Qenya

Facts

  • Language: Qenya
  • Created: 1915
  • Alternate names:
  • Language code:
  • Language family: fictional diachronic language
  • Script:

A constructed language by J.R.R. Tolkien.

In 1915, Tolkien began his first attempt at a High-Elven language: Qenya. It is almost an entirely different language than Quenya as used in The Lord of the Rings (which, after all, was not published until almost 40 years later).

Language sources: Parma Eldalamberon 12

Qenya is derived from a proto-language, Primitive Elvish, which is very similar in structure to Proto-Indo-European.

Many fans of Quenya are studying the language to see if it can carefully be used to supplement the Quenya lexicon. It's a painstaking task, like Gimli gently chiseling away to expose a gem in the Glittering Caves of Aglarond.

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