Lesson 2: Greetings & Basic Phrases

Essential Sindarin greetings and phrases directly from Tolkien's texts: Mae govannen, Hannon le, Navaer, Le abdollen, and more.

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Tolkien's Attested Phrases

One of the most exciting features of Sindarin — compared to many constructed languages — is that Tolkien embedded real, grammatically analysable phrases throughout The Lord of the Rings, its appendices, and his unpublished manuscripts (many of which appeared in The History of Middle-earth series and Parma Eldalamberon journals). This means that a learner's first sentences can be genuine Tolkien, not inventions of later fans.

Every phrase in this lesson is either directly attested in Tolkien's writings or is a minimal reconstruction — that is, it uses only attested words combined by attested grammar rules with no inventive leaps. Where a phrase has any uncertainty, that is noted. Attested Sindarin is marked S., attested Noldorin (the earlier version that feeds into Sindarin) is marked N., and reconstructed Neo-Sindarin is marked ᴺS.

Greetings

Sindarin Pronunciation Translation Notes
Mae govannen! /mai ɡɔˈvannɛn/ Well met! S. The standard Elvish greeting. Used throughout LotR (Glorfindel greets the hobbits with this). Lit. "well have-we-met."
Vedui'! /ˈvɛdui/ Hail! Greetings! S. Used by Glorfindel to Frodo at the Ford of Bruinen. The apostrophe indicates elision of a final vowel (vedui·e → vedui').
Suilad! /ˈsuilad/ Greetings! N./ᴺS. From the verb suila- "to greet, to salute." More formal than vedui'.
Êl síla erin lû e-govaned vîn /ɛːl ˈsiːlɑ ˈɛrin luː ɛ ɡɔˈvɑnɛd viːn/ A star shines on the hour of our meeting S. The Sindarin formulation of the classic Elvish greeting. êl = star, síla = shines, erin = on the (+ soft mutation), lû = hour, e-govaned = of meeting, vîn = our.

Cultural note on Mae govannen: Elves used this greeting because their meetings were often rare and meaningful — an encounter after years of separation, or a first meeting with one of a kind. The grammar encodes this: govannen is a past passive participle of govad- (to meet together, to come together), so the phrase literally says "well have-we-been-met" or "well are we met." The mutual, passive construction emphasises that the meeting is a shared event, not one person doing something to another.

Farewells

Sindarin Pronunciation Translation Notes
Navaer! /ˈnavaɛr/ Farewell! S. Composed of na (be) + vaer (good, lenited form of maer). So literally "be-good!" or "may it be good!" — a wish for the other's wellbeing. The mutation of m → v after na is regular soft mutation (Lesson 10–11).
Novaer! /ˈnɔvaɛr/ Farewell! S./ᴺS. Variant of navaer; the no- form represents an alternative imperative/optative. Both forms are cited in Tolkien's linguistic notes.

Breaking down Navaer:

  • na = "be" (imperative/optative of the verb na-, Lesson 26)
  • vaer = lenited form of maer (good, fine, excellent)
  • Combined: "Be good!" → as a farewell: "May all be well with you!"
  • The soft mutation of m → v here is the first mutation trigger you will encounter: the word na causes soft mutation on the following word. (More on this in Lessons 10–11.)

Thanks & Politeness

Sindarin Pronunciation Translation Notes
Hannon le /ˈhannɔn lɛ/ Thank you (to one person) S. Directly attested in LotR. Hannon = I thank (1sg present of hanna-), le = thee/you (sg. pronoun). Used by Frodo to Galadriel at the Mirror.
Le hannon /lɛ ˈhannɔn/ Thank you (emphasis on "you") ᴺS. Variant with fronted pronoun for slight emphasis — "It is YOU I thank."
Guren bêd enni /ˈɡurɛn bɛːd ˈɛnni/ My heart tells me S. From "The Road Goes Ever On" (Tolkien's song cycle). Guren = my heart (gûr + possessive -en), bêd = tells/says, enni = to me.

On hannon le: This phrase has a very direct, intimate quality in Tolkien's world. Le is the familiar/intimate second-person pronoun — the same word that appears in mae govannen and other close-contact phrases. When Frodo says hannon le to Galadriel, the choice of le (familiar) rather than a more formal construction reflects the peculiar Elvish intimacy — Elves address people they respect deeply in the intimate register, as one might use tu in French to a beloved teacher or parent.

Common Phrases from The Lord of the Rings

These are some of the most famous attested Sindarin passages from the text:

Sindarin Pronunciation Translation Source
Le abdollen /lɛ abˈdɔllɛn/ You are late Arwen to Aragorn in the appendices. Le = you, abdollen = "late-arrived" (past participle of ab-tol- meaning "to arrive late/after").
Pedo mellon a minno /ˈpɛdɔ ˈmɛllɔn a ˈminnɔ/ Speak, friend, and enter Doors of Durin inscription. Pedo = speak! (imperative of ped-), mellon = friend, a = and, minno = enter! (imperative of min-).
Cuio i Pheriannath anann! /ˈkuiɔ i ˈfɛriannɑθ ˈɑnɑnn/ May the Halflings live long! Cormallen celebration. Cuio = live! (optative/imperative of cuia-), i Pheriannath = the Halflings (ph- is lenited p-), anann = long (adv.).
A laita te, laita te! /ɑ ˈlaitɑ tɛ ˈlaitɑ tɛ/ Praise them, praise them! Cormallen. A = exclamative particle, laita = praise! (imperative of laita-), te = them.
Andave laituvalmet! /ɑnˈdɑvɛ lɑiˈtuvɑlmɛt/ Long shall we praise them! Same scene. Andave = long (adv., from and), laituvalmet = we-will-praise-them (complex verb form). Note: some scholars classify this phrase as Quenya or a Quenya-Sindarin blend used in formal ceremony.

