Naergon Galadriel
or Galadriel's Lament in Sindarin
by Ryszard Derdzinski
Galadriel's Lament is one of the most important texts in the Quenya corpus. J.R.R. Tolkien annalized it in detail in his book Road Goes Ever On. To face its Sindarin translation was a very interesting exercise for me. My translation is not poetic. Its word-order is intended to be prosaic. I have had to invent or 'reconstruct' many words including navaer 'farewell'. They all can be found below in the glossary. The first Sindarin translation of Galadriel's Lament by Craig Marnock was published in Vinyar Tengwar #6, July 1989, p. 11-12. It can be interesting to compare our two texts to see how much more we know at the moment about vocabulary, phonetics and grammar of Sindarin. My great thanks to Helge K. Fauskanger for his help.
Nae! Be-vall dannar lais na-húl, ínath arnediad bin revail gelaidh! Ínath 'wannanner be yllath gelig e-viruvor velui ned bair erchail athan Annûn, di-rynd luin Elbereth ias elenath thiliar na-'lír lam dîn aer a brand.
Man adbannatha hi ylf anim?
Dan hi Elbereth Gilthoniel orthant cammad în od Uilos bin fain a dúath dadlemmir lonnath phain; a fuin eth thindor caeda na-falvath immen dad a hith doba vírath e Girith Galad an-uir. Gwannen hi Dor Belain, gwannen o Thrûn!
Navaer! Dor Belain hirithar aen allen.
Allen hirithar aen. Navaer!
Translation:
'Alas!
Like gold fall [the] leaves in-[the]-wind, long-years numberless as the winds
of trees! [The] long-years [have] passed like swift draughts [of] the miruvórë
in lofty halls beyond [the] West, beneath [the] blue vaults [of] Varda
wherein [the] stars glimmer in-[the]-song [of] her voice holy and noble. Who
now will refill [the] cup for-me? For now [the] Queen [of] Stars [the] Kindler
[has] uplifted her two-hands from Everwhite like the clouds, and [the] shadow
down-licked all paths; and darkness out [of the] grey-country lies on [the]
foaming-waves between us two, and mist covers [the] jewels of Calacirya
for-ever. Now lost Valinor, lost [for these] from [the] East! Farewell! Maybe
thou will find Valimar. Maybe [even] thou will find [it]. Farewell!'
Interlinear translation:
[Mutation are removed but marked with a ° sign for clarity]
Nae! Be-°mall dannar lais na-°súl,
Alas! Like-gold fall leaves with-wind,
ínath
arnediad bin revail gelaidh!
years without-count like wings [of] trees!
Ínath °gwannanner be yllath °celig e-°miruvor °melui
years passed like draughts swift of miruvor sweet
ned bair erchail athan Annûn,
in houses lofty beyond West,
di-rynd luin Elbereth ias elenath thiliar
under-vaults blue [of] Elbereth in-which stars glitter
na-°glír lam °tîn aer a brand.
with-song [of] voice her holy and noble.
Man adbannatha °si ylf anim?
Who will refill now cup for-me?
Dan °si Elbereth Gilthoniel orthant cammad în od Uilos
For now Elbereth Gilthoniel lifted two-hands her from Everwhite
bin fain a dúath dadlemmir lonnath °pain;
Like the clouds and shadow down-licked paths all;
a fuin eth thindor caeda na-falvath immen °tad
and darkness out-of grey-land lies on-foams between-us two
a hith °toba °mírath e °Cirith Galad an-uir.
and mist covers jewels of Calacirya for-ever.
Gwannen °si Dor Belain, gwannen o °Rhûn!
Lost now Valinor, lost from East!
Navaer! Dor Belain hirithar aen allen.
Farewell! For-thou found may be Valinor.
Allen hirithar aen. Navaer!
For-thou found may be. Farewell!
Glossary:
*yll 'draught'; < CE *jul-dá, Q yulda
*miruvor Sindarin version of Quenya miruvórë
lam 'language', but here 'voice'
*adbanna- v. 'refeel'; ad- 're-' + panna- 'fill'
*dan 'but, on the contrary, on the other hand'; NDAN- 'back' (LR 375)
*cammad 'two hands'; cf. Orgaladhad 'Day of Two Trees'
*dadlav- v. 'down-lick; cf. Q undulav- 'down-lick'
*immen 'between-us'; cf. ammen 'for us'
*Cirith Galad Sindarin form of Q Calacirya
*an-uir 'forever'; an- 'to, towards' + uir 'eternity'
*navaer 'farewell'; cf. Q namárië
*allen 'for thou'; cf. an- 'to, towards' + *len 'thou'; cf. S ammen