One of the most incredible parts of The Lord of the Rings, or indeed any of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, is the depth and vibrancy of the languages he created. This is heavily due to the fact that, even before he first conceived of a Hobbit, Tolkien was a philologist — a scholar of languages. Tolkien’s literary legacy is expansive, covering not only The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion, but massive amounts of notes and unfinished stories. His son Christopher Tolkien made curating Lord of the Rings‘ secondary material into his life’s work.
Tolkien’s corpus has persisted as one of the most popular fantasy franchises, in no small part because of his fictional languages, which help make Middle-earth feel as lived in as any part of the real world. That feeling is aided by the fact that Tolkien’s canon is full of unanswered mysteries and half-remembered legends, which come together to help the reader understand that the events of the books are merely a small fraction of the adventure and wonder of Middle-earth — and the first step in that adventure is understanding the many languages spoken there.
Quick Links
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Valarin
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Quenya
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Sindarin
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Silvan
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Adûnaic
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Westron
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Khuzdul
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Entish
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Black Speech
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Rohirric
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Orkish
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Drúadan
12
Valarin
Spoken By The Valar & Maiar
The Valar and Maiar were angelic beings, the offspring of Ilúvatar’s thoughts, and in the first moments of creation, they had no need for language. Together, Ilúvatar and his creations sang the Music of the Ainur and so brought into being Eä, the Created World. Yet once there was a world, and they put living things in it, the Valar and Maiar found the need for speech to communicate with them, and began speaking Valarin.
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However, Valarin was painful and alien to the ears of the Elves who first heard it, and so the Valar and Maiar who spoke with them adopted Quenya, with some Valarin words eventually absorbed into that language. Little is known of Valarin otherwise. Fëanor, smith of the Silmarils and leader of the Noldor into exile, is said to have learned more of Valarin than any other. Sadly, he never trusted the other Elves with what he had learned, and the knowledge was lost when he was slain by Gothmog, Lord of the Balrogs.
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Valarin Words |
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|---|---|
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Word |
Meaning |
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mirubhōze |
Honey wine |
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Ayanûz |
Ainur |
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Ibrīniðilpathānezel |
Telperion (the White Tree of Valinor) |
11
Quenya
Spoken By The Elves Of Valinor
With its roots in Primitive Quendian, the first language spoken by Elves upon their awakening, the Elven language of Quenya rose to prominence in the First Age of Middle-earth. It developed three separate dialects: Valinorean Quenya, Vanyarin Quenya, and Exilic (or Noldorin) Quenya. Generally for Middle-earth scholarship, Quenya refers to Noldorin Quenya, as that was the only dialect spoken in Middle-earth. Typically, the written form of Quenya uses the Tengwar script developed by Fëanor.
Of all the elves in Middle-earth during the Third Age, only Galadriel, the Lady of Lórien, is likely to have spoken Quenya her whole life, as she was the last elf there to have been born in Valinor.
By the Third Age, Quenya had become a dialogue for scholarly pursuits and ritual, as Sindarin had become the tongue for daily conversation. Still, the elves of Middle-earth were always delighted to hear Quenya spoken by others, such as when Frodo Baggins greeted the Elf-Lord Gildor and his party with the phrase “Elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo” (“a star shines on the hour of our meeting“) when they met in the Shire in September of T.A. 3018.
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Quenya Words |
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|---|---|
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Word |
Meaning |
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amarth |
Doom |
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Andúril |
Flame of the West |
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Dúnedain |
Men of the West (i.e. Númenoreans and their descendants) |
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Eldar |
Elves (lit. “people of the stars“) |
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galad |
Light |
10
Sindarin
Spoken By The Many Elves Of Middle-Earth
While many of the Elves went on the Great Journey to Valinor after they first awakened, not all arrived there, and so there are nearly a dozen types of Elves in Middle-earth. The Teleri, one of the first tribes, was soon split into the Nandor (“those who go back“), who feared crossing the Misty Mountains, and the Sindar (“Grey-Elves“), who made it to the shores of Beleriand but chose to remain there rather than cross the sea to Valinor.
While Quenya relies heavily on the real-world language of Finnish as inspiration for both sound and grammar, Sindarin is rooted in Welsh.
