Elvish Songs & Poetry: Namárië, A Elbereth, and the Great Poems of Middle-earth
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Quick Answer: Namárië, Galadriel's Quenya lament as the Fellowship leaves Lothlórien in The Fellowship of the Ring, is the longest published Elvish poem — it grieves the lost Two Trees of Valinor and the Elves' exile from the Undying Lands, and was later scored by Howard Shore for the films.
There is a moment in The Fellowship of the Ring — the book, not the film — when Frodo, still walking the roads of the Shire, meets Gildor Inglorion's company and hears them sing A Elbereth Gilthoniel under the stars. He knows barely a word of it, and it stops him where he stands. The meaning goes past the meaning of the words.
That is what Elvish poetry is. And you can learn every line of it.
Why Tolkien Wrote Elvish Poetry
For Tolkien, the languages came first. He invented Quenya and Sindarin not to serve the stories, but because the stories grew from the languages. Poetry was where the languages achieved their fullest expression.
He said in a letter: "The invention of languages is the foundation. The 'stories' were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse."
The poems are not decoration. They are the world.
Namárië — The Greatest Elvish Poem
"Mae govannen" — want to actually speak Elvish?
Try It Free →Namárië (Farewell) is the longest, most complete piece of Quenya Tolkien ever published. It appears in The Fellowship of the Ring when Galadriel sings farewell to the departing Fellowship. It is not in Peter Jackson's films at all — but Tolkien did set it to music himself, supplying a plainchant-like melody for Donald Swann's song-cycle The Road Goes Ever On (1967).
What It Means
Namárië is a lament. Galadriel mourns:
- The destruction of the Two Trees of Valinor — Laurelin (Gold) and Telperion (Silver) — by Morgoth and Ungoliant
- The Exile of the Noldor from the Undying Lands
- The long years of Middle-earth, lived in shadow of what was lost
- Her own longing for the West — a longing every Elf carries
The poem opens:
Ai! Laurië lantar lassi súrinen, Yéni únótimë ve rámar aldaron!
"Ah! Like gold fall the leaves in the wind, Long years numberless as the wings of trees!"
The image is devastating in its simplicity: leaves falling, years passing, both unstoppable, both beautiful, both a form of loss.
The Final Lines
Namárië! Nai hiruvalyë Valimar. Nai elyë hiruva. Namárië!
"Farewell! Maybe thou shalt find Valimar. Maybe even thou shalt find it. Farewell!"
The repeated nai — "maybe" — is heartbreaking. She does not say thou shalt find it. She says maybe. Even hope, for Galadriel, comes dressed in uncertainty. And note what she names: Valimar, the city of the Valar, not Valinor the land. The wish is that specific.
A Elbereth Gilthoniel — The Star Hymn
If Namárië is Elvish poetry at its most personal, A Elbereth Gilthoniel is Elvish poetry at its most communal. This Sindarin hymn to Varda (whom the Elves call Elbereth) is sung across Middle-earth — by Gildor's wandering company in the Shire, and by the Elves of Rivendell in the hall of Elrond.
A Elbereth Gilthoniel, silivren penna míriel o menel aglar elenath!
"O Elbereth Star-kindler,* white-glittering slanting down sparkling like jewels from firmament the glory of the star-host!"
Tolkien returns to this hymn — and to the name Elbereth — repeatedly in The Lord of the Rings. Frodo cries A Elbereth Gilthoniel at Weathertop (FotR I.11); Sam cries it in Shelob's Lair after Frodo is stung (TT IV.10), invoking it as a ward against the dark. Gildor's company sing it on the road in the Shire. It is, in its way, the Elvish equivalent of sacred music.
The Lament for Boromir
At the Falls of Rauros, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli send Boromir's boat down the river, and Aragorn and Legolas sing a lament for him — one verse each for the West Wind and the South Wind, with Aragorn taking the North:
Through Rohan over fen and field where the long grass grows The West Wind comes walking, and about the walls it goes.
Worth being honest about this one: the Lament for Boromir is given entirely in English. Tolkien wrote no Elvish text for it, and it is an Elvish-style poem rather than an Elvish poem. In the film, the moment is scored with a separate choral piece.
The Song of Lúthien
The Tale of Lúthien — which Tolkien considered his most important story — contains songs of such power that they moved Morgoth himself. Lúthien's singing put the Dark Lord to sleep and freed Beren from his dungeon. Her song before Mandos freed Beren's spirit from the Halls of the Dead.
