Author Notes: I needed a binding ceremony for a story, and altered a Celtic handfasting ritual to suit my purpose. This is a longer version of the ceremony I used for my story; the Sindarin version follows the English version. Grammatical Notes have been moved to the end of this chapter to comply with ff.net rules. These notes have information on the mutations and sources of grammar and vocabulary used for the translation. There are also notes at the end of this chapter. This was composed before some new information on Sindarin became available, and I understand Sindarin grammar a bit better now - one of these days I will get around to updating it!

Public Domain: I occasionally receive requests from other authors to use this ceremony in their fics. I consider all my fanfic to be within the public domain - authors are free to use it, archive it, alter it, spindle or mutate it to their hearts' content. I only ask that you give me credit, as I certainly don't want to be accused of stealing my own stuff!

Disclaimer: The names of the Valar belong to Tolkien, the ceremony is traditional Celtic with changes to fit into Tolkien's mythology.

Elven Binding Ceremony*

We call Manwë, Lord of the Breath of Arda. Hear this oath.
We call Varda, Lady of the Stars. Hear this oath.
We call Ulmo, Lord of the Waters. Hear this oath.
We call Yavanna, Queen of the Earth. Hear this oath.

As seed and root,
as bud and stem,
as leaf and flower,
as star-fading and star-opening,
as life and as love,
in the sight of Eru,
thee I take to my hand, my heart and my soul.

And death shall not cleave us,
as in Aman we shall again meet,
and know,
and remember and desire.

I give you this ring as an oath of my love of you.
May the ring always bear witness to my eternal love.

My beloved bride / bridegroom, to thee I bind myself.
With this ring, I give thee my heart, my body and the breath of my soul.

O Valar, affirm this union between Children of Eru.
Watch over them,
lead them
and protect them.
Your blessings give to their household
and to the children born of their union
.


Sindarin Version

Estam Vanwë,* Aran e-Thûl Gardh. Lasto nan-gwaedh hen.
Estam Varda, Rîs en Elin. Lasto nan-gwaedh hen.
Estam Ulmo, Aran en-Nîn. Lasto nan-gwaedh hen.
Estam Yavanna, Rîs e-Cae.* Lasto nan-gwaedh hen.

Be eredh a holch,
be duiw a delch,
be lass a loth,
be vinuial a aduial,
be guil a be vîl,
ned i gened Eru, le tegin na gamen, 'uren a faeren.

A gûr law ristatha ven,
be ned Aman ad geveditham,
a istatham,
a geritham rîn a anírad.

Annan le i gorma* hen be 'west o mîlen le.
Narn i gorma aen ui o mîlen uireb.

Dineth / Daer vilui nîn, al le gwedhin im.
Ah i gorma hen, annan le 'uren, thrawen a i thûl faeren.

A Valar! Tangado i erthad hen im Hîn Eru.
Tiro den,
togo den
a berio den.
'Alu lîn anno a cherth dîn
a nan-hîn ennin o erthad dîn.


* Elven Binding Ceremony
Tolkien does not give us a particular ceremony, stating only that no mortal has ever heard the ceremony, but tells us that the names of Manwë, Varda and Eru were called ('Eru' was used only for ceremony; otherwise, 'Ilúvatar' was used). (ref. Morgoth's Ring, 'The Laws and Customs among the Eldar')
* Vanwë = Manwë (lenited as a direct object)
I've used the Quenya names for the Valar, as it seems not unlikely that such names might be used in Sindarin, especially during a solemn ceremony - it might be compared to Latin, from which we still borrow words for more formal purposes even though an equivalent exists in English (ie 'Emmanuel' in Christian ceremonies that are otherwise conducted in English).
* Cae
This should be Gae (mixed mutation after the preposition/article en). However, Tolkien's notes in The Lost Road, 'Etymologies' specify that cae is not declinable. I assume this means it is not subject to mutation, probably because gae, the most common mutation, means 'dread'. Somehow 'Queen of Dread' doesn't seem quite fitting:)
* gorma = corma (lenited after the article i)
This is not a deliberate use of Quenya - there is no word in Sindarin for ring(???!)




