Endóre linde
A Song to Middle-earth
2012 version
By Findegil / Björn Fromén
Endóre,
mi pall’ Arda írim’ aldarwa már,
tyenn’
ilmamíri Vardo menello ninquitar,
cuivatar laitalen
Eldómar lírinen.
Sís hlarir oromandi hrótallo nallama,
yá nambar i Naucondi, ion carme
calima,
i harmacantale, Martan ten antane.
Sís
nandar rilye neller, sís súyar ehteler,
sís
lirir rávie celler luhtala lindaler;
hyalmainen Salmaro yale Tár-Earo.
Mal neno hloni hanya hraiave Fírimo
ye latinassen ranya rocconen mirima,
aica raucondacil, Oromen
apahil.
Telcontar alte tauris Mavardor aldaron;
te tunce
Cementári varnassen olvaron,
peun taurelómion, tirmen ornómion.
Námo Ardan Hastaina: vor ea
viryala!
Hlapuv’ ilya hostaina, tarmindon taltuva.
Nyarnanen, lairenen réne termare men. |
Literal translation with some linguistic notes
(For an explanation of the references and their abbreviations,
see The Arda format for structural references)
Endóre,
írima már aldarwa mi palla Arda, menello Vardo ilmamíri
ninquitar tyenna
‘Middle-earth, fair tree-grown abode in
wide Arda, from heaven Elbereth’s starry jewels shine white on thee’
- *menel-lo ablative ‘from
heaven’, cf. the locative menel-de ‘in heaven’
(VT 43)
- *ilma-míri plural ‘starlight-jewels’
- *ninquitar 3 p plural of ninquita- ‘shine
white’
- *tye-nna allative ‘to/upon thee’
- cuivatar
Eldómar laitalen lírinen.
‘[and] arouse
Elven voices to praising in song’
- *cuivatar 3 p plural of *cuiva-ta ‘awaken’, causative verb derived from *cuiva ‘awake’ (back-formation from cuivie ‘awakening’, cf koiva: koivie in BLT I and Qîva : qîvie in
GL s.v. cwivra-)
- *Eld(a)-óma-r plural
‘Elf-voices’
- *laitale-n ‘for praise’, dative of laitale
- Sís
oromandi hlarir nallama hrótallo,
‘Here [the]
mountaineers hear an echo from [the] hall underground,’
- oromandi ‘mountain-dwellers’ (PE 16, p.96)
- *hlarir 3 p plural
of hlar- ‘hear’
- *hróta-llo ablative
of hróta ‘dwelling underground, artificial cave or
rockhewn hall’ (PM)
- yá
nambar i Naucondi ,
‘when the Dwarves hammer,’
- *nambar 3 p plural of namba- ‘to hammer’
- ion
carme calima, i harmacantale, Martan ten antane.
‘whose
shining artistry, the treasure-making, [the] World-smith (=Aule) gave
them.’
- *harma-cantale ‘treasure-shaping’ (canta- ‘to shape’)
- Sís
rilye neller nandar, sís súyar ehteler, sís
rávie celler lirir luhtala lindaler;
‘Here
glittering brooks harp, here springs breathe, here roaring rivers
sing [their] enchanting melodies;’
- *rilye plural adjective
(rilya ‘glittering’)
- *celler plural of
*cel-le ‘flow-ing; river’, from kel(u)- run; flow out
swiftly’; modelled on quelle ‘fading; autumn’ from kwel-
‘fade, wither’
- *rávie plural adjective
(rávea ‘roaring’)
- *lirir 3
p plural of lir- (lirin ‘I chant’)
- *luhtala present participle of luhta- ‘enchant’
- Tár
Earo yale Salmaro hyalmainen.
‘[the] King of [the] Sea
calls with Salmar’s conches’
- *yale 3 p singular of yal- ‘summon’
- *hyalma-inen instrumental plural of hyalma ‘shell, conch, horn of Ulmo’.
- Mal
neno hloni hanya hraiave Fírimo
‘But water’s
speech is little understood by [the] Mortal,’
- *neno genitive of nén ‘water’
- hloni plural ‘(linguistic) sounds, elements
of speech’ (WJ)
- *hraiave ‘with difficulty’
adverb from hraia ‘awkward,
difficult’
- hanya 3 p singular ‘understands’
- ye
ranya mirima latinassen rocconen,
‘who roams free in [the]
fields on horseback,’
- *latinassen locative plural
of latina ‘open, cleared (of land)’, here nominalized *’field’
- *rocco-nen instrumental singular ‘by means of
horse’
- aica
raucondacil, Oromen apahil.
