Avarin

SPOKEN BY

Avarin is spoken by the Avari, Elves who refused the call of Oromë to come to Valinor.

DOCUMENTED BY

J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973) explored many languages and cultures as he told the stories of Middle-earth: The Hobbit (1937), The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), The Two Towers (1954), and The Return of the King (1955). (The last three are collectively called The Lord of the Rings.) After his death, his son Christopher Tolkien (1924– ) edited The Silmarillion (1977) with the help of Guy Gavriel Kay (1954– ). Christopher Tolkien then deeply analyzed his father’s notebooks, letters, and drafts to produce an extended study of Middle-earth and its creation: The Book of Lost Tales, Part One (1983), The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two (1984), The Lays of Beleriand (1985), The Shaping of Middle-earth (1986), The Lost Road and Other Writings (1987), The Return of the Shadow (The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part One) (1988), The Treason of Isengard (The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Two) (1989), The War of the Ring (The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Three) (1990), Sauron Defeated (The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Four) (1992), Morgoth’s Ring (The Later Silmarillion, Part One) (1993), The War of the Jewels (The Later Silmarillion, Part Two) (1994), and The Peoples of Middle-earth (1996).

BEHIND THE WORDS

Tolkien conceived of Valinor (also known as the Undying Lands) as a place where the immortal beings of Middle-earth could live free from the fear of Morgoth or any other enemy that might arise. When the Elves first awakened, the Valar summoned them to Valinor, and most of them followed Oromë. Those who resisted the call, out of fear or overcautiousness, remained in the area where they had first awakened, where they lived in the woods or caves. They became wild Elves and taught skills to the first men, though the Eldar (as those who had gone to Valinor were known) were far more skilled and taught men much when they returned to Middle-earth from exile.

DERIVATION OF THE LANGUAGE

Avarin is derived from Primitive Quendian.

A TASTE OF THE LANGUAGE

The following six words are the only ones Tolkien left his readers; he did not provide translations.

cuind

hwenti

kindi

kinn-lai

penni

windan

PHILOLOGICAL FACT

According to Christopher Tolkien’s The War of the Jewels (1994), J. R. R. Tolkien wrote about Avarin but only wrote those six words of Avarin. As each word has a different form, the language might have any many as six dialects.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Review the works listed above, the resources listed in the bibliography, and the web pages:

“Ardalambion” (www.folk.uib.no/hnohf/), “AVARIN—All Six Words” (www.folk.uib.no/hnohf/avarin.htm), “Cirth” (www.omniglot.com/writing/cirth.htm), “How many languages did J.R.R. Tolkien make?” (www.folk.uib.no/hnohf/howmany.htm), “J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biographical Sketch” (www.tolkiensociety.org/tolkien/biography.html), “Sarati alphabet” (www.omniglot.com/writing/sarati.htm), and “Tengwar” (www.omniglot.com/writing/tengwar.htm).

SPEAKING OF LANGUAGES

Change your language and you change your thoughts.

—Karl Albrecht