Westron
Encyclopedia
Westron, or the Common Speech, is a fictional language
in the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien
.
Westron is the closest thing to a lingua franca
in Middle-earth, at least at the time during which The Lord of the Rings
is set. "Westron" is an invented English
word, derived from West. It is not a word from the language itself.
tongue of Númenor
, and the languages of the western coastlands of the continent of Middle-earth, when the Númenóreans began to establish trade outposts and forts there. It was soon realized that these languages were (mostly) closely related to the Bëor
ian/Hador
ian (Marach
ian) languages which had stood at the basis of Adûnaic itself, and as such it was relatively quickly adopted by both the Númenóreans themselves and the coastal peoples. Most of these peoples were indeed of related kin to the Edain
and would later form most of the population of Gondor
and Arnor
.
From these early trade outposts and forts Westron spread throughout Eriador
and neighbouring lands (where the action of The Hobbit
and The Lord of the Rings take place), with the notable exception of Mordor
. The peoples of Rhovanion
did not come into contact with the Númenóreans at this time and kept their own languages, which were nonetheless closely related. Peoples that spoke unrelated languages, such as the Gwathuirim (forefathers of the Dunlendings), the Men
of the White Mountains
and the Drûg
, were shunned by the Númenóreans and indeed often became enemies of Númenor.
After the Downfall of Númenór, the Faithful escaped to the outposts in Middle-earth and founded the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor. In reaction to how the Númenóreans had turned against the Elves in their downfall, the survivors in Middle-earth embraced the learning and speaking of Elvish, and as a result neglected the common speech. Within several centuries it had mutated wildly into a vulgate form, and merged with the Southern Mannish languages of the coastal peoples such as the ancestors of the Dunlendings. However, several centuries later the Dunedain kingdoms refocused their attention onto it, and enriched it with additions from Elvish. The resulting polyglot was then taken up as the language of trade and diplomacy throughout all of the regions that at one time or another were controlled by Arnor and Gondor, and even beyond that along trade lines at least as far east as Dale and the Lonely Mountain. Even Sauron's Orcs had to rely on using Common Speech (albeit in a much-debased form) for communication between themselves, because different Orc sub-dialects change so haphazardly that they are not mutually intelligible from one clan to the next.
the language was called Annúnaid (Westron), or Falathren (Shore-language). The alternate term "Common Speech" translates the Westron term Sôval Phârë, of identical meaning.
In The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Westron was presented as having been completely translated by English. This had certain important implications: first of all, proper names with derivations somewhat evident to speakers of Westron had been 'translated', to preserve the effect. Thus, names like "Baggins", "Bagshot Row", "Peregrin", "Rivendell", etc. are presented as not the actual names. For example, Meriadoc Brandybuck
's actual name is supposed to have been Kalimac Brandagamba, short Kali (meaning jolly, merry). 'Meriadoc', short 'Merry', is designed to maintain the reference to merriness contained in the original name. Likewise Peregrin Took
's actual name was Razanur Tûc, short Razar (name of a small apple). 'Peregrin', short 'Pippin' contained both the actual meaning of the full name (traveller, stranger) and the reference to an apple. Sam Gamgee (shortened from Samwise Gammidgy) was actually named Ban Galpsi, short for Banazir Galbasi. The ending of the 'true' Hobbit
name Bilbo
was also changed: in Westron it was Bilba, but Tolkien changed this to -o because -a is usually a female ending in English, whereas it was a male ending in Westron.
Placenames and other features were also presented as having been translated from an original form: Rivendell
(Sindarin
Imladris, "cloven valley") was actually called Karningul, and Bag End was actually called Labin-nec, after Labingi, the real form of Baggins. In some cases the explanations became quite involved, such as the river Brandywine (Sindarin Baranduin, "golden-brown river") was actually called Branda-nîn, a punning Westron name meaning "border-water", which was later punned again as Bralda-hîm, meaning "heady ale".
The translation went one step further by also changing all languages akin to Westron. Rohirric
, the language of the Rohirrim was translated as Old English
, as Rohirric is an archaic relative of Westron (since the Edain from whose speech Westron is derived were related to the ancestors of the Rohirrim) much as Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) is an archaic relative of English. Similarly, the tongue of Dale, from which came the names of the Dwarves
of Durin
's house, was translated by Old Norse
, a language related to Old English and modern English as Dalish was related to Rohirric and Westron.
