Babel

No.	Quenya	Tengwar	Means
1	Ar i quanda cemen sámë er lambë ar imyë quettar.	          	Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
2	Ar martanë írë lendeltë Rómello, i Atani hirner yondë Sineär·nóressë, ar marner tassë.	               	And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
3	Ar quenteltë imíca intë, “Tula, alvë carë telari ar alvë urta tai mai.” Ar yuhtaneltë telari ve sarni ar morihimma ve telarhimma.	                          	And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
4	Quenteltë, “Tula, alvë carasta inwen osto ar mindon arwa telmaryo meneldë, ar alvë carë inwen essë, hya nauvalvë vintainë ter cemen.”	                          	Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
5	Ar Yehóva undulendë tiriën i osto ar i mindon ya Atani carastaner.	            	And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.
6	Ar equë Yehóva, “Yé, naltë er lië, ar illi mici te samir er lambë ar si ná i minya nat ya cariltë; sí munta ya meriltë carë nauva tiën úcárima.”	                        ;          	And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
7	Tula, alvë undulelya ar carë rúcinë lambeltar, i lá hanyuva quén lambë exëo.”	                	Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.”
8	Sië Yehóva vintanë te tó ter palúrë cemeno, ar pustaneltë carasta i osto.	              	So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
9	Etta mo antanë san i essë Vável, an tassë Yehóva carnë rúcinë lambi i quanda cemeno. Ar tó vintanes te ter cemen.	                        	Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

Extra

Translation by Herenvarno and Helge Fauskanger

Sinear·nóressë: Quenyarized Shinear in a construction after the attested “Elenna·nóressë.”

yuhtaneltë: “they used.” “Yuhta-” is from the primitive root YUK, cognate with “Noldorin” “iuitho.”

morihimma: bitumen, that is, a black, sticky gum-like substance like asphalt that can, apparently, be used as mortar. It's a compound of “mori” + “himma,” which is derived from himya-, to adhere, root KHIM. “Himma” is glue, or gum, or resin, in other words, any kind of sticky goop.

telarhimma: mortar. “telar” (brick) + “himma” as above.

Yehóva: Quenyarization of Hebrew “YHWH.”

úcárima: ú (not) + cár (root “car-,” “to do”) + ima (adjectival suffix meaning –able); impossible, not doable.

Vável: Quenyarization of Babel.

⇦ Prior / Next ⇨