#skexish

The Skeksis' Book of Law

The gif was sourced from Philippa Broadhurst, who worked on Age of Resistance, her description of the behind-the-scenes clip of making the book reads;

"One of our tests with the first completed Skeksis Book of Law - we had such talented prop makers and SFX! This was my absolute favourite prop book to design, from Louis immediately responding to my first triangular concept, right through all the origami inspired by WWI messages, to the finished article. The piece I am most proud of"

The other two still images I collected from Twitter.

Kekkon, Kekkon, Yazakaide, Akura, Kasdaw. -- Obviously we weren’t given subtitles in the original film, so this is all guessing based on pragmatics/context-clues on my part, but the Ritual-Master says this during skekSo’s funeral. Words that are repeated in chants are usually done so for a reason, and comparing this to the urRu funeral for urSu, I think a good translation would be: Rise, Rise, Conquer, Subdue, Rule. Skeksis place less emphasis on eternity/spirituality than their mystic counterparts, but in AOR, we do see skekSo place importance on eternal power when he displays skekMal in the throne room so that he could rule by their side forever. 

Hokkvatta skaun Kherron. -- First of all, the capitalization pattern is interesting. In languages like German, all nouns are capitalized regardless on whether they are common or proper. I think the same can be said of skexish, although skexish includes imperatives as seen above. Furthermore, Based on the context-clues, this can be directly translated to: Foreign(hokk)-worlds(vatta) (conjugated to be-- will be) Master. In English, this would be: You will be master of foreign worlds, but I will later demonstrate that skexish has a OVS (object-verb-subject) order. Judging by the Chamberlain’s syntax, which I headcanon closely mirrors skexish, there are no articles or minor prepositions (the, a, an, of, etc.) or pronouns given the skeksis, and urskek’s, lack of gender or sex. When addressing another, titles or names are used, or the addressee is implied given eye contact/context. 

Kekkon, Kekkon, Yazakaide, Akura, Teedkhug. -- Rise, Rise, Conquer, Subdue, Crush-Enemy (a word that we would understand as Victory). 

Haakhaon -- Forever/Eternally. 

Haakskeekah-- Stone(Haak)-Trial(skeekah) or Trial-by-Stone. 

Kakoi-- breaking/shattering, verb. Used most often in reference to Emperor skekSo cracking the Crystal of Truth. 

Pih Tabrokh!-- Begin now! 

Khrokon-- All(Khro)-ruler(kon) or Emperor. 

Rakhash-- Life(rak)-chamber(hash). 

Vliya-- gelfling essence; a perversion of the gelfling word ‘vliyaya’ or magic. 

Mala-- No/Stop. 

Khai-- Kneel/Bow. 

Ekdideothone-- Release/Drop. 

Katakontidzeh-- Empty(Katakon)-head(tidzeh) or fool. 

Katakontidzeh tekka-- foolish bastard, roughly. “tekka,” like most skexish insults, are not rooted in urSkek morphology. Adding “tekka” to a sentence or using it on its own is basically akin to using any expletive.

Kataftheeressthou-- a kenning that roughly translates to prophecy(kataft)-failure(heeressthou), as in the prophecy will fail. 

Poostitoc?-- Location?

Howtee oo mee Kelffinks-- Gelflings (mee; conjugated to be-- are) not(oo) brought (implied they). Or, more generally, They did not bring gelflings. 

Svaleros ho Kelffinks-- Hide cannot Gelflings, or Gelflings cannot hide. 

Kelffink Krakweekah-- Gelfling destroy/murder, or Destroy the gelfling! 

Porroh klet!-- Fire loss, or loss due to a fire. 

Garthim na bullorkhskaunga!-- Garthim go barracks/soldier(bullorkh)-pit(skaunga), or (To the) Barracks go, Garthim.  

Kakofrontez-- another skeksis-constructed insult, roughly translated as shit(kako)-stain(frontez).

Kelffinks makhun kim-- Gelfling fly/rush forward rapid/quick, or (implied command to crystal bats) rapidly/quickly fly/rush forward (for) gelflings. Makhun is actually a verb explicitly tied to urskek pragmatics because they have wings, can float. Instead of saying “move forward,” the verb for flying is used. This explains why “makhun” is also used in the film when skekUng is commanding the other skeksis to attack the Chamberlain before he is banished. 

Kelffink na Rakhash-- Gelfling go Life-Chamber, or (To the) Life-Chamber go Gelfling. 

Kelffink cho tenkha. Vo olk Kelffink ulls?-- Gelfling now alone. To run gelfling where? (To where did the gelfling run?) 

Khavekh-- Sun(Kha)-meet(vekh) or the Great Conjunction. 

Orkhasstim-- Restore/Replenish, imperative verb. 

Teen Kelffinkim-- Capture/Take Gelflings. The -im is the proper/formal plural. -s/-es is informal. 