This complete translation into English is also paralleled in the historical development of Westron within the narrative. Adûnaic and its related language Rohirric are both in the "Northern Mannish" language branch, and are represented as Germanic languages. The coastal people that originally inhabited the lands of Arnor and Gondor were the Gwathuirim, whose language was "Southern Mannish". They were the shared ancestors of the Dunlendings, Men of the White Mountains, and Bree-landers; these groups are culturally represented as pseudo-Celtic. The result is that the original pseudo-Germanic language Adûnaic was allowed to wildly mutate and become influenced by the pseudo-Celtic language of its neighbors, as Old English was influenced in the early Middle Ages. Finally, this polyglot was intentionally enriched by scholars with additions from Quenya (Elf-Latin) and Sindarin, as Old English was influenced by the Latin of the medieval Church.
This utter translation of Westron by English was taken so far that some sources that should give actual Westron have been turned to English too. For instance, in Moria
, an illustration of the runic text on Balin
's gravestone is given. The text is said to mean "Balin son of Fundin, Lord of Moria" in both Khuzdul
and Westron, but while the first part of the inscription is in Khuzdul, the second part is actually plain English, just written in certar
.
Outside the context of the story, it is clear that most of the "original" forms in Westron or other languages were devised by Tolkien long after the English "translations" were chosen. Several of the Westron forms given above were not published in Tolkien's lifetime. Tolkien never worked out Westron to the same extent as Quenya
and Sindarin
or even Adûnaic.
Fictional language
Fictional languages are by far the largest group of artistic languages. Fictional languages are intended to be the languages of a fictional world and are often designed with the intent of giving more depth and an appearance of plausibility to the fictional worlds with which they are associated, and...
in the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
.
Westron is the closest thing to a lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
in Middle-earth, at least at the time during which The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
is set. "Westron" is an invented English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
word, derived from West. It is not a word from the language itself.
Fictional history
The Westron speech is derived from contact between the AdûnaicAdûnaic
Adûnaic is a fictional language in the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien.One of the languages of Arda in Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, it was spoken by the Men of Númenor during the Second Age.-Fictional history:...
tongue of Númenor
Númenor
Númenor is a fictional place in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings. It was a huge island located in the Sundering Seas to the west of Middle-earth, the main setting of Tolkien's writings, and was known to be the greatest realm of Men...
, and the languages of the western coastlands of the continent of Middle-earth, when the Númenóreans began to establish trade outposts and forts there. It was soon realized that these languages were (mostly) closely related to the Bëor
Bëor
Bëor the Old is a fictional character in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He appears in The Silmarillion as the leader of the First House of the Edain in the First Age, which was called the Folk of Bëor after him...
ian/Hador
Hador
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Hador was a Lord of Men during the First Age.- Biography :Hador, also called in Sindarin Lórindol because he had fair blond hair, was the great-great-grandson of Marach, one of the leaders of the Atanatári, and ruled over the Folk of Marach which later became...
ian (Marach
Marach
In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, Marach was the leader of the Third House of the Edain in the First Age, called the Folk of Marach after him. He was the father of Malach and Imlach and ancestor of Túrin Turambar....
ian) languages which had stood at the basis of Adûnaic itself, and as such it was relatively quickly adopted by both the Númenóreans themselves and the coastal peoples. Most of these peoples were indeed of related kin to the Edain
Edain
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Edain were men who made their way into Beleriand in the First Age, and were friendly to the Elves....
and would later form most of the population of Gondor
Gondor
Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, described as the greatest realm of Men in the west of Middle-earth by the end of the Third Age. The third volume of The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, is concerned with the events in Gondor during the War of the Ring and with...
and Arnor
Arnor
Arnor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings. Arnor, or the Northern Kingdom, was a kingdom of the Dúnedain in the land of Eriador in Middle-earth. The name probably means "Land of the King", from Sindarin Ara- + dor...
.
