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{{Short description|Language of the Valar in Tolkien's Lengendarium}}
'''Valarin''' is a [[fictional language]] in the fantasy works of [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]. One of the [[languages of Arda]] in Tolkien's [[Middle-earth]] [[Tolkien's legendarium|legendarium]], Valarin is the language spoken by the [[Valar]]. As immortal spiritual beings, the Valar have the ability to communicate through thought, with no need for a spoken language, but it appears that it was adopted as part of their assumption of physical, humanlike forms.

== External history ==

Tolkien at first decided that Valarin, the tongue of the Valar as it is called in the [[Elvish languages (Middle-earth)|Elvish language]] [[Quenya]], would be the [[proto-language]] of the Elves, the tongue Oromë taught to the speechless Elves. He then developed the Valarin tongue and a grammar for it in the early 1930s.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1987}}<!--LROW-->, ch. 7 ''[[Lhammas|The Lhammas]]''</ref> In the 1940s, he decided to drop that idea, and the tongue he had developed became [[Primitive Quendian]] instead.<ref name="Parma Eldalamberon 2009" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|2009|p=72 "Tengwesta Qenderinwa"}}</ref> He then conceived an entirely new tongue for the Valar, still called Valarin in Quenya.<ref name="WotJ on Valarin" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1994}}<!--WotJ-->, pp. 397–407</ref>

== Internal story ==

The Valar as spiritual immortal beings have the ability to communicate through thought and have no need for a spoken language, but it appears that Valarin develops because of their assumption of physical, humanlike (or elf-like) forms. Valarin is unrelated to the other [[languages constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien]]. Only a few words (mainly proper names) of Valarin are recorded by the Elves.{{sfn|Fauskanger|2022}}

=== Early conception ===

According to the earlier conception set forth in Tolkien's sociolinguistic text, the ''[[Lhammas]]'', the Valarin language family is subdivided into [[Oromëan]], the Dwarves' [[Khuzdul]] (Aulëan), and Melkor's [[Black Speech]]. In this work, all Elvish languages are descended from the tongue of Oromë, while the [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|Dwarves]] speak the tongue devised by Aulë, and the [[Black Speech]] of the Orcs is invented for them by Melkor.<ref name="Lhammas" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1987}} ch. 7 "The Lhammas"</ref> Tolkien placed Valarin at the root of each version of his "[[Lhammas#Tree of Tongues|Tree of Tongues]]", indicating that in his conception at the time of the ''Lhammas'', it was the original language from which developed all the languages of [[Middle-earth]].{{sfn|Smith|2014|p=209}} Tolkien attributed his "Descent of Tongues" to the Elvish linguist [[Rúmil]], in one of [[Tolkien's frame stories|his frame stories]]. His biographer [[John Garth (author)|John Garth]] comments that while Rúmil's lack of omniscience might seem convenient, saving Tolkien from having to work on Valarin in any detail, "the unknown is essential to the legendarium, part of the [[Impression of depth in The Lord of the Rings|illusion of depth]] so vital to its aura of authenticity."{{sfn|Garth|2010|pp=324–330}}<ref name="Parma Eldalamberon 2009 Descent of Tongues" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|2009|p=23 "''Lambion Ontale'': Descent of Tongues", "Tengwesta Qenderinwa"}}</ref>

The structure of the root of the first "Tree of Tongues" in the ''Lhammas'' is:<ref name="Lhammas" group=T/>

{{clade
|label1='''Valarin'''
|1={{clade
   |1=Language of the Valarindi (some of these junior Valar became [[Maiar]] in Tolkien's later conception)
   |2=[Vala] [[Oromë]]: Languages of the [[Quendi]] (Tolkien gives much detail of the branches of the tree here)
   |3=[Vala] [[Aulë]]: [[Khuzdul]] (language of the [[Dwarves in Middle-earth|Dwarves]])
   |4=[former Vala]: [[Morgoth|Melko]]: [[Orc]]ish languages
   }}
}}

=== Later conception ===

Valarin is alien to the ears of the Elves sometimes to the point of genuine displeasure,<ref name=wotj group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1994}} p. 398</ref> and few of them ever learn the language, only adopting some Valarin words into their own language, Quenya. The Valar know Quenya and use it to converse with the Elves, or with each other if Elves are present. Valarin contains sounds that the Elves find difficult to produce, and the words are mostly long;<ref name=wotj group=T/> for example, the Valarin word for Telperion, one of the [[Two Trees of Valinor]], ''Ibrîniðilpathânezel'', has eight syllables. The [[Vanyar]] adopt more words into their Vanyarin Tarquesta dialect from Valarin than the Noldor, as they lived closer to the Valar. Some of the Elven names of the Valar, such as Manwë, Ulmo, and Oromë, are adapted loanwords of their Valarin names.{{sfn|Fauskanger|2022}}

== Grammar ==

Almost nothing is known of the grammar of Valarin. A plural is formed with ''-um-'' as an infix; so, ''Mâchanâz'' becomes in the plural ''Mâchanumâz'', meaning "Authorities, Aratar".{{sfn|Fauskanger|2022}} 

Verb endings are not explained. Tolkien gives ''akašân'' as "he says" (present tense); ''dušamanûðân '' is  "marred" (passive participle) and '' amanaišal'' as "unmarred" (hence [[Aman (Middle-earth)|Aman]], the unmarred continent of the Valar), but he does not supply the roots of the associated verbs. The linguist [[Helge Fauskanger]] notes that the exact structure of the endings for these verb forms cannot be determined from this limited evidence.{{sfn|Fauskanger|2022}} 

One other possibility relates to the word ''ayanûz'', meaning [[Ainur in Middle-earth|Ainu]], one of the Valar or [[Maiar]]; Fauskanger notes that Tolkien states that ''ayanu-'' means "the name of the Spirits of Eru's first creation", perhaps suggesting that from that root, ''ayanûz'' might be the nominative singular form.{{sfn|Fauskanger|2022}}

== References ==

=== Primary ===

{{reflist|group=T|24em}}

=== Secondary ===

{{reflist|24em}}

=== Sources ===

{{refbegin}}
* {{cite web |last=Fauskanger |first=Helge Kåre |author-link=Helge Fauskanger |title=Valarin - like the glitter of swords |url=https://folk.uib.no/hnohf/valarin.htm |website=Ardalambion: Of the Tongues of Arda, the invented world of J.R.R. Tolkien |year=2022 |access-date=21 October 2022}}
* {{cite journal |last=Garth |first=John |title=Tengwesta Qenderinwa and Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets Part 2 (review) |journal=[[Tolkien Studies]] |volume=7 |issue=1 |date=2010 |issn=1547-3163 |doi=10.1353/tks.0.0062 |pages=324–330}}
* {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Arden R. |author-link=Arden R. Smith |title=[[A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien]] |chapter=Invented Languages and Writing Systems |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |date=2014 |isbn=978-0-470-65982-3 |doi=10.1002/9781118517468.ch14}}
* {{ME-ref|LROW}}
* {{ME-ref|WotJ}}
* {{cite journal |last=Tolkien |first=J. R. R. |author-link=Tolkien, J. R. R. |title=Tengwesta Qenderinwa |journal=[[Parma Eldalamberon]] |issue=18 |year=2009 |page=72}}
{{refend}}

{{Middle-earth}}
{{Languages of Middle-earth}}

[[Category:Tolkien linguistic studies]]
[[Category:Middle-earth languages]]