Translations from the English

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Those of you who've read The Shaping of Middle-earth (HoME IV) may remember that it contains long compositions in Old English that Christopher Tolkien leaves untranslated. Since I find that maddening, and don't like taking his word for it anyway (and because clearly I have nothing better to do with my evenings), I spent several weeks working on some translations of the Annals of Valinor. Then I left them to gather dust for a couple of months.

Now I've finally got around to sharing the fruits of my labour with your good selves. Don't take them as definitive versions, since my Old English is fairly shaky; in fact I'd be grateful for any suggestions or alternative readings that may be offered. These are simply an aid to the study of Tolkien's Old English composition and to provide some basis for comparison with the Modern English versions of the same passages. For ease of identification, I've used the titles given to them by Christopher Tolkien.

What I can't get across in translation is that Tolkien didn't just translate modern English into Old English. He adopted idioms and expressions that are common in Old English prose, including dative and reflexive constructions that would look peculiar or even clumsy in modern English. These are Old English compositions in the truest sense, as the author was practically thinking in Old English as he wrote. Some parts of these passages look so much like genuine Anglo-Saxon works that they've been known to fool, if only for a moment, some among the Wise (and I suspect that it was only the occurrence of words like 'Valinor' that gave the game away).

Of course, Tolkien was not a native speaker of Old English: his vocabulary was restricted to what has survived into the present day, or what can be reconstructed by scholars. However, Tolkien knew as much as any modern can be expected to know about the language, and these writings demonstrate that he had an instinctive feel for the tone and structure of Old English prose, which he took great delight in employing for his personal amusement.

That's enough from me. Here are Tolkien's words, rendered to the best of my ability. There may be mistranslations and misreadings, for which I apologise in advance.

The Earliest Annals of Valinor Appendix: Old English versions of the Annals of Valinor, made by Ælfwine or Eriol

Version I

These sayings were first set down in books by Pengolod the Wise of Gondolin before it [1] was broken, and later at Sirion's Haven, and at Tavrobel in Tol Eressëa (that is Lonely [2] Isle), after he came west again. And there they were read and translated by Ælfwine, who is called Eriol by the Elves.

Creation Here Ilúvatar, that is Allfather, or Heavenfather, or Brightfather, made all things.

500 years of the Valar (that is of the Powers or Gods) one year of the Gods is as long as ten years are reckoned now in the world after the coming of the sun. Melko (that is Pride) or Morgoth (that is Dark god) overthrew the Lanterns of the Gods, and the Gods took themselves west, and there they made Valinor, that is God-kingdom [3].

1000 Here the Gods awoke the Two Trees, Laurelin (that is Song of Gold) and Silpion (that is Glimmer of Twilight).

2000 The Mid-day [or Noontide] or high glory of Valinor. Here the trees flowered for a thousand years; and Varda (who was the noblest of the goddesses) made the stars. Because of that she is called Tinwetári, Lady of the Stars. Here the elves awoke in the eastern lands, and the Melko was seized and confined in a prison; and afterwards some of the Elves came into Valinor.

2000 to 2100 Here Tûn, the white city, was built on Mount Côr. The Teleri still dwelt on the western shores of the Hither Lands; but the Teler Thingol was lost [4] in the woods.

2100 to 2200 The Teleri dwelt on Lonely Isle.

2200 Here the Teleri came to Valinor.

2500 Here by means of cunning skill the Noldorin Elves conceived and fashioned manifold gems, and Fëanor, lord of the Noldor, made the Silmarils, which were sacred stones [5].

2000 to 2900 The captivity of Morgoth.

2900: Here Morgoth was released, and he dwelt in Valinor, and he feigned that he was friendly with the Gods and Elves.

2999 Here Morgoth slew the Trees and fled, and bore off with him the gems of the Elves and the Silmarils. Afterwards the Noldorin Elves forsook their faith and went into alien lands, and fought with the Teleri at Swanhaven and had the victory, and bore off the Telerin ships.

Here there was a great darkness and mist in Valinor, and over all Middle-earth. During that time Morgoth renewed his old fastness in the Northlands and made much, and gathered orcs; and he set the Silmarils in his iron helm.

Then Fëanor travelled north with his seven sons and a great army, and then sailed in the Telerin ships to the Western shores, and there they burned the ships and betrayed their fellow travellers who journeyed last.

Here Fëanor's force fought with the orcs and gained the victory, and the orcs fled to Angband (that is Ironhell); but Gothmog, Morgoth's thain, killed Fëanor, and afterwards Maedhros ruled Fëanor's people. This battle is called Star-battle.