Detailed Analysis: Pedo Mellon a Minno

This is one of the most famous phrases in Tolkien's work — the riddle on the Doors of Durin. Gandalf's mistake was to read it as a description ("Speak 'friend' and enter") when it was actually an instruction ("Say 'friend' and enter," i.e., simply say the word mellon).

  • Pedo: imperative (command form) of ped- "to speak, to say." The imperative of primary verbs is formed by adding -o: ped- → pedo. (Lesson 17 covers this fully.)
  • mellon: "friend." From root MEL- "to love." Related to mel- (to love) and meleth (love). The same root gives Quenya Melkor (one who arises in might — different root — actually Melkor is not from mel-, but mellon itself is clear).
  • a: conjunction "and." Very common in Sindarin.
  • minno: imperative of minna- "to enter, to go in." Minna- + imperative -o → minno.

The imperative construction (verb + -o) appears again in cuio (live!), sogo (drink!), mado (eat!) — a productive and regular pattern.

Praise at Cormallen

The Cormallen celebration scene in The Return of the King contains a remarkable concentration of attested Sindarin. After the Ring is destroyed, the host of Gondor and Rohan praises the Ringbearers:

A laita te, laita te! Andave laituvalmet! Cormacolindor, a laita tárienna!

Breaking this down:

  • A — exclamatory particle "O! Ah!"
  • laita te — "praise them" (laita = imperative, te = them, 3pl object pronoun)
  • laita te — repeated for emphasis
  • Andave — "long, for a long time" (adverb)
  • laituvalmet — "we will praise them" (future tense 1pl with 3pl object suffix; possibly Quenya form)
  • Cormacolindor — "Ring-bearers" (likely Quenya: corma = ring + col- = bear + -indo-r pl.)
  • a laita tárienna — "and praise to the height/praise them to the heights" (tári = queen/height, -enna = dative suffix)

Linguistic note: The mixing of Sindarin and Quenya forms in ceremonial speech is intentional. Formal ceremony among the Númenórean-descended peoples of Gondor often used Quenya for elevated style, while common speech was Sindarin. This scene captures that bilingualism.

Calling and Self-Introduction

Sindarin Translation Notes
Im ... I am ... S. Im is the emphatic first-person pronoun (Lesson 8). Used to introduce oneself: Im Aragorn = "I [am] Aragorn." Note that Sindarin does not require a verb "to be" in simple nominal statements of identity.
Gelir I am glad ᴺS. From geli- "to rejoice, to be glad." Gelir = present 1sg.
Suilon le I greet thee ᴺS. Suila- + 1sg suffix -on = suilon; le = thee.

Breaking Down Mae Govannen Word by Word

This phrase is worth studying in detail because it contains several important grammatical features:

mae [mai]

  • Adverb: "well, good, excellently"
  • Related to maer (adj. "good, fine"), which you also see in Navaer above (vaer = lenited maer)
  • Cognate with Quenya máre "good, well"

govannen [ɡɔˈvannɛn]

  • Past passive participle of govad- (to meet with, to come together)
  • Go- is a prefix meaning "together, in company" (from root WO- "together")
  • -pad- or related root gives the "meeting" sense
  • -(n)nen is the Sindarin past passive participle ending
  • So: go- + verbal root + -nnen → govannen = "together-met, having been met together"

The whole phrase: There is no explicit subject pronoun — the verb form govannen implies "we." The sentence is passive/participial in structure: "(We are) well met (together)." It is both a factual statement ("we have met well") and an expression of pleasure ("what a fine thing that we have met!").

This dual quality — statement and emotional expression together — is very Elvish. Tolkien's Elves tend toward precise language that encodes feeling in its very grammar, rather than adding separate emotional words.

Practice Dialogue

Read this short exchange aloud, applying the pronunciation rules from Lesson 1:

Arandir: Mae govannen!

Elenmir: Mae govannen! Im Elenmir. Man i eneth lín?

Arandir: Im Arandir. Hannon le.

Elenmir: Gelir im. Navaer!

Arandir: Navaer!

Translation:

  • "Well met!"
  • "Well met! I am Elenmir. What is your name?" (man = what, i eneth = the name, lín = your)
  • "I am Arandir. Thank you."
  • "I am glad. Farewell!"
  • "Farewell!"

Note that Navaer is said by both speakers at parting. This is the normal pattern — both parties say farewell to each other, not just the one who is leaving. Elvish farewell culture tends to be mutual and warm.

Additional Attested Vocabulary from This Lesson

Sindarin Meaning Period
mae well, good (adv.) S.
govad- to meet together S.
mellon friend S.
le thee, you (sg.) S.
hanna- to thank S./N.
cuia- to live S.
laita- to praise S.
pedo speak! S.
minno enter! S.
anann long (adv.) S.
vedui hail, greetings S.
im I (emphatic) S.
navaer farewell S.

Summary

You now have a core set of genuine Tolkien phrases for opening, closing, and navigating a basic Sindarin conversation. The key patterns to remember:

  1. Mae govannen = "well met" — the universal Elvish greeting
  2. Hannon le = "I thank you" — direct object pronoun le follows the verb
  3. Navaer = "farewell" — imperative of na- + lenited maer
  4. Pedo mellon a minno = "speak friend and enter" — imperative + noun + and + imperative
  5. Im ... = "I am ..." — emphatic pronoun for self-introduction, no verb needed

In Lesson 3 we look at how Sindarin builds place names, giving you the tools to decode the geography of Middle-earth.