Klakk smaithh Skwee Kreh-- Continue if (implied you) tear apart (implied I). Or, I will tear you apart if you continue. 

skekMal the Hunter - Make-Up Tray and Accessories Props - Jim Henson Company 70th Anniversary Auction on Julien's Auctions, sold for $2,560 - Lot 203

"A make-up tray with brushes and assorted vessels used by the Skeksis to make the dead body of skekMal the Hunter (performed by Kevin Clash and voiced by Ralph Ineson) presentable for eternal display in the Castle of the Crystal in the ninth episode of the prequel series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (Netflix, 2019), entitled, "The Crystal Calls."

The props are composed primarily of metal and wood. Sponges with wooden handles are present, as well as a group of small brushes. The bottom of the silver-tone bowls reads, "The National Trust/ Gentenary 1895-1995." 

Dimensions: Tray: 19.5 x 14.5 inches; Overall: 19.5 x 14.5 x 4 inches"

THE DARK CRYSTAL (1982)

98. Production-Made Skeksis Sword - Sold on Propstore.com

"A production-made Skeksis sword from Jim Henson's and Frank Oz' The Dark Crystal. Skeksis settled their disputes with a ritual known as the Trial by Stone, in which the feuding Skeksis would take turns striking the Haakskeekhah Stone with large swords, with the winner being whichever Skeksis hacked off the largest chunk of the stone.

This metal sword, while cast from the same molds at the same time as those seen in the final cut of the film, differs in its coloring and details. It is painted bronze-color and consists of a long, curved metal blade with jagged hook-like indentations; and an elaborately detailed fiberglass handguard over a wire frame with a gold-color, cord-wrapped handle and a pommel with sculpted talons. It exhibits paint chipping throughout, cracks in the handguard, and small pieces broken off. Dimensions: 64" x 16" x 9" (162.75 cm x 40.75 cm x 23 cm)"

Chamber of Life - Scientist's Lab Papers (A) - Jim Henson Company 70th Anniversary Auction on Julien's Auctions, sold for $1,280 - Lot 145

"A group of original alchemical research notes and diagrams from the prequel series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (Netflix, 2019).

Composed of vellum paper with photocopied text and diagrams written in the Skeksis language, these set dressing pieces were used in the Chamber of Life, where skekTek the Scientist (performed by Olly Taylor and voiced by Mark Hamill) performed experiments on animals and other captives.

Dimensions: Largest: 11.5 x 9.5 inches; Smallest: 3.25 x 3.25 inches"

THE DARK CRYSTAL (1982)

575. Terry Ackland-Snow Collection: Skeksis Finger Cutlery Set - Sold on Propstore.com

"A set of Skeksis finger cutlery from Frank Oz and Jim Henson's fantasy film The Dark Crystal. These eating utensils were used in the banquet scene as the lizard-like Skeksis creatures ate a massive dinner and discussed the escape of Jen (performed by Jim Henson and voiced by Stephen Garlick). This lot comes from the collection of British film designer Terry Ackland-Snow, who served as the art director for The Dark Crystal. He has also been art director or production designer for more than 80 films, going back to the Rocky Horror Picture Show in 1975, notably working on Jim Henson's Labyrinth and The Great Muppet Caper, as well as Superman II, Tim Burton's Batman, and Aliens.

Made of metal with coloured crystals and faux diamonds, the cutlery resembles a knife, a skewer and a spoon and is designed to be worn like finger rings. The utensils feature ornate detailing, with rings of runes around their circumference and the head of a Skeksis wrapped around the coloured gem at the fingertip. The utensils exhibit some wear, including a missing gemstone on the knife. Dimensions (knife): 16.5 cm x 3 cm x 4 cm (6.5" x 1.25" x 1.5")"

to want: telo (i want); telesh (you/you all want); teloun (he/she/they want);  teloume (we want) 

to like: areshei (i like); sasareshei (you/you all like); tareshei (he/she/they like); mareshei (we like) 

to hate: misho (i hate); misheish (you/you all hate); kishon (he/she/they hate); mishoum (we hate) 

to speak: milao (i speak); milane (you/you all speak); miloun (he/she/they speak): milame (we speak) 

i speak true: alivish milao 

lies: shefti 

liar: sheftian

go away/leave: adei 

fight (imperative for others): palavay 

fight (imperative for oneself): palamishay 

strong (adj.): ishkhriosh 

-- the language is tonal in nature. different volumes and pitches of hissing can change the intent of the verbal message. furthermore, verbs are often unconjugated because subjects are either implied with context-clues/eye-contact or stated outright (e.g., scientist (person being addressed) is not feeling well.) furthermore, plurals/singular are distinguished for objects rather than people, a remnant of the urSkek’s emphasis on the collective. 

-- basic vocab and verbs: 

to be: me- am (pronounced as “may”); mee- is/are (pronounced “me-ay”); dakhta- was/were; hattee- have been; retta- had been; skaun- will be 

to go: na- imperative/present tense; itar- went/had gone; paishkha- will go 

to have: blansh- present tense; tanshar- will have; eikhsha- had 

yes: nola 

no: mala 

and: ra

or: roo 

but: awlla

my/mine: ol

why?: bakhle (bakh-lay) 

where?: ulls 

how?: darshar 

when?: capima