It was the Sindar whose language would become prominent in Middle-earth, becoming the everyday tongue of all Elves there, as well as widely spoken by the Men of Númenor (and later, Gondor and Arnor). Written Sindarin in the Third Age uses Tengwar, but the runes known as Cirth were originally developed for writing Sindarin. When the Dwarves of Middle-earth first learned Sindarin (which they much preferred to the idea of teaching their beloved Khuzdul to outsiders), they adopted the Cirth-runes for their writing system, as their straight lines were better suited to carving into stone than the subtle curves of Tengwar.
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Sindarin Words |
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|---|---|
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Word |
Meaning |
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Balrog |
Demon of Might |
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gorgor |
Terror (e.g. Cirith Gorgor, “Haunted Pass,” the entry to Mordor) |
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Ithil |
The Moon |
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Morgul |
Necromancy (lit. “dark magic“) |
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dag |
To slay |
9
Silvan
Spoken By The Wood-Elves Of Middle-Earth
The Nandor, those Teleri who did not cross the Misty Mountains on their journey to Valinor, remained content in the forests of Middle-earth for a time. By the Third Age, the Nandor had come to be known as the Silvan Elves; their language became known as Silvan and was spoken throughout their kingdoms in Mirkwood and Lothlórien. Still, the settling of Sindarin-speaking Elves in those areas meant that by the end of the Third Age, Silvan was mostly extinct, remaining only in the names of places and people.
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Silvan Words |
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|---|---|
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Word |
Meaning |
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cogn |
Longbow |
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Legolas |
“Green leaf” |
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Denethor |
“Lithe and lank” |
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Thranduil |
“Vigorous spring” |
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caras |
“Moated fortress” |
8
Adûnaic
Spoken By The Men Of Númenor
Image via Prime Video
The first Men of Middle-earth to endear themselves to the Elves were known as the Edain (Sindarin for “men“), but in time they came to be known as Númenoreans (from the Quenya Númenórë, “Westland“), and their language was Adûnaic (which is the Anglicized version of the word Adûnayân). While initially considered to be a less prestigious language than any of the Elven tongues, the Númenorean resentment of the Elves in the late Second Age led to a movement to wipe out the speaking of Quenya or Sindarin anywhere in the island nation.
After the Downfall of Númenor in S.A. 3319, the language’s use waned for a time, as the Exiles of Númenor neglected it in favor of Sindarin. Still, Adûnaic was spoken widely enough that it became a lingua franca for the kingdoms of Men, eventually evolving into the common language of Westron.
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Adûnaic Words |
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|---|---|
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Word |
Meaning |
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azra |
Sea |
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pharaz |
Gold (e.g. Ar-Pharazôn, “golden king”) |
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raba |
Dog |
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urug |
Bear |
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zimra |
Jewel |
7
Westron
Spoken By The Men And Hobbits Of Middle-Earth
Although Adûnaic fell into disuse among the Dúnedain themselves, it spread far and wide through Middle-earth at the outset of the Third Age, evolving into Westron, or the Common Speech. It was spoken as much by the Men of Gondor as it was by their distant cousins, such as the Lake-men of the North. It was also adopted by Dwarves as a way to communicate more easily with outsiders, and contributed heavily to the lexicon of Orkish.
Therefore, Bilbo Baggins’ name isn’t actually Bilbo Baggins, but Bilba Labingi, and the valley of Rivendell is known as Karningul.
Westron’s place in The Lord of the Rings is fascinating, as it is the language Tolkien used as the equivalent to English in the books — all English words in both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are considered to be directly translated from Westron, including place names. Therefore, Bilbo Baggins’ name isn’t actually Bilbo Baggins, but Bilba Labingi, and the valley of Rivendell is known as Karningul.
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An interesting result of this linguistic legerdemain is that Westron is one of Tolkien’s least detailed languages. Appendix F of The Lord of the Rings remains the single largest corpus of Westron translations, with more information found in The Peoples of Middle-earth, the final volume of Christopher Tolkien’s The History of Middle-earth.
6
Khuzdul
Spoken By The Dwarves Of Middle-Earth
One of the few languages of Middle-earth not derived in some way from an Elvish tongue, Khuzdul was given as a gift to the Dwarves by their creator, the Vala known as Aulë. While the Dwarves tought it to those who proved to be friendly, in general, Khuzdul was kept secret from outsiders. This small amount of sharing did lead to Khuzdul having an influence on the languages of Men when the Edain of the First Age had some small contact with the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains.
