Real names tell you the story of the things they belong to in my language, in the Old Entish as you might say. It is a lovely language, but it takes a very long time to say anything in it, because we do not say anything in it, unless it is worth taking a long time to say, and to listen to.
Entish or Old Entish was the slow, sonorous, rumbling and ancient language of the Ents.
In ancient days, after meeting the Elves, the Ents developed the desire for a spoken language. The language that resulted from this desire was unlike any among the other races of Middle-earth. It was slow, sonorous, agglomerated, repetitive, and extremely long-winded. The lore-masters of the Eldar made no attempt to represent it in writing, as its many vowel-shades and tonal distinctions were far too numerous to do so.[1]
Other examples are limited, with one being burárum,[2][3] an Entish noise of disgust.[4] The recording of a-lalla-lalla-rumba-kamanda-lind-or-burúmë, a part of the name for a hill,[5] is described as "the only extant (probably very inaccurate)" fragment of Entish.[6]
Usage of Elvish among the Ents
The Ents found Quenya to be a lovely language and adapted it after their fashion to everyday use, along with its vocabulary to Entish grammatical structure.[6] The individual words were easily understandable, although they formed lengthy run-on sentences of redundant adjectives. When Treebeard said "Taurelilómëa-tumbalemorna Tumbaletaurëa Lómëanor"[7], he wanted to tell Merry and Pippin that "there is a black shadow in the deep dales of the forest", however, the literal translation is "Forestmanyshadowed-deepvalleyblack Deepvalleyforested Gloomyland".[6] Additionally, when Treebeard described the Orcs, he said "evileyed-blackhanded-bowlegged-flinthearted-clawfingered-foulbellied-bloodthirsty," and added some Quenya: morimaite-sincahonda ("blackhanded" and "flinthearted").[3]
External links
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age", "Of Other Races", Ents, p. 1130-1131
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "Treebeard" p. 466, 479
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Many Partings, p. 979
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), entry E burárum, p. 79
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "Treebeard", p. 465
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age", "Of Other Races", Ents, p. 1131
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "Treebeard" p. 467