This poem was written for a fanfic – a child extremely happy that his Ada (daddy) made it home safely from his adventure.
To a Dad
Edhil, glirib oh i mŷr verin,
oh i ngellyr, ar oh i negyr.
Law1 ‘lirib oh i chairdh atha maeth.
Ladrengil2 i thavron ngolodhren3
ladrend elin, eglerion.
Law vaethast ne degyr velig,
law adhanc gyth voeg dhelib,
agor gardh i challonath o nairn
ar o glîr; ú-ebiler cared.
Odul na mar, am bess ar iond în.
Elves, we sing of the steadfast,
of the wise, of bold battle deeds,
but none of the bravery never tested in battle.
Ladrengil, the Noldorin carpenter,
Valley of stars, I shall praise.
He never fought in great battles,
nor did he slay terrifying, cruel foes,
he has done something that great heroes
of legend and song have not;
he came home to his son and wife.
Reconstructions:
- 1. Law
- A general negation particle, meaning “don’t, not, no” based on the Quenya word lá
- 2. Ladrengil
- A name. It means “Valley of Stars”. (ladrend+gîl) Valley, in this case, means a circular valley without a mountain pass to travel through. I made it from “lad” and “rend”.
- 3. Golodhren
- I used the word for a Noldo “golodh” and the adjective suffix “-ren” to make this word.
- 4. Use of ar and mistakes in Mutation rules (ignoring words derived from nd-, ng-, and mb-)
- The poet in this case in a child of an Noldorin Exile, and therefore uses Sindarin with heavy Quenya flavoring (use of ar instead of adh) and made grammatical mistakes in his use of Mutation, when it came to words he wouldn’t have used as often.