Finduilasseo Hanquenta
Ma parca rí ar lassë tuileva
Vestassë polir hirë márië?
A úvoronda! Ely' ecénië!
Tindómerello lehtë lírinen,
Entuller móli tollo Ñaurova,
Indissi intë lá nattiraner,
Termarner uo tenna nestalë.
A ñwalca indo, sí helcantëal?
I vinya lassë pápa súrinen.
Lá ecë harta felmë autala,
Ar exa felmë átas tauravë.
Man polë mahta súrë Umbaro?
Rincenyë, mal silúmë rúcina
Ú tio ranyan. Ánin apsenë...
The Answer of Finduilas
Can a dry reed (or: grass stem) and a spring leaf
Find goodness in marriage?
O faithless one! You have seen it yourself!
Freed by Tinúviel's song,
The slaves of Werewolf's island returned,
The brides (or: wives) did not despise them,
They endured together until (their) healing.
O cruel heart, are you growing cold now?
The young leaf is trembling in the wind.
It is impossible to make a nearly gone feeling stay,
And another feeling is catching it with overwhelming power.
Who can handle the wind of Doom?
I tried, but now, confused (or: shattered),
I wander without a path. Forgive me...
Notes
The dry reed refers to Gwindor from the previous poem, and the spring leaf to Finduilas herself. The meaning of her name was not clarified by Tolkien (it is from a very early period in his work when Elvish as we know it didn't yet exist), but it may contain Sindarin elements duil "spring" and las "leaf". I used Finduilassë as its Quenya equivalent.
Tindómerel is Tolkien's own translation of Tinúviel to Quenya.
Thanks to Tolkienian linguists Paul Strack and Tamas Ferencz for making this translation possible.