Grammatical Notes

We call Manwë, Lord of the Breath of Arda. Listen to this oath.
Estam Vanwë, Aran e-Thûl Gardh. Lasto nan-gwaedh hen.
Vanwë - lenited form of Manwë
e-Thûl - mixed mutation of en Thûl
nan-gwaedh hen - (lit. 'the oath this'), hen is the lenited form of sen.

We call Varda, Lady of the Stars. Listen to this oath.
Estam Varda, Rîs en Elin. Lasto nan-gwaedh hen.

We call Ulmo, Lord of the Waters. Listen to this oath.
Estam Ulmo, Aran en-Nîn. Lasto nan-gwaedh hen.

We call upon Yavanna, Queen of the Earth. Listen to this oath.
Estam Yavanna, Rîs e-Cae. Lasto nan-gwaedh hen.
Cae - This should be Gae - see note at the end of the first chapter.

As seed and root, as bud and stem,
Be eredh a holch, be duiw a delch,
holch - lenited form of solch
duiw - lenited form of tuiw
delch - lenited form of telch

as leaf and flower, as star-fading and star-opening, as life and as love,
be lass a loth, be vinuial a aduial, be guil a be vîl,
vinuial - lenited form of minuial
guil - lenited form of cuil
vîl - lenited form of mîl

in the sight of Eru, thee I bring to my hand, my heart and my soul,
ned i gened Eru, le tegin na gamen, 'uren a faeren.
gened - lenited form of cened
le - Quenya 'thee', but used in Sindarin (ref. LOTR, 'A Elbereth Gilthoniel', p 231, pub. Houghton Mifflin)
gamen - lenited form of camen
'uren - lenited form of guren

And death shall not cleave us,
A gûr law ristatha ven,
ven - lenited form of men

as in Aman again we shall meet,
be ned Aman ad geveditham,

and know, and have remembrance and desire.
a istatham, a geritham rîn a anírad.
anírad - gerund form of the verb aníro (lit. 'desiring')

I give you this ring as an oath of my love of you.
Annan le i gorma hen be 'west o mîlen le
i gorma hen - lit. 'the ring this'. gorma is the lenited form of corma (Quenya), and hen is the lenited form of sen.
'west - lenited form of gwest

May the ring tell always
Narn i gorma aen ui

of my eternal love.
o mîlen uireb.

My loving bride / bridegroom, to thee I bind myself.
Dineth / Daer vilui nîn, al le gwedhin im.
vilui - lenited form of milui
al le - nasal mutation of an le

With this ring, I give thee my heart, my body and the breath of my soul.
Ah i gorma hen, annan le 'uren, thrawen a i thûl faeren.
i gorma hen - (lit. 'the ring this'), gorma is the lenited form of corma, hen is the lenited form of sen.
'uren - lenited form of guren
thrawen - lenited form of rhawen

O Valar, make firm this union between Children of Eru.
A Valar! Tangado i erthad hen im Hîn Eru.
i erthad hen - (lit. 'the union this'), hen is the lenited form of sen.

Watch over them, lead them and protect them. Your blessings give to their household
Tiro den, togo den a berio den. 'Alu lîn anno a cherth dîn
den - lenited form of ten
'Alu - lenited form of Galu (as the direct object of 'give')
a cherth - nasal mutation of an herth
dîn - lenited form of tîn

and to the children born of their union.
a nan-hîn ennin o erthad dîn.


Sources

Some of these sources contradict one another, so I've done my best to figure out what seems most correct. I've eliminated the URLs because ff.net will only strip them out - all of them can be found on the homepage listed under my ff.net profile.

Ryszard Derdzinski, Summary of the Sindarin Grammar

Helge Fauskanger, Sindarin - The Noble Tongue

Helge Fauskanger, Suggested Conjugation of all known or inferred Sindarin verbs

J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lost Road, 'Etymologies', pub. Ballantine/Del Rey

Didier Willis, Hiswelókë, The Sindarin Dictionary Project