[Version I ends here]

[1] Hēo: lit. 'she'.
[2] Or 'solitary island'
[3] For the sake of clarity, henceforth Godéðel ('God-kingdom') is translated as 'Valinor', although the Old English word is used throughout.
[4] Or 'enchanted'.
[5] Henceforth Eorclanstanas ('Sacred Stones'), which occurs for 'Silmarils' throughout, is replaced with the more familiar term.
[6] The Old English uses two words for 'battle' in this sentence, but Modern English doesn't have separate equivalents for both.

Version II

Here begins the book which is called[1] Pennas, and it is divided into three: the first part is Valinórelúmien that is 'Annals of Valinor' [2]; and the second is the Annals of Beleriand, and the third Quenta Noldorinwa or Pennas nan Goelið, that is the History of the Noldor. Pengolod the Wise first wrote these in Gondolin, before it was broken, and later at Sirion's Haven and at Tavrobel in Tol Eressëa (that is Solitary Isle), when he came West again. And these books Ælfwine of England [3] saw in in Lonely Isle, when he found it at some time; and he learned them as best he might and later combined them and set them down in English.


I
Here begins the Annal of Valinor.


In the beginning [4], Ilúvatar - that is Allfather [5] - shaped all things, and the Valar - that is the Powers (whom people later took for gods) - came into the world. They are nine: Manwë, Ulmo, Aulë, Oromë, Tulkas, Mandos, Lórien, Melko. Of these, Manwë and Melko, his brother, were mightiest of all, but Manwë was the elder, and was lord of the Valar and holy; and Melko turned to bodily lusts and rebelliousness and pride, and became evil and dishonourable; and his name is cursed and unspeakable, but they called him Morgoth in the Noldorin-elven tongue. The Valarin women are named thus: Varda and Yavanna, who were sisters: Manwë's wife and Aulë's wife; and Vana, Oromë's wife; and Nessa, Tulkas' wife (who was Oromë's sister); and Uinen, the sea-woman, Ossë's wife; and Vaire, Mandos' wife; and Estë, Lórien's wife. But Ulmo and Melko did not have wives, and Nienna the sorrowful had no husband.

With these companions came a great host of lesser powers, the Children of the Valar [5], or spirits of Valarin kind, which had less power. These were the Valarindi.

And the Valar, before the Moon and Sun were, reckoned time from the earliest beginnings or kindling, There were a hundred Years of the Valar[7] all told; and one Year of the Valar was just as long as ten years are now in the world.

500 In the Valian year 500, with cunning skill, Morgoth destroyed the Lamps, which Aulë made so that the world should be lit by them; and the Valar, save Morgoth alone, took themselves West, and there constructed Valinor (that is the Land of the Gods) by the two seas (that is between Útgarsecg, which encircles all the earth, and the great Western Sea, that is Gársecg [8] or Ingársecg or Belegar in Noldorin Elvish); and on the shores of the Western Sea they piled up great mountains. And in those days the rightful shape of Middle-earth was first overthrown by Morgoth.

1000 Here after Valinor was constructed and Valmar, that is the Mountain of the Gods [9], the Valar created and awoke the Two Trees: one fashioned of silver, the other of gold; their radiance illuminated Valinor. But Morgoth abode in Middle-earth and made for himself a great fastness in the Northlands; and in those times he broke and shaped much earth and land. Afterwards was a thousand years of splendour and bliss in Valinor, but in Middle-earth the fruits which had begun to spring up due to the burning of the lamps were marred. None of the Valar came to Middle-earth save Oromë, who often desired to hunt in the ancient lands by dark forests; and at times Yavanna went thither.

2000 This year is reckoned the Noontide or high glory of Valinor, and then the joy of the gods was fulfilled. Then Varda made the stars and set them aloft (and thus she is called Tinwetári, that is 'Star-lady'), and soon after that some of the Valarindi came into Middle-earth, and the most learned was Melian, who formerly was Lórien's handmaid, and her voice was renowned among the Gods; but she came not back to the Gods' city before many years had passed and many wonders came to be; but nightingales were her companions, and sang around her in the dark woods in the west-lands.

Then, when that star which of old was called the Sickle of the Gods, or the Burning Briar, first shone forth in the heavens (because Varda set it for the terror of Morgoth, to forbode to him his destruction) the Elder Children of the Allfather awoke in the midst of the world. Those are the Elves. Oromë found them, and they were befriended by him, and later the most part of them fared west with him at last, and with his guidance [10] reached the west shores of Beleriand, because the gods summoned them into Valinor.

Before then, Morgoth was taken prisoner by a great army and bound, and later caused to be imprisoned in Mandos. There he was imprisoned for seven centuries [11], that is seven-hundred Valian years) until he did penance and begged forgiveness. In that war the lands of the earth were again much broken and reshaped.

