Translations - Lament for the Rohirrim in English and P-AdW Westron

A hypothetical translation of the song Lament for the Rohirrim from the English language into P-AdW Westron.

 

 

First the original English lyrics of the song, as written by Tolkien, and recited in The Two Towers by Aragorn during the arrival to Edoras, the capital city of Rohan. The song's lyrics:

 

Lament for the Rohirrim

Where now the horse and the rider?
Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk,
and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring,
and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest
and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain,
like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West
behind the hills into shadow.
Who shall gather the smoke
of the dead wood burning,
Or behold the flowing years
from the Sea returning? 

 

 

Professor Tolkien reading the Lament for the Rohirrim.

 

An adaptation of the song by the ensemble Clamavi de Profundis.

 

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The hypothetical lyrics of the Lament for the Rohirrim in P-AdW Westron, albeit without rhymes:

 

Niyirlînth an Karbunaset

Anz îdô karabet ka karabnaret ?
Anza raset hatîn tâidô pûtara ?
Anza harmet ka kôrlabet
ka bêl phindî phurusal ?
Anza pât auda dandalsarm
ka karasa nitet alûrzin ?
Anza tvîlet ka kirimet
ka orhal polut alvarin ?
Yabatavînd bê ulin urudnud
bê bavâb auda lâira
Ûrepûhit abatab im Adûnet
nad urîdit nâloda.
Mân inda-hozd gundet
an kvarân ter nitorin
Hya tuda phurusal ûrebît
Azrôt rînkônin ?

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Do you also want to engage in a bit of experimentation ? Set one of those two recording to a lower volume, pay attention to the tempo of the singing. Try to sing along with the help of the lyrics in P-AdW Westron. :-) Believe me, it's not daft at all. The translated text can be sung perfectly fine, you just need to keep to a slower tempot of singing and not hurry that much. 

If it might have sounded a bit like this in Tolkien's Middle-earth, when Aragorn, or some person of Rohan or anyone else recited or sang this song, you once again have something of a more concrete idea about the character of Tolkien's fictional cultures and their languages.

(C) 1955 J. R. R. Tolkien The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
 
(C) 2021 P-AdW Westron translation by Potulný rytier zemplínsky