Henneth Annûn Story Archive

Hi everyone,

Would anyone here be willing to translate this exclamation into Sindarin for me?

"She thinks that we are Orcs!"

It's intended to be uttered in shock by Haldir to his brothers, when he discovers that a young mortal girl is scared to death of them because she believes them to be Orcs.

(In case you're wondering how anyone could mistake the brothers for Orcs -- she has just been startled awake, is delirious from wandering for days after an Orc attack, is hysterical with fear, it's dark, and she has her eyes closed and her ears shut.)

Thank you!
Barbara

 

“She thinks that we are Orcs!"

“Nauthach i em yrch!”

Ithildin

 

Thiam [anden] sui yrch! "We appear [to her - tentative construction] as Orcs!" Hampered here by a lack of Sindarin "think", unless you can think of a way to use "conceive" to rewrite the phrase.

-Aerlinnel

 

"Nauthach" - second person, Ithildin?

-Aerlinnel

 

Yes, Aerlinnel, you are correct - second person ending. Though these are debatable (like most everything else in Sindarin ;)). Kind of following David Salo’s lead here and using the form found in movie dialogue.

Nautha- ‘to conceive’
AFAIK often used to mean “to conceive thought’

_nauth_ (n.) means ‘thought’

“Nauthach i em yrch!” She thinks that we (are) orcs!

Or, it can be constructed without the ending, using the pronoun instead. “He nautha i em yrch!” She thinks that we (are) orcs!

Also, “Thiam anden sui yrch! " “We appear to her as Orcs!” looks fine to me –

So, Eleana Tiriel, you can take your choice!

Ithildin

 

I'm just confused, though - unless I'm mistaken, what you have would translate as "You think that we are Orcs", wouldn't it?

-Aerlinnel

 

Yikes! You are quite right – what was I thinking? So sorry!

“He nautha i em yrch!” She thinks that we (are) orcs!

Though, “Nautha i em yrch!” would probably work also.

Does that look better - I hope? :/

Ithildin

 

Much better

-Aerlinnel

 

If I may be allowed to resort to puerile gushing, you guys are simply awesome!

Thank you!

Barbara

 

Glad to be of service, Elena

-Aerlinnel

 

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