In names like Aredhel, Maedhros, Galadhon, Edhellond, etc.
I always thought it was a "th" sound like in the or there.
But some people say you just pronounce the d and forget the h...
I think that sounds kinda strange... Maedros??

So how is it supposed to be?

And while you're here answering that question... how do you pronounce "ea" (as in Earendil, Feanor) and "o" (as in Orome, or a word that ends in o, like "Oiolosseo" "Vardo" in the song Aragorn and Arwen sing in Rivendell) and "e" at the end of a word, "Manwe" "Vaire" "Alqualonde"?

I thought "ea" was like ay(like hay)-uh... and o was either oh or ah depending on how it's used... and that it is "oh" at the end of a word.
And "e" at the end is ay.

What do you guys think? Cause I'm probably way off.

Not sure of the "correct" pronunciations of those letters but I know how I say them..

So I'll share the secret of my pronunciation of Eä.. well, for obvious reasons!
I pronounce it "ee-ah" Like two distinct sounds. "E" like in eagle and "ä" like ambulance.


[By the way, moving this to the Language board ]

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I hate to contradict Eä herself but in my Silmarillion audiobook it was pronounced "Eh-(y)ah." Regarding a regular "ea" sound, I believe both vowels would be pronounced, so Feanor would be "Fay-an-nor." O at the end of a word would be pronounced "oh," and with E, "eh," as in "man-way" for Manwe or "Alqualon-day" for Alqualonde. (Or "Taurquen-day" for Taurquende. )

You're right about the "dh" sound. It is pronounced like a "th", though I think it's a specifically hard or soft "th"-- but I can't remember which! And I'm afraid I don't have my copy of the Sil on hand so I can't check for you.

Actually, I'm a bit rusty on all pronouncations, but they should be right.

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The 'dh' is pronounced like a soft 'th,' as in then. Just read that bit of my Languages book the other day. So, it's Arethhhhel and Maethhhros, etc.

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- married fingon fingolfinion 6/4/13 -
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Yes, as noted dh is a voiced th (as in English 'this' or 'then').

But in my opinion Maedros is a later, newly revised name for the same character, athough the form chosen by Christopher Tolkien for the more well known 1977 Silmarillion is obviously Maedhros.

One of my favorite names actually

Yay! So I don't have to call Maedhros Maedros. haha.
Oh, and what do you mean by "eh"? Is it like the "e" in set, bend...?
Cause "eh-ah"? that just... uh... doesn't sound right! lol!

Oh, and I've also heard people pronounce Earendil lots of ways! Like Yar-en-dil, Air-en-dil, Ur-ran-del... ahh!!!
I pronounce it Ay-ah-ren-deel...

I wish Tolkien had put a pronunciation guide in the back of all the books! haha.

Oh, and what about Orome?
It think it would be or-oh-may...

Any other opinions? haha.

I meant "eh" as in how you would say "Eh?" (If you were a sterotypical Canadian, say. ) Basically as rhymes with "way" and "day," like in the examples I gave.

Eä might sound weird, but elvish has a lot of unusual sounding vowels. That's probably why it's so beautiful! The beginning of Earendil would be pronounced the same way, actually, like "Eh-ah-ren-deel."

You're correct with Orome.

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Lol you're just writing "ay" different than me
"Eh" seems like it would be like the e in get.
So I think you're meaning the same sound... lol why is it so hard to write a sound?

You don't have to of course, but do you imagine this character with red/reddish/coppery hair?

If so that's Maedros, which basically means 'Shapely and red-haired'


Maedhros means 'Pale glitter' -- or at least it meant that when it was Maidhros anyway, back in Etymologies -- well, Tolkien wasn't against changing his mind! And it seems that the later image of the 'copper-topped' Feanorian has certainly caught on with artists, if the name that 'goes with it' hasn't as much.

I agree with the way you pronounce Earendil but I don't see how you can make "eh" rhyme with way... is my knowledge of stereotypical Canadian too limited?
Actually, I pronounce Eä like the letters e and a in the Scandinavian languages. We don't have such a strong emphasis on vowels as in English.

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Wikipedia to the rescue!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eh

(Can we all pause for a moment to humbly acknowledge the power of the great Wiki, which has an article on something as mundane as Eh?)

Anyway, when Feanor used "ay" I read that as "aye," which is why I chose "eh" as the closest approximation. But it's good to know we were all talking about the same sound.

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Let's all take a moment to appreciate the dedication Taur demonstrates...finding an article on the interjection Eh isn't for everyone!
I for one would never have thought of it, and unfortunately I only got more confused..!!

This reminds me of a dream I had, that I was at a social thing with a bunch of A-U'ers whom I met for the first time and I really wanted to talk to people but I was scared of approaching them because I realised I had no idea how to pronounce their names.

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^ I think that's how it would be if there ever was an AU gathering! Though I have a hard time imagining anyone has a hard time pronouncing my username. Still, sometimes I wish I'd chosen a pretty Elvish name. It's such a gorgeous language, even if people have difficulty learning to pronounce it.

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- married fingon fingolfinion 6/4/13 -
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Pronounciation wouldn't bother me. I'd just be running around like an idiot hugging people and not caring if I butcher their usernames.

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Sig set and banner by the amazing Nurr!!

Trying to use English orthography to describe a foreign language sure is difficult, isn't it? Perhaps we should find a more accurate way to describe pronunciation, like IPA.

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Thank you. *smug* Even though it only took two seconds to google it and then click on the wikipedia link.


IPA is rather hard for the layman to understand, though, isn't it? (And by "layman" I mean me. )

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