Black Speech
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| Black Speech | ||
|---|---|---|
| Created by: | J. R. R. Tolkien | 1917–1973 |
| Setting and usage: | The fictional world of the novel The Lord of the Rings | |
| Total speakers: | The peoples of Mordor and Númenor[citation needed], and several hundreds of fans and students around the world. | |
| Category (purpose): | constructed language artistic language Black Speech |
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| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | art | |
| ISO 639-3: | – | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
Orkish redirects here. For other uses, see Urkish.
The Black Speech is the fictional language of Mordor in The Lord of the Rings. Sauron created the Black Speech, as an artificial language, to be the sole language of all the servants of Mordor, replacing the many different varieties of Orkish and other languages used by his servants. Tolkien describes the language as existing in two forms, the ancient "pure" forms used by Sauron himself, the Nazgûl, and the Olog-hai, and the more "debased" form used by the soldiery of the Barad-dûr at the end of the Third Age.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Black Speech was likely based entirely on Valarin, as Morgoth and his Maiar (all of whom would have spoken Valarin) minions did not possess the Secret Fire, but were only able to corrupt things to their service. It may have also been based on Quenya.
Having designed the Black Speech to be unpleasant, J. R. R. Tolkien did not enjoy writing in it (according to Tolkien, he once received a goblet from a fan with the Ring inscription on it in Black Speech, and, finding it distasteful, used it only as an ashtray).[1] As a result, the Black Speech is one of the more fragmentary languages in the novels. The forces of good refuse to utter it, as it attracts the attention of the Eye of Sauron. Unlike Elvish, there are no poems or songs written in it (apart from the Ring's inscription). The result is a random collection of words that are hard to actually use in day-to-day conversation.
[edit] Examples from Tolkien
[edit] The Ring Inscription
The only example given of "pure" Black Speech is the inscription upon the One Ring:
- Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
- ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.
When translated into English, these words form the lines:
- One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
- One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.
These are the first two lines from the end of a verse about the Rings of Power. This corresponds to the following table.[verification needed]
| Black Speech | English |
|---|---|
| ash | one |
| nazg | ring |
| durb | rule |
| at | verb infinitive ("to") |
| ul | them |
| ûk | all |
| gimb | find |
| thrak | bring |
| agh | and |
| burz | dark |
| um | suffixed article "the" |
| -ishi | in (case suffix) |
| krimp- | bind |
This small sample seems to indicate the ease with which a command referring to an entire category of things or people can be uttered in the Black Speech - simply adding "-ulûk" at the end.
[edit] Other examples
Some other Black Speech words are known, given as examples by Tolkien in Appendix F of The Return of the King. These include Lugbúrz, meaning "Dark Tower" (Barad-dûr), snaga, meaning "slave", and ghâsh "fire". Many Orkish dialects had adopted words from it. A substantial sample of debased Black Speech/Orkish can be found in The Two Towers, where the Mordor Ork Grishnákh curses the Isengard Uruk Uglúk:
- Uglúk u bagronk sha pushdug Saruman-glob búbhosh skai!
In The Peoples of Middle-earth, Tolkien gives the translation: "Uglúk to the cesspool, sha! the dungfilth; the great Saruman-fool, skai!". However, in a note published in the Tolkien scholarly linguistic journal Vinyar Tengwar, this alternative translation is given: "Uglúk to the dung-pit with stinking Saruman-filth, pig-guts, gah!"
[edit] Film use
The ring inscription and its translation show that the Black Speech is a strongly agglutinating language. For The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, the linguist David Salo used what little is known of the Black Speech to create enough of a language for use in the movies. This is usually referred to by Tolkienists as neo-Black Speech. One word created for the film is ashi - derived from ash ("one") and meaning "only." Two phrases in Black Speech appear in the film: Gu kibum kelkum-ishi, burzum-ishi. Akha-gum-ishi ashi gurum. ("No life in coldness, in darkness. Here in void, only death." Gurum means "death" and Gurut means "to die.")
[edit] A possible source for Black Speech
Some speculate that Tolkien may have drawn upon the language of the ancient Hittites and Hurrians for his Black Speech. [1]
[edit] Black Metal
As its more common subject matter includes fantasy and dark, demonic or diabolical themes, some black metal bands have taken their names and occasionally song and album titles from Black Speech, including:
- Burzum (Black Speech for 'darkness', as seen on the One Ring)
- Gorgoroth (from the plateau in Mordor, location of Mount Doom)
- Summoning, particularly the song "Mirdautas Vras" from Oath Bound, the first song not part of the Lord of the Rings soundtrack written entirely in Black Speech.
- Za Frûmi Numerous concept albums centred around the exploits of a tribe of Uruk Hai. All lyrics are spoken in Black Speech and the translations are included in each album.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Orkish and the Black Speech - base language for base purposes
- Black Speech analysis by Craig Daniel
- neo-Black Speech vocabulary
- The Land of Shadow - A great resource for debased and unattested Black Speech.
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 343