Khuzdul draws from real-world Semitic languages, particularly in its structure of triconsonantal roots, much like the Adûnaic it influenced. As the only tongue of Middle-earth still using cirth-runes by the Third Age, many men and Hobbits assumed the Dwarves had invented them and called them “Dwarf-letters.”
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Khuzdul Words |
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Word |
Meaning |
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Khazad-dûm |
“Dwarves’ Mansion” (Moria) |
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kheled |
Glass (e.g. Kheled-zâram, lit. “glass lake“) |
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Khuzd |
Dwarf (pl. Khazâd) |
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mazarbul |
Written documents, records |
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turg |
Beard (pl. tarâg) |
5
Entish
Spoken Only By The Ents & Entwives
In the earliest days of Middle-earth, the living trees known as Ents existed without language. Once they met the first Elves they wanted a spoken language of their own, and so Entish was born. With no ties to any other language of Middle-earth other than how the Ents found Quenya to be appealing, Entish is slow, sonorous, repetitive, and painfully long-winded. As Treebeard said to Merry and Pippin in Fangorn Forest: “It takes a long time to say anything in Old Entish.”
No inhabitants of Middle-earth other than the Ents are known to speak Entish, as few, other than perhaps the Istari or a High Elf such as Galadriel, are able to stay awake long enough to exchange more than a polite greeting.
The grammar of Entish is extremely convoluted; while individual words are easily recognizable, especially those with Quenya roots, the syntax tends towards stringing together extremely long run-on sentences with excessive adjectives. No inhabitants of Middle-earth other than the Ents are known to speak Entish, as few, other than perhaps the Istari or a High Elf such as Galadriel, are able to stay awake long enough to exchange more than a polite greeting.
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Entish Phrases |
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Phrase |
Figurative Translation |
Literal Translation |
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Taurelilómëa-tumbalemorna Tumbaletaurëa Lómëanor |
There is a black shadow in the deep dales of the forest. |
Forestmanyshadowed-deepvalleyblack Deepvalleyforested Gloomyland. |
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a-lalla-lalla-rumba-kamanda-lind-or-burúmë |
Rockshelf |
Unknown |
4
The Black Speech
Spoken By Sauron & His Minions In Mordor
When Sauron held dominion over much of Middle-earth during the Second Age, his vanity and his loathing of the Elves drove him to create a tongue that would be the sole language of the many servants of Mordor. Little of the Black Speech is known, as Sauron’s dominion failed with his defeat at the end of the Second Age, and so the Black Speech continued to evolve without his direct influence, exchanging many words with Orkish dialects.
“Burzum,” the Black Speech word for “darkness,” was used as the name for a legendary Norwegian black metal band. In fact, much of Tolkien’s work has inspired heavy metal musicians over the decades.
The only example known of unmodified Black Speech is the inscription on the One Ring, which is written using Tengwar script. A few other fragmentary words exist, mostly as the names of Orcs and other servants of Mordor.
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The Black Speech On The One Ring |
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|---|---|
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Inscription |
Translation |
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Ash nazg durbatulûk, |
One Ring to rule them all, |
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Ash nazg gimbatul, |
One Ring to find them, |
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Ash nazg thrakatulûk, |
One Ring to bring them all, |
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Agh burzum-ishi krimpatul |
And in the darkness bind them |
3
Rohirric
Spoken By The Men Of Rohan
While Tolkien generally calls the language Rohan, after the people who spoke it, scholars of his work now generally prefer the term Rohirric. The language was descended from that of the Northmen, as the ancestors of the Rohirrim, the Éothéod, came down from the North in the Third Age. At some point there was also contact with the ancestors of the Shire-Hobbits, enough so that there was some linguistic cross-pollination, as well as the Rohirrim retaining legends of small folk that lived in holes.
“That, I guess, is the language of the Rohirrim, for it is like to this land itself; rich and rolling in part, and else hard and stern as the mountains. But I cannot guess what it means, save that it is laden with the sadness of Mortal Men.” – Legolas to Gimli, The Two Towers, 1.6
Since Tolkien derived how the tongues of Men would sound relative to English based on their linguistic distance from Westron, the speech of Rohan was heavily patterned off of Old English, meant to at once feel familiar and yet alien to speakers of Westron. As a long-time scholar of Old English, Tolkien’s familiarity with it meant he instilled much of the culture into the Rohirrim as well, such as the convention of a ruler’s title coming after their name (i.e. “Théoden King” instead of “King Théoden”).
