in the consonant n, while the Quenya in The Lord of the Rings and later works lack this ending, and there are many parts that are composed of several words linked together, while the Quenya in later works have more separate words. See the fanzine Tyalië Tyellelliéva #12 for a detailed discussion on the development of Namárië.

Adaptations

Namárië was set to music by Donald Swann with the help of Tolkien. The sheet music and an audio recording are part of the book The Road Goes Ever On. In a recording Tolkien sings it in a Gregorian manner.[3]

In 2008, the Spanish Neoclassical Dark Wave band Narsilion published a studio album called Namárië. Among other Tolkien-inspired songs it features a track "Namárië: El Llanto De Galadriel [Namárië: Galadriel's Lament]".[4]

From 1997 to 2005 the Danish Tolkien Ensemble published four CDs featuring every poem from the Lord of the Rings amongst them two versions of Namárië, both composed by the ensemble leader Caspar Reiff: The first, sung by Signe Asmussen, sets the original Quenya text to music; the second version features the English translation spoken by Christopher Lee. [5]

References

  1. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Parma Eldalamberon", 17, p. 162.
  2. ↑ Pesch, Helmut W. (2003). Elbisch (in German). Bastei Lübbe. p. 25. ISBN 3-404-20476-X. 
  3. ↑ Music in Middle-Earth, Essay by Gene Hargrove, January 1995
  4. ↑ "Narsilion – Namárië". Discogs. Retrieved 16 July 2012. 
  5. ↑ "List of tracks by the Tolkien Ensemble". Retrieved 7 December 2013. 

External links

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