English to Elvish Dictionary

In recent years, the fantasy world of J.R.R. Tolkien has experienced a widespread revival with the production of the movie versions of Lord of the Rings Trilogy by Peter Jackson. With this revival comes a new interest in the invented languages of Tolkien and creating an English to Elvish dictionary.

Tolkien never compiled his many languages into a comprehensive volume before his death. While his son Christopher worked to expand on Tolkien's original writings and manuscripts, a dictionary to his father's language was never published. Throughout the years, it has become a hobby and challenge to Tolkien fans and linguistic experts to create their own manuals for translating Tolkien's works. It has been noted that Tolkien did not simply create substitutions for words, but invented a complete language system. As Elvish language expert Helge Kåre Fauskanger points out, people after Tolkien seemed to understand there was a system in place. Fauskanger offers up the example of other books which use "-dor" at the end of a word to make it a place name, like Mordor in the Tolkien series. Knowing Elvish translations and the language can come in handy for dedicated Tolkien fans, fantasy gamers, and those interested in creating their own writings in Elvish. Additionally, learning the language can make the books easier to understand.

Evaluating Online English to Elvish Dictionaries

A number of English to Elvish dictionaries can be found online. Students of Elvish should be cautioned that because Tolkien himself never provided a comprehensive guide to his languages, that there may be some variance between different websites. Criteria for evaluating these dictionaries includes checking the credentials of the website administrator/translator, connection to Tolkien or the movies, education, published articles, and translation explanation. Consider the rationalization given for a particular translation, especially if it varies from your previous knowledge. In a good English to Elvish dictionary, some explanation of how translations were achieved should be given by the translation author.

Recommended English to Elvish Dictionaries

The following English to Elvish dictionary websites appear to have genuine translations made from a knowledgeable base. Additionally, they all include pronunciation keys to make the spoken translations easier.

• Ardalambion, Of the Tongues of Arda, the invented World of J.R.R. Tolkien-An extensive compilation of Tolkien languages, the website author/administrator Helge Kåre Fauskanger provides histories, phonology and word structure (adjectives, participles, etc), and pronunciation guides. Wordlists appear in many of the various language dictionaries. Although this English to Elvish dictionary is a bit academic in explanation, Fauskanger obviously knows the Tolkien languages.
• Arwen-Undomiel.com is primarily a Lord of the Rings fan website, but it does have a hearty section devoted to the Elvish language. Read an interview with David Salo, the translationist from the movies, and see your name in Elvish. You can get phrases, song lyrics, and book and movie translations as well. The translations employ white, gray, and blues to identify different parts of the translations, which may be hard to differentiate on some computer screens or if you have less than stellar eyesight.
• Hisweloke: le dragon de brume-The Sindarin Dictionary Project is a website devoted to the Grey Elf language used by Tolkien in his writings. You can search from English to Elvish or the reverse. Additionally, the website has downloadable materials to aid in your translations. After typing in a word in English, the dictionary searches for patterns, and suggests words you are looking for. Click on the associate words to get definitions, pronunciations, grammatical role, and references. Unfortunately, the server is limited to searching for 800 terms a day.

The previously mentioned English to Elvish dictionary websites all strive to be more than mere lists of translated words. While finding those wordlists may seem easier than searching for true definitions and learning the language structure and form, you may not get an accurate translation. Other languages may refer to themselves as "Elvish" but not be the Tolkien form of the language. Be sure to check this before you begin translating English to Elvish.