Saelpheth Gandalf
'Gandalf's Advice' by Ryszard Derdzinski
This dialog comes from The Lord of the Rings, Book I, The Shadow of the Past (p. 77). Gandalf's advice is a very deep and important saying in Tolkien's book. It motivates Frodo's attitude towards Gollum, who in the end will take his part in the destruction of the One Ring. My beloved fragment!
Iorhael pent: "Si
hon um sui Orch, a sui Goth! Boe a hon gwannad!"
A Mithrandir dambent: "Boe a hon den! Thenid i hon boe gwanna. Host i guinar a
boe gwannar. A host i 'wannar a boe cuinar. Gerich annad di guil? Law? Ú-no
geleg an annad di gurth vi baudh lín. Dan na-bant i idhren ú-'âr i gened
i-mithid bain..."
(...) Now at any rate he is as bad as an
Orc, and just an enemy. He deserves death.'
'Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that
die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal
out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.'
Literal
translation:
'Frodo said: "Now he [is] evil like Orc, and like Enemy! It-is-necessary to him to-die!"
And Gandalf answered: "It-is-necessary to him this! True [is] that he should die. Many [are] who live and should die. And many [are] who die and should live. Have-you giving them life (Can you give them life)? Not? Don't-be swift for giving them death in judgement your. For even (to-full) the wise-man don't-have the sight [of] ends all.'
Notes (selected comments)
Most words can be found in the standard dictionaries. Noun *saelpheth
is my reconstruction for 'anvice' ('wise-word'). Verb *dambed-
'answer' is my reconstruction (cf. noun dambeth 'answer') as well as
*na-bant
'even; at full' which is modelled like
na-vedui 'at last'. Forms
boe a hon gwannad,
hon boe gwanna come from
D. Salo's movie dialogs; they use the reconstructed *boe
(N bui) 'it is necessary' (cf. LR
372).