Namárië

The first stanza of "Namárië" written in Tengwar script.

"Namárië" is a poem by J. R. R. Tolkien written in Quenya, a constructed language, and published for the first time in The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, Chapter "Farewell to Lórien"). It has a subtitle "Galadriel's Lament in Lórien", in Quenya Altariello nainië Lóriendessë which appears only in another book by Tolkien The Road Goes Ever On.

The Quenya word namárië is a reduced form of á na márië, meaning literally "be well", an Elvish formula used for greeting and for farewell.^[1]

"Namárië" is the longest Quenya text in the The Lord of the Rings and also one of the longest continuous texts in Quenya that has ever been written by Tolkien.^[2] It was rewritten many times by Tolkien before it reached the form that was published (see Older versions below). Many Tengwar versions were made by Tolkien. An English translation is provided in the book.

Namárië was set to music by Donald Swann with the help of Tolkien. The sheet music and an audio recording are part of the book The Road Goes Ever On. In a recording Tolkien sings it in a Gregorian manner.^[3]

Early versions

The first version of "Namárië" was published in The Treason of Isengard pp. 284–285. The text is in Quenya, but Tolkien did not provide a translation and some of the words are unlike those used in the final poem. Many words can be found in The Etymologies.

Although there are words that can be recognized by consulting the appendices of The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and The Lost Road, the sentence structure and spellings marks this form as different from the Quenya Tolkien decided on. For example, there are many parts ending in the consonant n, while the Quenya in The Lord of the Rings and later works lack this ending, and there are many parts that are composed of several words linked together, while the Quenya in later works have more separate words. See the fanzine Tyalië Tyellelliéva #12 for a detailed discussion on the development of Namárië.

In popular culture

There are references to the poem in Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On", on their album Led Zeppelin II.^{[citation needed]} Argentinian folk-metal band Tengwar recorded a song using the Quenya text as a basis.

References

1. ^ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Parma Eldalamberon", 17, p. 162.
2. ^ Pesch, Helmut W. (2003) (in German). Elbisch. Bastei Lübbe. p. 25. ISBN 3-404-20476-X. 
3. ^ Music in Middle-Earth, Essay by Gene Hargrove, January 1995

External links

Middle-earth portal

• Fauskanger's word-by-word analysis
• Recording of Tolkien reciting the poem
• The Donald Swann version
• A progressive plainsong version, in Quenya, composed by Michaele de Cygne
• Song rendition of Namárië in Quenya, by Aijin Hidelias:
  • MP3; Official Website (French)
  • MP3; jrrvf.com Website (French)