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Rohirric Words |
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|---|---|
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Word |
Translation |
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kûd-dûkan |
Hole-dweller (lit. “Hobbit“) |
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Lōgrad |
Horse-mark (lit. “Rohan“) |
2
Orkish
Spoken By Orcs & Goblins
The various tribes of orcs and goblins throughout Middle-earth had no set or standardized language, instead using distorted or borrowed words and phrases from other tongues. While Sauron attempted to standardize his minions’ language with the Black Speech, in practice the lingua franca of Mordor was basically a pidgin language of Westron, Sindarin, and Adûnaic.
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For Peter Jackson’s film series, linguist David Salo derived a more expanded Orkish vocabulary and grammar to allow for more film dialogue; this language is generally referred to as Neo-Orkish, as so much of it is extrapolated. Salo did similar work for the films with Khuzdul and the Black Speech.
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Orkish Words |
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|---|---|
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Word |
Translation |
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Dushgoi |
Minas Morgul |
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ghâsh |
Fire |
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sharkû |
Old man |
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tark |
A Man of Númenorean heritage (possibly derived from the Quenya tarkil, lit. “High Man“) |
1
Drúedain
Spoken By The Drúedain Of The Forest
Image via Prime Video
The reclusive Drúedain (Sindarin for “wild men“) were descendants of a group of Edain that had been persecuted since their awakening, and so migrated until they found a land where they could be left in peace. They settled in the White Mountains near Gondor, and by the Third Age, few Drúedain remained, hidden away in their forest from the Men of Gondor, who feared them, and the Rohirrim, who hunted them like animals.
The Drúadan were completely omitted from Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
Drúadan chieftain Ghân-buri-Ghân made a deal with Théoden King of Rohan in T.A. 3019, showing the Rohirrim a secret route through the Stonewain Valley so they could reach Minas Tirith rapidly and without ambush, in exchange for the Rohirrim no longer treating the Drúedain like animals. Their language, due to their millennia of isolation, was almost incomprehensible to speakers of Westron or Rohirric in the universe of The Lord of the Rings.
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Drúadan Words |
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|---|---|
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Word |
Translation |
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gorgûn |
Orc |
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Drughu |
Drúadan |
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The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a multimedia franchise consisting of several movies and a TV show released by Amazon titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The franchise is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series that began in 1954 with The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings saw mainstream popularity with Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.
Movie(s)
The Lord of the Rings (1978)
, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Created by
J.R.R. Tolkien
First Film
The Lord of the Rings (1978)
Cast
Norman Bird
, Anthony Daniels
, Elijah Wood
, Ian McKellen
, Liv Tyler
, Viggo Mortensen
, Sean Astin
, Cate Blanchett
, John Rhys-Davies
, Billy Boyd
, Dominic Monaghan
, Orlando Bloom
, Christopher Lee
, Hugo Weaving
, Sean Bean
, Ian Holm
, Andy Serkis
, Brad Dourif
, Karl Urban
, Martin Freeman
, Richard Armitage
, James Nesbitt
, Ken Stott
, Benedict Cumberbatch
, Evangeline Lilly
, Lee Pace
, Luke Evans
, Morfydd Clark
, Mike Wood
, Ismael Cruz Cordova
, Charlie Vickers
, Markella Kavenagh
, Megan Richards
, Sara Zwangobani
, Daniel Weyman
, Cynthia Addai-Robinson
, Lenny Henry
, Brian Cox
, Shaun Dooley
, Miranda Otto
, Bilal Hasna
, Benjamin Wainwright
, Luke Pasqualino
, Christopher Guard
, William Squire
, Michael Scholes
, John Hurt
TV Show(s)
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Character(s)
Frodo Baggins
, Gandalf
, Legolas
, Boromir
, Sauron
, Gollum
, Samwise Gamgee
, Pippin Took
, Celeborn
, Aragorn
, Galadriel
, Bilbo Baggins
, Saruman
, Aldor
, Wormtongue
, Thorin Oakenshield
, Balin Dwalin
, Bifur
, Bofur
, Bombur
, Fili
, Kili
, Oin
, Gloin
, Nori
, Dori
, Ori
, Tauriel
, King Thranduil
, Smaug
, Radagast
, Arondir
, Nori Brandyfoot
, Poppy Proudfellow
, Marigold Brandyfoot
, Queen Regent Míriel
, Sadoc Burrows
Video Game(s)
The Lord of the Rings Online (dupe)
, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War
, The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum
, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
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