Sindarin Word List: 200+ Essential Words from Tolkien's Elvish

Quick Answer: In Sindarin, "to love" is the verb mel-, so "I love you" becomes Gi melin. The feeling itself is meleth, and if you want to call someone your beloved, that's meleth nîn.

Sindarin — the Grey-Elvish tongue of Middle-earth's Third Age — is the Elvish language you hear most in Tolkien's stories and Peter Jackson's films. When Glorfindel greets Aragorn with "Mae govannen" on the road to Rivendell, when the Fellowship travels to Lothlórien — that is Sindarin. So is Arwen's "Ú i vethed nâ i onnad", though that line is David Salo's, written for the films rather than by Tolkien.

This word list covers the essential vocabulary: attested words from Tolkien's texts and, where marked (reconstructed), forms derived by scholars from known linguistic roots.

---

A Note on Sindarin Pronunciation

Sindarin has a few key sounds English speakers should know:

• ae = sounds like English "eye" (aear = sea, sounds like "AY-ar")
• ai = sounds like "eye" (aiya = hail)
• c is always hard like "k" — never soft (círdan = "KEER-dan")
• ch = like Scottish "loch" — never "ch" as in "church"
• r = slightly rolled
• Stress falls on the second-to-last syllable if long; otherwise the third-to-last

---

Greetings & Common Phrases

---

People & Relationships

---

Emotions & Inner Life

---

Nature

---

Light & Shadow

---

Common Adjectives

---

Common Verbs

---

Numbers

---

Essential Phrases

---

The Sindarin Mutation System

One feature that makes Sindarin grammatically unique — and why learning words alone is not enough:

Initial consonant mutations change the first sound of a word based on what precedes it. For example:

• barad (tower) becomes varad after a possessive pronoun
• taur (forest) becomes daur in certain grammatical positions
• palan (far, wide) becomes balan after specific particles

There are several mutation types (soft, nasal, mixed, stop). This is why Sindarin spoken by Elves sounds fluid — words blend together at their boundaries. It is also why a word list alone will not make you fluent.

---

Going Deeper

If these words have caught your interest, the next step is understanding Sindarin grammar — mutations, plural formation, verb conjugation, and noun phrases.

Tengwar's free Sindarin lessons cover the grammar step by step, with audio pronunciation, interactive flashcards, and Mithrandir (our AI tutor) to answer questions. The first five lessons are free, no card required.

---

Learn Sindarin with structured lessons at learningelvish.com.

---

Related Guides

• Quenya Dictionary: 200+ Essential Words — the High-Elvish companion dictionary
• Quenya vs Sindarin — Which to Learn? — comparing the two Elvish dialects
• Sindarin Pronunciation Guide — how to say these words correctly
• Elvish Greetings — Quenya & Sindarin — the most common phrases in use

People Also Ask

What is the Sindarin word for love? The Sindarin word for love (verb) is mel-. 'I love you' in Sindarin is Gi melin. The noun form is meleth (love, the feeling). A beloved person is called meleth nîn (my love).

How many Sindarin words are there? Sindarin has approximately 1,500–2,500 attested (documented) words across Tolkien's published texts. Many more words exist in his unpublished notes. Sindarin is slightly less documented than Quenya but was the more commonly spoken Elvish language in the Third Age.

Is Sindarin the language in Lord of the Rings movies? Yes. The Elvish spoken in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films is primarily Sindarin, the Grey-Elvish dialect. Quenya also appears, especially in Galadriel's lament Namárië and the A Elbereth Gilthoniel prayer.

What does Mae govannen mean? Mae govannen is Sindarin for 'Well met' — the standard Elvish greeting, roughly equivalent to 'Welcome' or 'Hello, old friend'. It literally means 'well encountered'. In the book it is spoken by Glorfindel to Aragorn (The Fellowship of the Ring I.12); in the films the line is given to Elrond and to Haldir, both addressing Legolas, which is why it is so often misremembered as his.

Related Reading

• Elrond's Elvish: The Language of the Lord of Rivendell
• Sindarin Grammar Complete Guide — Every Rule with Examples
• Sindarin Place Names in Middle-earth — Etymology Guide
• Elvish Dictionary — 300+ Common Words in Quenya and Sindarin
• a shorter 50-word list if the full dictionary feels like a lot
• How to describe colors in Sindarin and Quenya
• Elvish Plurals and Noun Cases: How Nouns Change
• The Elvish word for friend — Mellon and the Doors of Durin password

---

Learn Elvish with Tengwar

Tengwar teaches Tolkien's Elvish — Quenya and Sindarin — through Duolingo-style lessons with an AI tutor (Mithrandir) that cites Tolkien sources for every answer. Plus Klingon and Dothraki on the same platform. Start free → — 5 lessons per language, no credit card required.