Mellonath Daeron
The Language guild of the Forodrim
Mellonath DaeronThe Language guild of the Forodrim |
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Rearranged and translated in 1996 from the Swedish original lyrics of Arvid Rosén and Sigrid Elmblad.
| Quenya | Swedish |
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| Lumna cormóres nar peler ar mardor, or ambar alanar caitar i mordor, íre mir lóna már ninquitar lícumar: Ela i calmacolinde, Lícumafinde! |
Natten går tunga fjät runt gård och stuva. Kring jord som soln förlät skuggorna ruva. Då i vårt mörka hus stiger med tända ljus Sankta Lucia. Sankta Lucia! |
| Fana ancalima, Lícumaríne, a síla vanima mí hrívefuine! Apacenye olori lúcim' anyárier: ninqui a tinta rielyo alcari, a Lícumariel! |
Sankta Lucia, ljusklara hägring, sprid i vår vinternatt glans av din fägring! Drömmar [med vingesus] under oss sia. Tänd dina vita ljus, Sankta Lucia! |
| Tultas nincollanen melima yalme, merye intyar antas men os turuhalme. Fanyo nón' úruva viny' aure entuluva, auta i lóme: quete i tanna Lícumarianna. |
Kom i din vita skrud huld med din maning! Skänk oss[, du julens brud,] julfröjders aning! Dagen skall åter ny stiga ur rosig sky, mörkret skall flykta snart: så hon ett underbart ord till oss talar |
| Mauyar moringole alcar ar linde, varya mí lumbule airillirinde. Eleni turmeva hirien tie ná men írim' Airendúriva lícuma-rie. |
Trollsejd och mörkermakt ljust du betvingar, signade lågors vakt skydd åt oss bringar. Stjärnor som leda oss vägen att finna bli dina klara bloss, fagra prästinna. |
Fana ancalima, Lícumaríne 'white figure
shining brilliant, candle-crowned', *licuma-ríne
fem. noun of *lícuma-rína 'candle-crowned'.
A síla vanima mí hrívefuine
'shine fair in the winter night'.
Apacenye olori 'prophetic dreams', apacenye
plur. adj. 'of foresight' (MR p.216).
Anyárier lúcima 'have heralded a miracle',
*anyárier perf. plur. of nyarin 'I tell',
*lúcima '(sth) magical, miraculous' to
lúce 'enchantment'.
A tinta rielyo ninqui alcari 'light the white halos of
your crown'.
A Lícumariel 'oh candle-wreath-maiden',
*lícuma-ri-el comp. Alta-ri-el.
Nincollanen tultas melima yalme 'in white apparel she
brings gracious summons', *nincolla- from
*ninque-colla- 'white vestment', tulta 'fetches'
-s enclitic 3rd pers. pronoun (comp. eques 'said
he/she', WJ p.415), *yalme nomen actionis to yal-
'summon' (UT p.317; thus not the yalme of the Etymologies
(s.v. ÑGAL) which is prob. a misprint for *nyalme).
Men antas merye intyar os turuhalme 'to us she gives joyous
ideas of Yule', *me-n dative of me 'us' (perhaps
documented assimilated in mel-lumna '[for] us is heavy',
LRW p.47), turuhalme 'Log-drawing' (Yule-tide custom
mentioned in BLT I pp.229, 270), here metonymically for Yule in
its entirety, *os corresponds to Noldorin oh 'about'.
Vinya entuluva aure, úruva fanyo nóna
'new shall [the] day return, born of glowing cloud[s]',
*fanyo separative genitive (compare Oiolosseo in
"Namárie").
Auta i lóme: quete i tanna Lícumarianna
'the night is passing: the sign [thereof is the word] the Candle
Queen speaks', *rianna 'queen' (comp. S.
Celebrían 'silver-queen', Letters #345), tanna
'sign, *portent' (MR p.385).
Alcar ar linde mauyar moringole '[her] glory and song
subdue sorcery', *moringole from more ingole
'black magic'.
Airillirinde varya mí lumbule '[her] circle of
holy flames protects [us] in the powerful darkness',
*airillirinde from aire rilli rinde 'holy flames
circle'.
Eleni turmeva hirien tie 'stars with guiding power',
*turmeva poss. case of *turme 'governing power,
strength' (comp. Goldogrin turm 'authority, rule; strength'
BLT I p.260), *hirien tie gerundial form in dative with a
direct object 'to find [the] way' (comp. enyalien alcar,
UT p.317).
Men ná lícuma-rie írima airendúriva
'is for us the candle-wreath of the fair priestess',
*airendúriva poss. case of *aire-ndúr-i
'sanctity-servant, priestess'.
The morning of St Lucy's day (13 December) is celebrated in Sweden with much ceremony involving white-robed, predominantly female carolers led by a candle-crowned maiden, performing a specialized repertoire of songs in honour of St Lucy (Sw. Lucia) and St Stephen, in addition to generic Christmas carols. Considerable amounts of candles, saffron buns, ginger biscuits, coffee and sometimes mulled wine are consumed in the process.
This very Catholic custom is an uniquely Swedish phenomenon, which may be slightly surprising given the fact that the country has had a Protestant State church since the 16th century. Winter in Sweden, however, is dark and cold, with weather steadily getting worse through the long autumnal months. There is certainly a sore need for a Candle Maiden in deep December when you are still a week on the wrong side of the solstice.
Lícumariel linde is a slight rearrangement and translation of the lyrics for the two most common Lucia hymns into Quenya (High Elvish), one of the languages constructed by Professor J.R.R. Tolkien for his fictional world.
The tune is a traditional Neapolitan one, and the original Italian lyrics are coincidentally decidedly Tolkienian: Sul mare luccica l'astro d'argento..., "The silver star gleams over the sea...".
The metre and melody of the tune often demand an "Italian" treatment of meeting stressless vowels, i.e. that they be pronounced together as a single syllable. Only thus does for example "ninqui a tinta rielyo alcari" in the second verse fit into nine syllables. Melisms are also sometimes necessary.