Legolas Elvish Quotes — What Does Legolas Say in Elvish?
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Quick Answer: Sindarin is Legolas's language, but he speaks very little of it on screen. His genuine lines are short and urgent — Yrch! ("Orcs!") and Aragorn, nad no ennas! ("Aragorn, something's out there!"). Several famous lines credited to him belong elsewhere: Le abdollen is said to Aragorn in Rivendell, Cuiva nwalca Carnirasse! is Saruman's Quenya spell against Caradhras, and Daro! is called down by an unnamed Elf of Haldir's company. All the films' Sindarin was constructed by David Salo, not written by Tolkien.
The short answer: Legolas speaks Sindarin in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films — and only a handful of lines of it. Below is a breakdown of what he actually says, word by word, plus the lines that circulate under his name and belong to someone else. Two things are worth keeping straight throughout: film Elvish is David Salo's constructed Sindarin, not Tolkien's own; and in the books, Legolas speaks essentially no quoted Elvish at all.
Lines often credited to Legolas that are not his
Before the genuine lines, the corrections — because these three account for most of what circulates under Legolas's name.
"Le abdollen." — not Legolas, and not Tolkien
Le abdollen.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Le | you (formal) |
| abdollen | came late, are late (from ab- "after" + tollon "you came") |
Translation: "You are late."
Context: Film only, and Legolas neither says it nor is said to. It is addressed to Aragorn in Rivendell in The Fellowship of the Ring, and like all film Sindarin it is David Salo's construction rather than anything Tolkien wrote.
"Cuiva nwalca Carnirasse!" — Saruman's spell, and it is Quenya
Cuiva nwalca Carnirasse!
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Cuiva | awake! (imperative) |
| nwalca | cruel, fell |
| Carnirasse | Red Horn (the Elvish name for Caradhras) |
Translation: "Awake, cruel Redhorn!"
Context: This is not Legolas and it is not Sindarin. It is Saruman's incantation in The Fellowship of the Ring, chanted from Orthanc to bring the storm down on the Fellowship — "Cuiva nwalca Carnirassë; nai yarvaxëa rasselya; taltuva notto-carinnar!" — and it is in Quenya, again constructed for the film by David Salo. In the book, no one enchants Caradhras; Gimli suspects the mountain of ill will on its own account.
"Daro!" — an unnamed Elf, not Legolas
Daro!
Translation: "Halt! Stop!"
Pronunciation: DAH-roh
Context: This one is Tolkien's — one of the few Sindarin words spoken aloud in the novel. In The Fellowship of the Ring II.6, it is called down out of the trees near Nimrodel by an unnamed Elf of Haldir's company, stopping the Fellowship where they stand. It is not Legolas's line, and it is not Haldir's either.
"Merin le govaned" and "A Legolas, tolo, hi!" — neither exists
Both circulate widely on quote lists. Neither is a line from the films, and neither is Tolkien's. Merin le govaned is a modern Neo-Sindarin construction ("I wish to meet you"), grammatically plausible but invented; A Legolas, tolo, hi! is not spoken by Aragorn or anyone else on screen. If you want the genuine film greeting on this pattern, it is Arwen's Êl síla erin lû e-govaned vîn — "a star shines on the hour of our meeting" — Salo's Sindarin rendering of Frodo's Quenya line to Gildor Inglorion.
What Legolas actually says in Elvish
"Mae govannen" — want to actually speak Elvish?
Try It Free →"Yrch!"
Yrch is the Sindarin plural of orch ("Orc") — formed by internal vowel change, not by an added ending. Legolas shouts it as a warning in The Two Towers, and it is genuinely his. The word itself is Tolkien's, given in Appendix F.
Pronunciation: URCH (like "lurch" without the L)
"Aragorn, nad no ennas!"
Aragorn, nad no ennas!
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| nad | thing, something |
| no | is |
| ennas | there, in that place |
Translation: "Aragorn, something's out there!"
Context: The Two Towers, on the plains of Rohan, as Legolas senses the Warg-riders approaching. Film Sindarin (Salo), but genuinely Legolas's line — and characteristically short. The pattern holds across the trilogy: when Legolas uses Elvish, it is to raise an alarm, not to make a speech.
Legolas and Gimli — The Elvish–Dwarvish Friendship
One of the most remarkable aspects of Legolas's arc is that he, an Elf of the Woodland Realm whose people had no love for Dwarves, forms a deep bond with Gimli. Mellon is the Sindarin word for "friend" — the password at the Doors of Durin — and it is worth noting that it is Sindarin only; the Quenya words are meldo and nildo.
Tolkien does not, in fact, give us a scene of Legolas calling Gimli mellon in Elvish. What he gives us is better: Legolas taking Gimli to Fangorn and the Glittering Caves, and the two of them sailing West together at the end — the friendship shown rather than named.
For more on the word mellon and its famous use at the Doors of Moria, see our guide: What Does Mellon Mean?
The Name Legolas — What Does It Mean?
