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The New Notion Club Archives
Ted Nasmith - At Lake Cuiviénen

Awakening of Quendi

Primitive Quendian, also known as Kwendya or Tintalambë (Q. “Starry Speech”) among scholars of Elvish linguistics, was the primordial language of the Quendi, the Elves who first awoke at Cuiviénen, in far east of Ennor. It is the ancestral tongue from which all later Elvish languages—including Avarin, Eldarin, Quenya, Sindarin, and Nandorin.

History[]

When the Minyar, Tatyar, and Nelyar—the three clans of the Quendi—first gathered at Cuiviénen, their speech was one. It flowed like the waters of their sacred lake, its sounds clear and resonant, untainted by strife or shadow. Each word seemed to mirror the beauty of the world they beheld for the first time. The Elves called it Tintalambë, the "Star-speech," for it was spoken under the undimmed light of Varda's stars, the first and only light of that age.

Primitive Quendian served as the foundation from which all Elvish tongues would later arise. Its pure and harmonious structure held the seeds of diversity that would blossom as the Quendi journeyed into distant lands or chose to remain behind in Middle-earth.

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