From these early trade outposts and forts Westron spread throughout Eriador
Eriador
Eriador is a large region in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth. In the Second Age, and possibly much earlier, it was largely forested, but the Dúnedain felled most of the forests to build ships. Much of it was encompassed in the early Third Age by the kingdom of Arnor, which...
and neighbouring lands (where the action of The Hobbit
The Hobbit
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
and The Lord of the Rings take place), with the notable exception of Mordor
Mordor
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, Mordor or Morhdorh was the dwelling place of Sauron, in the southeast of northwestern Middle-earth to the East of Anduin, the great river. Orodruin, a volcano in Mordor, was the destination of the Fellowship of the Ring in the quest to...
. The peoples of Rhovanion
Rhovanion
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Rhovanion or Wilderland was a large region of northern Middle-earth. It extended to the east as far as the inland Sea of Rhûn; north to the Grey Mountains and Iron Hills, home of the Dwarves; west to the range of the Hithaeglir, or Misty Mountains; and south to...
did not come into contact with the Númenóreans at this time and kept their own languages, which were nonetheless closely related. Peoples that spoke unrelated languages, such as the Gwathuirim (forefathers of the Dunlendings), the Men
Man (Middle-earth)
The race of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth books, such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, refers to humanity and does not denote gender...
of the White Mountains
White Mountains (Middle-earth)
The White Mountains, a loose translation of the Sindarin Ered Nimrais "Whitehorn Mountains", is a fictional mountain range in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. The mountains are named after the glaciers of their highest peaks...
and the Drûg
Drúedain
The Drúedain are a fictional race of Men which were counted amongst the Edain, who made their way into Beleriand in the First Age, and were friendly to the Elves. They are part of the Middle-earth legendarium, created by J. R. R. Tolkien....
, were shunned by the Númenóreans and indeed often became enemies of Númenor.
After the Downfall of Númenór, the Faithful escaped to the outposts in Middle-earth and founded the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor. In reaction to how the Númenóreans had turned against the Elves in their downfall, the survivors in Middle-earth embraced the learning and speaking of Elvish, and as a result neglected the common speech. Within several centuries it had mutated wildly into a vulgate form, and merged with the Southern Mannish languages of the coastal peoples such as the ancestors of the Dunlendings. However, several centuries later the Dunedain kingdoms refocused their attention onto it, and enriched it with additions from Elvish. The resulting polyglot was then taken up as the language of trade and diplomacy throughout all of the regions that at one time or another were controlled by Arnor and Gondor, and even beyond that along trade lines at least as far east as Dale and the Lonely Mountain. Even Sauron's Orcs had to rely on using Common Speech (albeit in a much-debased form) for communication between themselves, because different Orc sub-dialects change so haphazardly that they are not mutually intelligible from one clan to the next.
Westron renderings in Tolkien's literature
The term Westron is used as a translation of the original name Adûni. In SindarinSindarin
Sindarin is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin....
the language was called Annúnaid (Westron), or Falathren (Shore-language). The alternate term "Common Speech" translates the Westron term Sôval Phârë, of identical meaning.
In The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Westron was presented as having been completely translated by English. This had certain important implications: first of all, proper names with derivations somewhat evident to speakers of Westron had been 'translated', to preserve the effect. Thus, names like "Baggins", "Bagshot Row", "Peregrin", "Rivendell", etc. are presented as not the actual names. For example, Meriadoc Brandybuck
Meriadoc Brandybuck
Meriadoc Brandybuck, usually referred to as Merry, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured throughout his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings....
's actual name is supposed to have been Kalimac Brandagamba, short Kali (meaning jolly, merry). 'Meriadoc', short 'Merry', is designed to maintain the reference to merriness contained in the original name. Likewise Peregrin Took
Peregrin Took
Peregrin Took, more commonly known as Pippin, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. Pippin is introduced as a Hobbit who plays a major role as one of the companions of Frodo Baggins, in his quest to destroy the One Ring.Peregrin was the only son of...
's actual name was Razanur Tûc, short Razar (name of a small apple). 'Peregrin', short 'Pippin' contained both the actual meaning of the full name (traveller, stranger) and the reference to an apple. Sam Gamgee (shortened from Samwise Gammidgy) was actually named Ban Galpsi, short for Banazir Galbasi. The ending of the 'true' Hobbit
Hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional diminutive race who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction.Hobbits first appeared in the novel The Hobbit, in which the main protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is the titular hobbit...
name Bilbo
Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist and titular character of The Hobbit and a supporting character in The Lord of the Rings, two of the most well-known of J. R. R...
was also changed: in Westron it was Bilba, but Tolkien changed this to -o because -a is usually a female ending in English, whereas it was a male ending in Westron.