The Quendi (who were the Light-elves) and the Noldorin Elves first came to land in Valinor, and on the green hill of Cór near the shores of the sea they built Tún, the white Elven city; but the Teleri, who later came into Beleriand, dwelt for an age there by the shore, and some of them never travelled thence. Of these Thingol was the most famous, Elwë's brother, lord of the Teleri: Melian enchanted him. Later he took her to wife and became a king in Beleriand; but that befell after Ulmo led the most part of the Teleri to the Lonely Isle, and so brought them to Valinor. These things came to pass in the Valian years 2000 to 2100.

From 2100 to 2200, the Teleri lived in Tol Eressëa in the midst of Ingársecg, whence they could see Valinor afar; in 2200 they came with a great host of ships to Valinor and lived there on the eastern shores of Valinor, and there built a city and a haven, and called it Alqualondë - that is Swanhaven - because they moored their ships there, and they were alike to swans.

After about three-hundred summers, more or less, the Noldorin elves devised gems and began to make them, and later Fëanor the smith, eldest son of Finwë, lord of the Noldorin Elves, devised and made the much-renowned Silmarils, of which these histories have much indeed to say concerning their fates. They shone with their own light, for they were filled with the lights of the Two Trees, which were blended therein and were made into a holy and wonderful fire.

2700 Here Morgoth did penance and craved forgiveness, and by the intercession of Nienna, his sister, Manwë, his brother, granted him mercy, to the displeasure of Tulkas and Aulë, and released him; and he pretended that he was repentant and obedient, and obeisant to the Valar and very friendly to the Elves. But he lied, and quickly he cozened the Noldorin elves, for he knew many unknown things to teach; however, he coveted their gems and longed for the Silmarils.

2900 Throughout two centuries Valinor dwelt in bliss, but doubt and rancour grew even so in many hearts, like some kind of night-shadow, because Morgoth went with secret whisperings and cunning lies and, truly evil it is to say, mostly he inspired the Noldoli, and discord arose between Finwë's sons, Fëanor and Fingolfin and Finrod, and discord between the Gods and the Elves.

2950 By the judgement of the Gods, Fëanor, Finwë's eldest son, with his household and following, was deprived of the lordship of the Noldor. Therefore afterwards Fëanor's kin were called the Dispossessed - for that judgement and and because Morgoth deprived them of their treasures - and the Gods summoned Morgoth to his judgement; but he fled and hid in Arvalin, and plotted evil.

2950 [12] Here Morgoth completed his plans.

2951 He [Morgoth] sought out Ungoliantë in Arvalin and requested her aid. Then they stole back into Valinor and killed the Two Trees, and afterwards escaped under the growing shadows and travelled north, and there plundered Fëanor's settlement and carried off untold gems and also the Silmarils; and there Morgoth slew Finwë and many an elf of his with him, and so first defiled Valinor with bloodshed and established murder in the world. Then he saved his life by flight, although the Gods pursued him far and wide through the land. Afterwards he came into the Northern regions of Middle-earth and there established his fastness, and nourished and gathered anew his evil servants, both Balrogs and Orcs. Then a great terror came into Beleriand, and Thingol built his fortress in Menegroth, that is 'Thousand Caves', and Melian the Queen, with Valarin power, enchanted that land Doriath, and wound it about, and afterwards the most part of the Dark-elves of Beleriand came to Thingol's protection.

2901 Here Valinor lay in...[13]

[Version II ends here]

[1] man nemneð: lit. 'a person calls'
[2] Godéðles Géargetæl: lit. 'Year-tally of the Gods' Kingdom'. Here and elsewhere, Godéðel is translated 'Valinor'.
[3] Angelcynne: lit. 'Angle-kind': An old term first popularised by Alfred the Great, which refers to all inhabitants of England not under Scandinavian rule. 'The English' is probably the best modern translation, although the sense is different; but in this context a modern writer would probably say 'of England'.
[4] frumsceaft: lit. 'first creation'.
[5] 'Allfather' is one of Odin's by-names. This word actually translates 'Ilúvatar', but I've translated it instead wherever it occurs. It's probably better to read 'Ilúvatar' for 'the Allfather' wherever I've used it.
[6] lit. 'Vala-children'.
[7] lit. 'Vala-years'
[8] Gársecg (pronounced 'Garsedge'): an Anglo-Saxon term for the North Sea, literally 'Spear's edge' (referring to its colour). Útgársecg means 'Outer ocean' and Ingarsecg means 'Inner ocean'. Since there isn't a modern term that properly translates these, I've let the Old English stand.
[9] Lit- 'Gods'-mountain'
[10] Or 'leadership'
[11] firstmearc is the Old English term equivalent to 'century', but it could also mean 'age'.
[12] The Roman numerals here (MMCMD) actually read '2900, 500' (i.e. two different numbers). I follow Christopher Tolkien's suggestion that this refers to the year 2950, and that for some reason Tolkien wrote 'D' for 'L'.
[13] The text ends here in mid-sentence.