‘a fierce slayer of terrible
creatures, a follower of Orome’
- *rauco-ndacil ‘horror-bane’
- *Oromen dative of Orome’
- *apa-hil ‘after-follower’
- Alte
tauris telcontar Mavardor aldaron;
‘In vast forests stride
[the] shepherds of trees;’
- *alte plural of alta ‘large, great in size’
- *tauris locative plural of taure ‘forest’
- *telcontar 3 p
plural of *telconta- ‘stride’, isolated from Telcontar ‘Strider’
- *mavardor plural of mavardo ‘shepherd’ (QL)
- Cementári
te tunce varnassen olvaron, peun taurelómion, tirmen
ornómion.
‘[The] Queen of the Earth (= Yavanna)
brought them to protect growing things, to speak for forest-glooms,
to look after [the] Talking Trees’
- *tunce past tense of tuc- ‘draw, bring’
- *varnassen ‘for
protection’, dative of varnasse ‘security’
- *olvaron genitive of olvar ‘growing things with roots in earth’
- *peun ‘to [be] mouthpiece[s]’, dative of peu ‘mouth-opening’ (VT 39)
- *taure-lómion genitive plural ‘of
forest-glooms’. Cf Aldalóme and Tauremornalóme,
names used by Treebeard for Fangorn Forest (or parts of it).
- *tirmen ‘for guarding’, dative of *tirme ‘watch’, from tir- ‘watch (over), guard, heed’
- *ornómion genitive plural of orn-ómi ‘trees with voices, Huorns’
(WR)
- Námo
Ardan Hastaina: vor ea viryala!
‘Divine Judgement on Arda
Marred: subsist ever changing!’
- Námo ‘Judgement of
what is’ (MR, p.150), more properly ‘Judge, the Vala Mandos’
- *Ardan dative ‘for Arda’
- ea! imperative ‘let
be! *exist!’
- *viryala present participle of virya- ‘change’ (PE 17)
- Ilya
hostaina hlapuva, tarmindon taltuva.
‘All gathered
[things] shall fly in the wind, [the] high stronghold shall fall.’
- *hostaina past participle
of hosta- ‘to collect’
- *hlapuva future tense
of hlapu- ‘fly or stream in the wind’
- *tar-mindon ‘high great tower’
- *taltuva future tense of talt- ‘collapse’
- Réne
men termare nyarnanen [ar] lairenen.
‘[The] memory lasts
for us in legend and lay.’
- *réne < Common Eldarin rēnē ‘remembrance’ (PM)
- *termare 3 p singular of ter-mar- ‘stand, *endure’
- *nyarnanen,
*lairenen instrumental
case of nyarna ‘tale, legend’ and laire ‘poem’.
Free translation (in Swedish)
Midgård,
fagra träduppfyllda land i vida Arda,
högt över
dig glimmar Elbereths stjärneglöd
och väcker med
vit glans alviska röster till lovsång.
Här
hör bergsbon återskall ur underjordisk sal:
sin
hammare svingar dvärgen, vars lysande konst -
skapandet av
kostbara klenoder -
var Aules gåva i tidernas gryning.
Här
spelar glittrande bäckar, här sorlar flödande källor,
här sjunger brusande älvar toner med trolldomsmakt;
bjudande blåser havets konung i Salmars horn.
Gåtor
blott är dock vattnens budskap för den dödlige
som
på fria strövtåg rider över fälten,
i
Oromes efterföljd skräckgestalters skarpa bane.
I
vida skogar vandrar trädens herdar;
dem kallade Yavanna till
värn för vad rotfast växer,
till språkrör
för skogars dunkel, till vakt över talande träd.
Ödesdom
över sargat Arda: bestå, men i ständig växling!
Skingras för vind skall allt som samlats, högborg skall
bli ruin.
I saga, i sång lever minnet för oss.
A note for the singer
The third line in each verse is sung twice. The melody is Belle, Qui
Tiens Ma Vie, a pavane published 1596 by Thoinot Arbeau.
To
fit the tune, the vowel combinations io and ie in ion (line 5) and rávie (line 8) have to be run together in
a single syllable. The i will then be pronounced as a
semi-vowel (more or less like the consonant y).
This
song was first performed on 23 May 1998 at the Forodrim May Banquet.