Placenames and other features were also presented as having been translated from an original form: Rivendell
Rivendell
Rivendell is an Elven outpost in Middle-earth, a fictional realm created by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was established and ruled by Elrond in the Second Age of Middle-earth...
(Sindarin
Sindarin
Sindarin is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin....
Imladris, "cloven valley") was actually called Karningul, and Bag End was actually called Labin-nec, after Labingi, the real form of Baggins. In some cases the explanations became quite involved, such as the river Brandywine (Sindarin Baranduin, "golden-brown river") was actually called Branda-nîn, a punning Westron name meaning "border-water", which was later punned again as Bralda-hîm, meaning "heady ale".
The translation went one step further by also changing all languages akin to Westron. Rohirric
Rohirric
In the fictional world of Middle-earth by J. R. R. Tolkien, Rohirric is the language of the Rohirrim of Rohan.-Description:...
, the language of the Rohirrim was translated as Old English
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
, as Rohirric is an archaic relative of Westron (since the Edain from whose speech Westron is derived were related to the ancestors of the Rohirrim) much as Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) is an archaic relative of English. Similarly, the tongue of Dale, from which came the names of the Dwarves
Dwarf (Middle-earth)
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Dwarves are a race inhabiting the world of Arda, a fictional prehistoric Earth which includes the continent Middle-earth....
of Durin
Durin
Durin is the name of seven Kings of Dwarves in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. They were held by the Dwarves to be the reincarnations of the first one, Durin the Deathless, resembling him in appearance and said to have preserved memories of their 'earlier lives'.Tolkien took the name Durin, like...
's house, was translated by Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
, a language related to Old English and modern English as Dalish was related to Rohirric and Westron.
This complete translation into English is also paralleled in the historical development of Westron within the narrative. Adûnaic and its related language Rohirric are both in the "Northern Mannish" language branch, and are represented as Germanic languages. The coastal people that originally inhabited the lands of Arnor and Gondor were the Gwathuirim, whose language was "Southern Mannish". They were the shared ancestors of the Dunlendings, Men of the White Mountains, and Bree-landers; these groups are culturally represented as pseudo-Celtic. The result is that the original pseudo-Germanic language Adûnaic was allowed to wildly mutate and become influenced by the pseudo-Celtic language of its neighbors, as Old English was influenced in the early Middle Ages. Finally, this polyglot was intentionally enriched by scholars with additions from Quenya (Elf-Latin) and Sindarin, as Old English was influenced by the Latin of the medieval Church.
This utter translation of Westron by English was taken so far that some sources that should give actual Westron have been turned to English too. For instance, in Moria
Moria (Middle-earth)
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Moria was the name given by the Eldar to an enormous underground complex in north-western Middle-earth, comprising a vast network of tunnels, chambers, mines and huge halls or 'mansions', that ran under and ultimately through the Misty Mountains...
, an illustration of the runic text on Balin
Balin (Middle-earth)
Balin is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He is an important supporting character in The Hobbit, and is mentioned in The Fellowship of the Ring.-In the books:...
's gravestone is given. The text is said to mean "Balin son of Fundin, Lord of Moria" in both Khuzdul
Khuzdul
Khuzdul is a constructed language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien. It is one of the many fictional language set in his Secondary world, often called Middle-earth...
and Westron, but while the first part of the inscription is in Khuzdul, the second part is actually plain English, just written in certar
Cirth
The Cirth are the letters of an semi-artificial script which was invented by J. R. R. Tolkien for the constructed languages he devised and used in his works. The initial C in Cirth is pronounced as a K, never as an S....
.
Outside the context of the story, it is clear that most of the "original" forms in Westron or other languages were devised by Tolkien long after the English "translations" were chosen. Several of the Westron forms given above were not published in Tolkien's lifetime. Tolkien never worked out Westron to the same extent as Quenya
Quenya
Quenya is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his Secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Quenya is one of the many Elvish languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called Quendi in Quenya. The tongue actually called Quenya was in origin the speech of two clans of Elves...
and Sindarin
Sindarin
Sindarin is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin....
or even Adûnaic.