Version III

Here begins the book which is called Pennas in Elvish, and it is divided into three: the first part is Valinórelúmien, that is 'God-kingdom's Annal' [1]; and the second part is the Annal of Beleriand; and the third Quenta Noldorinwa or Pennas na Ngoeloeð, that is the History of the Noldorin Elves. Pengoloð the Wise first wrote these books in Gondolin before it was broken, and later at Sirion's Haven, and at Tavrobel in Tol Eressëa (that is Solitary Isle), when he came west again. And Ælfwine of England saw these books in Solitary Isle, when he at some time found that land, and there he learned them as best he might, and later combined them and set them down in the English language.

Here begins the Annal of Valinor, and it speaks first of the creation of the world. In the beginning, Ilúvatar, that is Allfather, made all things, and then, when the world was first begun, the Valar (that is the Powers, whom some people later held to be gods) came hither into the earth. They are nine in number: Manwë, Ulmo, Aulë, Oromë, Tulkas, Mandos, Lórien, Melkor. Of these, Manwë and Melkor, his brother, were mightiest of all; but Manwë was the elder, and is the Vala-lord and holy, and Melkor turned to bodily lusts, and to rebelliousness, and pride, and became evil and dishonourable; and his name is accursed and unspeakable, wherefore people name him Morgoth in the Noldorin Elven speech. Oromë and Tulkas were younger born in the Allfather's thought before the forming of the world than the other five. The Valarin women are named thus: Varda, Manwë's wife, and Yavanna, Aulë's wife (when he and she were espoused [3], after the Valar came hither into the world).

[Version III ends here]

[1] As before, this phrase will be translated henceforth as 'Annal of Valinor', since the Old English phrase Godéðles Géargetæl ('Tale of Years of the kingdom of the Gods') just looks clumsy in Modern English.
[2] See note 3 to Version II
[3] Literally 'became unto a married couple'.

[Aiwendil]

Thanks, Squatter! It has always irked me, as well, that Christopher left those untranslated. I've been working on learning Old English - now I can use these texts as practice, with a 'solution' to check my work against.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

I'm glad you like it, Aiwendil. Thanks for the support: I was beginning to think that nobody was interested.

I cannot advise too strongly against using my translations to practice Old English. I just found quite a major mistake in my translation of version III (since corrected), and you might well find that using my translation puts you on the wrong track from the start. If you want to learn Old English, the best place to start is The Cambridge Old English Reader by Richard Marsden (Cambridge University Press, 2002). This is a good beginner's textbook for several reasons: it has a very wide variety of texts, it's the most recent reader I know, it treats a newcomer to the language very gently and the author was very generous in his marking of my essays.

Those words of caution aside, Old English is a great language, and much easier to learn than Latin. I'm glad that you're dipping your toe in the water.

[piosenniel]

Thanks for the effort you've put into this, Squatter. And thanks for the referral to the The Cambridge Old English Reader - I googled it and will most likely see about getting it.

I've been using THIS and THIS to puzzle out words and parse meanings. And often times with rather hilarious results . . .

~*~ pio

[Aiwendil]

Okay, words of caution noted.

I still intend to try translating these texts once I've gotten a sufficient start in the tongue, and I will still keep your versions at hand, but I won't take them as the infallible "solutions".

I've so far been working out of the Introduction to Old English by Peter Baker and the Old English Grammar and Reader by Robert Diamond, but I will keep an eye out for Marsden's book as well.

[Bêthberry]

Does Christopher Tolkien give a reason why he does not translate the passages? Was he unable to translate them to his satisfaction? Given that he extrapolated for The Silm, it seems a bit strange to maintain silence here.

Not that I really mean to entertain a discussion over what either Tolkien intended.

Of course, Tolkien fils' reticence is Squatter's and ours gain. Many thanks.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

C.T. states that they follow very closely the Modern English annals to which they are an appendix. Being a naturally distrustful and pedantic individual, I wanted to prove that to myself. Christopher Tolkien is a retired philologist, and although he did not share his father's stature in the profession I'm fairly sure that he could have come up with a better translation than I have in about a tenth of the time. I think it most likely that he was trying to save space. Besides, JRRT would have liked to see his fans learning Old English; probably more than he would have liked to see them learning Sindarin or discussing his fiction at exhaustive length.