These songs are not fully transcribed in Tolkien's published work — they exist as summaries and fragments. But the grammatical patterns of Quenya and Sindarin allow partial reconstruction.
Study the Poems Line by Line
Our Songs & Poems section presents each poem with:
- The full Elvish text, rendered in romanized form and Tengwar script
- Line-by-line English translation
- Word-by-word breakdown — tap any Elvish word to see its meaning, root, and grammatical function
- Audio — hear correct Quenya and Sindarin pronunciation for each line
The collection includes Namárië, A Elbereth Gilthoniel, and a growing library of Elvish verse drawn from Tolkien's works.
From Poetry to Conversation
The poems are where the languages live most fully. But to understand them completely, you need the grammar. Our 19-lesson Elvish course builds the foundation — vocabulary, mutation rules, verb forms — so that when you read Namárië, you're not just following a translation. You understand every word.
Nai hiruvalyë Valimar.
Maybe you'll find it.
People Also Ask
What is Namárië? Namárië is the longest Elvish poem Tolkien published, appearing in The Fellowship of the Ring as Galadriel's lament before the Fellowship departs Lothlórien. It is in Quenya and mourns the loss of the Two Trees of Valinor and the exile of the Elves from the Undying Lands. Tolkien himself supplied a chant melody for it, published in Donald Swann's The Road Goes Ever On (1967).
What does 'A Elbereth Gilthoniel' mean? 'A Elbereth Gilthoniel' is a Sindarin hymn to Varda, the Vala who set the stars in the sky. It translates as 'O Elbereth Star-kindler.' It is sung by Elvish communities throughout Middle-earth — by Gildor Inglorion's company in the Shire and again in Rivendell — and functions as both praise and prayer.
Are the Elvish songs in the LOTR movies authentic? Only partly. A few choral lines quote Tolkien's own texts, but most of the Elvish heard in Peter Jackson's films was newly composed in Sindarin by linguist David Salo for the productions — Neo-Sindarin built on Tolkien's rules, not Tolkien's own writing. The Enya songs go further still: "Mornië utúlië" and "Mornië alantië" in "May It Be" were written for the soundtrack and appear nowhere in Tolkien.
Can I learn to sing in Elvish? Yes. Our Songs & Poems section presents each poem line by line, with translations and word-by-word breakdowns. Combined with our pronunciation guides for Sindarin and Quenya, you can learn to sing the great Elvish poems correctly.
Related Reading
- How to Use AI to Learn Elvish (Quenya & Sindarin) in 2025
- The AI Tutor for Elvish That Doesn't Hallucinate (Meet Mithrandir)
- Our deep dive on Aragorn's Elvish names and etymology
- Inside the Songs Tool: How Tengwar Turns Poetry Into Practice
- Lord of the Rings Elvish Phrases: 15 Famous Lines with Translations
- What Language Do Elves Speak in Lord of the Rings?
- Giant Spiders of Middle-earth — Ungoliant, Shelob and the Mirkwood Spiders
Learn Elvish with Tengwar
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People Also Ask
What is Namárië?
Namárië is the longest Elvish poem Tolkien published, appearing in The Fellowship of the Ring as Galadriel's lament before the Fellowship departs Lothlórien. It is in Quenya and mourns the loss of the Two Trees of Valinor and the exile of the Elves from the Undying Lands. Tolkien himself supplied a chant melody for it, published in Donald Swann's The Road Goes Ever On (1967).
What does 'A Elbereth Gilthoniel' mean?
'A Elbereth Gilthoniel' is a Sindarin hymn to Varda, the Vala who set the stars in the sky. It translates as 'O Elbereth Star-kindler.' It is sung by Elvish communities throughout Middle-earth — by Gildor Inglorion's company in the Shire and again in Rivendell — and functions as both praise and prayer.
Are the Elvish songs in the LOTR movies authentic?
Only partly. A few choral lines quote Tolkien's own texts, but most of the Elvish heard in Peter Jackson's films was newly composed in Sindarin by linguist David Salo for the productions — it is Neo-Sindarin built on Tolkien's rules, not Tolkien's own writing. The Enya songs go further still: 'Mornië utúlië' and 'Mornië alantië' in 'May It Be' were written for the soundtrack and appear nowhere in Tolkien.
Can I learn to sing in Elvish?
Yes. Our Songs & Poems section presents each poem line by line, with translations and word-by-word breakdowns. Combined with our pronunciation guides for Sindarin and Quenya, you can learn to sing the great Elvish poems correctly.
