Message Board | Rules

Thread: Tiro na nin


Bottom of Page    Message Board > Writers Guild > Tiro na nin   
Slowly the heavy wooden doors of the library open and a woman enters the room. She is alone, no one else walks between the high bookshelves. With single steps she goes towards a small table near the windows. She always sits there.
It is dark outside and on the table, next to an empty piece of pergament, she places the flickering candle, which she had held in her hands before. She will not read tonight, she will write.
Sitting in front of the table she can see her face mirrored in the window, pale and unsteady, distant and fragile, appearing and vanishing with the small falme of the candle. The woman takes a quill, a white feather once but now stained with black ink, and she begins to write.

Tiro na nin. Man genich?
Cenich fuin, gostach cha
Th’r n’n fain.

Tiro na nin. Man genich?
Cenich cheleg, mathach cha
Im ’-ring.

Tiro na nin. Man genich?
Cenich ’uruthos, gostach cha
Im guinol.

Tiro na nin. Man genich?
Cenich dhim, mathach cha
I ngwannen
’-nallar.


Small and neat black Tengwar are covering half of the light beige paper. There is room for more, but the woman does not have anything else to say. Watching the black stains of ink that are now also on her hands she decides to translate those elvish words into the tongue of Men.

Look at me. What do you see?
You see darkness, fear it,
Although my face is white.

Look at me. What do you see?
You see ice, feel it,
But I am not yet cold.

Look at me. What do you see?
You see death, fear it,
Although I am still alive.

Look at me. What do you see?
You see sorrow, feel it,
But the dead
Do not grieve.



---------------------------------------------------------------


This is not really an independent story, it was part of a roleplaying game, I posted it because of the Sindarin part.

I admit, the english poem is not the exact translation of the Sindarin words (actually, it's the other way round, i wrote the english stuff first and then tried to translate it).
I just couldn't find Sindarin words for 'still', 'yet', 'but', and 'although', so I just skipped them... That might change the sense a little, but anyways...
The last line of the last verse (u-nallar) actually means "do not cry" because I had some vocab-problems at that point too. And again in the last verse, second line. I had to compromise and used the Ilkorin-word 'dim' (sadness) as a translation for sorrow until I can find something more accurate.

Oh, and by the way, I'd appreciate it if Sindarin-speaking people would point out (and maybe correct?) mistakes in the Sindarin text, I guess I might have overlooked several things.

Nandoriel
WOW!!! That's your very first post!!! That's a pretty long first post!! I'm sorry but I looked and I thought it was from someone with like thousands of posts!!! But then I looked down and saw it was the first one!! At least I think it was the first one!!! Anyways continue with you dicussion deally!!
Buh Bye!! Big Smile Smilie Big Laugh Smilie
Well, yea, the very first one... in this forum at least

And this is the second one, a very senseless second one, too Elf Rolling Eyes Smilie
The young elf women watched the other silently. She quietly crept over to her, and jumped up, to land lightly on top of a bookcase. Then, peering over her shoulder, she bagan to read the poem.

~*~*~
That is indeed a very long first post Nandoriel, very good, though.