Legolas is Sindarin. It means Green-leaf or Green-leaves:
| Element | Sindarin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| leg- | laeg | green |
| -olas | golas | collection of leaves, foliage |
Tolkien glosses the name himself as "Greenleaf", and The Two Towers has Legolas say so aloud when Éomer asks his name. (The form laeg is the older "green" word; the ordinary Sindarin for green is calen, as in Parth Galen.) Tolkien nowhere says who named him or why — the story that Thranduil gave him the name for the forests of his realm is a later invention, not something in the text.
Practice the Lines Yourself
Our Movie Quotes page has more Elvish film lines from Aragorn, Arwen, Elrond, and Galadriel — all with word-by-word breakdowns identical to the ones above, and all labelled for whether they are Tolkien's or Salo's.
If you want to try building your own Sindarin phrases in Legolas's style — short, sharp, action-oriented — the Elvish Translator is the place to start.
Yrch! — Orcs! Two syllables, and the whole Fellowship turns.
People Also Ask
What does Legolas say in Elvish in Lord of the Rings? Legolas speaks Sindarin in Peter Jackson's films, but far less of it than most lists claim. His genuine Elvish moments are short: the warning cry "Yrch!" ("Orcs!") in The Two Towers, and "Aragorn, nad no ennas!" ("Aragorn, something's out there!"). Lines widely credited to him belong elsewhere: "Le abdollen" ("you are late") is addressed to Aragorn in Rivendell; "Cuiva nwalca Carnirasse!" is Saruman's spell against Caradhras and is Quenya, not Sindarin; and "Daro!" ("Halt!") is called down from the trees by an unnamed Elf of Haldir's company in the book. All film Sindarin was constructed by David Salo, not written by Tolkien.
What does 'Merin le govaned' mean? "Merin le govaned" is not a line from the films and not a phrase Tolkien wrote — it is a modern Neo-Sindarin construction that circulates on quote lists. The genuine film greeting built on the same root is "Êl síla erin lû e-govaned vîn" ("a star shines on the hour of our meeting"), David Salo's Sindarin rendering of Frodo's Quenya greeting to Gildor. In Tolkien's own work the attested greeting is Quenya: "Elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo" (The Fellowship of the Ring, I.3).
What language does Legolas speak and how accurate is it? Legolas speaks Sindarin, the everyday language of the Elves of Middle-earth. The films' Elvish dialogue was constructed by the linguist David Salo from Tolkien's published Sindarin vocabulary and grammar — which means it is Salo's Sindarin, not Tolkien's. It is carefully done and consistent with Tolkien's framework, but a great deal of it fills gaps Tolkien never filled, and film lines should never be cited as Tolkien's own writing.
Related Reading
- Every Elvish Movie Quote from Lord of the Rings — Translated and Explained
- Aragorn's Elvish Quotes: Every Sindarin Phrase He Speaks in Lord of the Rings
- Arwen's Elvish Quotes: Every Line Translated and Explained
- Elvish in The Hobbit Films: Thranduil, Tauriel and Every Line Translated
- What Language Do Elves Speak in Lord of the Rings?
- Orcs and Goblins of Middle-earth — Origins, Names and Black Speech
- Uruk-hai Explained — Saruman's Fighting Uruks, Uglúk and Lurtz
- The Wizards of Middle-earth — Who the Five Istari Really Were
- Wargs and Wolves of Middle-earth: Wolf-riders, Werewolves and Carcharoth
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People Also Ask
What does Legolas say in Elvish in Lord of the Rings?
Legolas speaks Sindarin in Peter Jackson's films, but he speaks far less of it than most lists claim. His genuine Elvish moments are short: the warning cry "Yrch!" ("Orcs!") in The Two Towers, and "Aragorn, nad no ennas!" ("Aragorn, something's out there!"). Lines widely credited to him online belong to other characters or to nobody: "Le abdollen" ("you are late") is addressed to Aragorn in Rivendell, not spoken by Legolas; "Cuiva nwalca Carnirasse!" is Saruman's spell against Caradhras and is Quenya, not Sindarin; and "Daro!" ("Halt!") is called down from the trees by an unnamed Elf of Haldir's company in the book. All film Sindarin was constructed by David Salo, not written by Tolkien.
What does 'Merin le govaned' mean?
"Merin le govaned" is not a line from the films and not a phrase Tolkien wrote — it is a modern Neo-Sindarin construction that circulates on quote lists. The genuine film greeting built on the same root is "Êl síla erin lû e-govaned vîn" ("a star shines on the hour of our meeting"), David Salo's Sindarin rendering of Frodo's Quenya greeting to Gildor. In Tolkien's own work the attested greeting is Quenya: "Elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo" (The Fellowship of the Ring, I.3).
What language does Legolas speak and how accurate is it?
Legolas speaks Sindarin, the everyday language of the Elves of Middle-earth. The films' Elvish dialogue was constructed by the linguist David Salo, who built it out from Tolkien's published Sindarin vocabulary and grammar — which means it is Salo's Sindarin, not Tolkien's. It is carefully done and consistent with Tolkien's framework, but a great deal of it is reconstruction filling gaps Tolkien never filled, and film lines should never be cited as Tolkien's own writing.
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