I am stricken.

[oloriel]

Do you know that feeling, when you stumble upon something in a language that you hardly understand, but even though you can only grasp tiny bits of it, you fall desperately, deeply, absolutely in love with that random bit?

[I have to think of The Doll's House now: "Chantal is having a relationship with a sentence. Just one of those things. A chance meeting that grew into something important for both of them..."]

Anyway, I've had that often. I have, so to say, relationships with many sentences, fragments, poems, songs, whatever. It's not unusual. Maybe I should be scared that words have such overpowering effects on me.

What I'm talking about now, anyway:

Nai kotumo ar nilmo, kalima Vala
thauza ar poika, Moringothonna,
Elda ar Maiya ar Apanóna,
Endóressë Atan sin únóna,
ilar thanyë, ilar melmë, ilar malkazon sammë,
osta ilar harwë, lau Ambar tana,
só-thauruvá Fëanárollo, ar Fëanáró nossello,
iman askalyá ar charyá, ar mi kambë mapá,
herá hirala ar haiya hatá
Silmarillë. Sí vandalmë ilyai:
unqualé son antávalme mennai Aurë-mettá,
qualmé ten' Ambar-mettá! Quettalman lasta,
Eru Ilúvatar! Oiyámórenna
mé-quetamartya íre queluvá tyardalma.
Ainorontessë tirtassë lasta
ar lma-vandá enyalaz, Varda Manwë!

*drool*

Comments

[etoilepb.livejournal.com]

Heh, at least I recognize the language... What's it about? I've picked up the part about the Varlar, Maiar, and Eldar, and the parts about Middle-Earth and that Feanor and the Silmarils and Eru and Varda are in it, but I can't string it together. What's the rest?

[ladyelleth.livejournal.com]

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! :)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

It's the Oath of Feanor :)
And I didn't understand any more than you did. That's the scary part - I hardly understand a thing and yet I love it...

[ninquelote.livejournal.com]

It's not so strange to me. Some songs I've gotten obsessed with and fallen deeply in love with, to the point where I couldn't stop listening to them, because the words sung emotion to me even without my knowing what they meant. I've had some Japanese songs do that to me, and more recently there was one in Maori... *shrugs* Wish I could tie all the ends together somehow, say something profound about what it means... but I can't. They're just strange glimmers in my life, but beautiful when they happen.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Without doubt. :)

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Hey, check this out: The Curse of the Noldor in Sindarin:

I Thrach in Gelydh

Nîr lîn rimmathar arnediad; i Melain thorathar Nor Rodyn dallen a le awarthathar aen ed. I 'lamor naergon lîn ú-athradatha in ered. I rûth idh Rodyn danna, o Ndûn na Thrûn, or nost Feanor a or výr dîn phain. I ‘waedh tegitha hain, dan gweriatha hain, a dolthatha o chain i mîr i anírar. I min dîn phain gevedithar úmeth; an gweriad o gwenyr na ‘wenyr, ar an ngostad i ‘weriad. Nathar in Edlinn an-uir.

Eliannech i agar gwaith lîn, ar i úfaelas hen gwathant Aerand. Adannathach iâr an iâr ar athan Aerand cuiathach di-nguruthos. Ilfirin le vi Ea an innas o Eru, a cael ú-‘êd le, dan le gerir degi aen, a le degithar aen: am magol ar am maul ar an naeg. In fae bembair lîn telithar na Ost-e-Mband. Ennas dorthathach anann, a pedh ‘raw darthathach. Ú-danathon le faelas; ae i ndengin gohenathar le, ú-lastathon hain. Ar ae ú-delithach no nin a broniathach ned Ennor; i ardhon prestatha le sui caul dhaer, a pelithach na dhae naeth no echui in Ebennin. Pennir i Melain.

~From 'The Silmarillion" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Sindarin translation by Menelvantar (http://www.elvish.org/gwaith/language.htm)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks!