#gnomish

Elven words for the ocean, tides, and rain

More in the linguistic resources and word of the day (wotd) tags! Let me know if there are any topics you would like to see covered! These are Sindarin words and I will hopefully post Quenya ones later

Water in all its forms is one of the most commonly occurring motifs in Tolkien. The song that brought about creation is most tangible in the water and all known elven languages have many, many water related words including many wonderfully specific ones! For @tolkienseaweek

I’ve included information on the words derivations and roots where we have them!

Eithel is the Sindarin word for a spring or issue of water. It derives from the older word et-kelē meaning the same

Ael means a large lake. It derives from the root lin meaning pool, lake, or mere.

Lin in Sindarin also means a deep pool, mere (mountain lake) or river feeding well.

Muil was an archaic word for a tarn or mountain lake, derived from moyo meaning quiet

Soth meant bath, derived from sovo meaning wash. See also the early Quenya word lusta meaning to bathe in warm water

Duin is the Sindarin word specifically for a large river, deriving from duy meaning to flow. Sîr was the word for a smaller river or stream, also derived from Sir. Duinë is the Telerin word for river.

Celeth meant a small stream, brook or rivulet derived from kel meaning flow

Oll was an older Sindarin word for a mountain stream derived from the root ulu meaning pour or flow

Lanthir was the Sindarin word for waterfall, derived from the root lat meaning (to) fall to the ground and sir meaning river or stream. Acha is an older Sindarin word for waterfall, derived from asaka meaning the same.

Ethir in Sindarin meant the mouth of a river, derived from Esteri meaning the same. Rant is an Ilkorin word for the course or path of a river

Nen is the general word for water in both Sindarin and Quenya

So last year I made an Artemis Fowl Gnomish spoken dialect because I realised hmm I want to be able to say shit it Gnomish.

So it took me a while since Eoin had already given us a few words and some of them sorta contradicted each other.

Anyway I did in fact end up making the dialect but it took a while, if there is already a spoke dialect please send me a link or if you want to know like what mine is contact me I guess.

Swordtember 2025

6. Bell

Ceremonial Sword for the Veneration of the Sky Queen

Sound and music are incredibly important to the Gnomes of the Belardi Plains, a vast though sparsely populated region to the North of Marais and the River Realms.

This ritual blade is adorned with many bells, each one playing a slightly different sound, all differing in both pitch and timbre, with each different sound representing a certain aspect of the Sky Queen.

The sword is blunt and used in a ritual dance that celebrates the Sky Queen’s creation of the Crown of Stars - an vast astronomical feature visible both day and night. The dance is done alongside the never-ceasing sound of The Divine Pulse a drummed beat that must never stop and is played in shifts by priests in most gnomish settlements in the Belardi Plains.