tolkien-translation

name	tolkien-translation
description	Translates English phrases into Tolkien's languages (Quenya, Sindarin, Adûnaic). Use when translating text, composing Elvish poetry, or validating grammar. Invokes eldamo-remote tools to find dictionary words, historical roots, and morphological details.
compatibility	Requires eldamo-remote MCP server tools to search and retrieve lexicon entries.

Tolkien Elvish Translation & Composition Skill

Use this skill to translate English text into Quenya or Sindarin, compose grammatical Elvish phrases/poetry, or validate the structure of proposed Elvish writing. It leverages the connected eldamo-remote MCP server tools to search Paul Strack's lexicon Compilation with absolute accuracy.

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📖 Translation Workflow

Follow this multi-step workflow to produce grammatically valid, Tolkien-accurate translations:

Step 1: Lexicon Sourcing

Identify the core semantic concepts in the English phrase and use eldamo-remote_enquire_lexicon to find candidate Elvish words.

• Filter by language (q for Quenya, s for Sindarin) to prevent blending dialects.
• Look for primary words in Tolkien's later writings (marked with category: "primary"), prioritizing them over early Gnomish or Qenya lexicon words unless no later alternative exists.

Step 2: Part-of-Speech & Inflection Analysis

Determine the required part-of-speech and grammatical inflections:

• Quenya Case System: Check if you need to apply noun cases:
  • Genitive (-o): "of", e.g., Vardo (of Varda).
  • Possessive (-va): "possessing", e.g., omentielvo (of our meeting).
  • Allative (-nna): "to/upon", e.g., lúmenna (upon the hour).
  • Locative (-ssë): "in/at", e.g., sillumessë (at this hour).
  • Ablative (-llo): "from", e.g., sillumello (from this hour).
• Quenya Plurals: Standard plural -r (for vowel endings) or -i (for consonant endings). Partitive plural -lli.

Step 3: Consonant Mutation Handling (Critical for Sindarin)

If translating to Sindarin, you must apply consonant mutations on initial letters following prepositions, articles, or adjective-noun boundaries:

• Soft Mutation (Lenition): Triggered by singular article i, prepositions na, di, and adjective-noun compounds:
  • p -> b | t -> d | c -> g
  • b -> v | d -> dh | g -> (disappears)
  • lh -> th | rh -> thr | m -> v | s -> h
  • Example: i + parf (book) -> i barf (the book).
• Nasal Mutation: Triggered by plural article in:
  • p -> ph | t -> th | c -> ch
  • b -> m | d -> n | g -> ng
  • Example: in + periand (halflings) -> i pheiriand (the halflings).

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📝 Examples of Translations

Example 1: "A star shines on the hour of our meeting" (Quenya)

1. Source Vocabulary:
   • "star" -> elen
   • "shine" -> síla (present tense)
   • "hour" -> lúmë
   • "meeting" -> omentië
2. Apply Inflections:
   • "on the hour" (Allative) -> lúme + -nna -> lúmenna
   • "of our meeting" (Genitive + possessive inclusive suffix -lva) -> omentie + -lva + -o -> omentielvo
3. Assemble:

   Elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo (Tolkien's famous greeting).

Example 2: "The Grey Havens" (Sindarin)

1. Source Vocabulary:
   • "grey" -> mith
   • "havens" -> lond (plural: lynd)
2. Apply Mutation:
   • Compound adjective prefix or standard plural lenition: mith + lynd -> Mithlynd (or Mithlond).