Category Archives: Tolkien

“O Tannenbaum Gilthoniel”

I re-post this every year in December because it always deserves another look!

Attention all Tolkien language geeks, my friend, Patrick Wynne, sings “A Elbereth Gilthoniel” (by J.R.R.Tolkien) to the tune of “O Tannenbaum.” Brilliant.

(if you have trouble viewing the video, refresh your browser)

Lyrics:
A Elbereth Gilthoniel

A Elbereth Gilthoniel,
O Elbereth Starkindler,
silivren penna míriel
white-glittering, slants down sparkling like jewels,
o menel aglar elenath!
from the firmament the glory of the starry host!
Na-chaered palan-díriel
Having gazed far away
o galadhremmin ennorath,
from the tree-woven lands of Middle-earth,
Fanuilos, le linnathon
to thee, Everwhite, I will sing,
nef aear, sí nef aearon!
on this side of the Sea, here on this side of the Great Ocean!

Special thanks to Pat for letting me post this here!

A Little Tengwar Primer

Some folks were interested in the script that was used in the lyrics I posted for A Elbereth Gilthoniel. Tengwar is a writing system that J.R.R.Tolkien created. It can be used to write in many languages (e.g., Sindarin, Quenya, English). A few years ago I created a little Primer to help learn the Tengwar. It was just for my private use, and I share it here simply to inspire (some of) you to learn it.

Some Tengwar Resources:
Mellonath Daeron – The Language Guild of the Forodrim:

Måns Björkman’s website, Amanye Tenceli: The Writing Systems of Aman

The Elvish Linguistic Fellowship (E.L.F.)