Fana-losse

(Snow-white)

Translated by Findegil / Björn Fromén

This is a translation of the song "Snow-white!" (LR 1 III), adapted to fit the tune of the 15^th century hymn Alta Trinita Beata. In the process an invocation and an echoing line have been added to each stanza.

A Fana-losse! Heri silma!
Tári Eari pella Númenye!
Calina men i ranyar
sina mi aldarembea ambar!
Fana-losse, a Varda Elentári,
Calina mí aldarembea ambar!

A Tintalle! Elentári!
Silma hendulya, calima súlya.
Fana-losse, laitammel
Earen pella hairanóriesse.
Len lirimme, a Varda Elentári,
laitalinde hairanóriesse.

A eleni yar rende márya
sílala i Yénesse Alanarya,
telpelossenen laiya
calima mí súrimar sí tye cenimme.
Fana-losse, a Varda Elentári,
telpelosse calima cenimme.

A Elentári! a Tintalle!
Sinome nu i aldali háya
men enyalie mare
silmelyo or i Eari Númenye.
Enyalimme, a Varda Elentári,
silme or i Eari Númenye.

Notes

(QL refers to the Qenya Lexicon as published in Parma Eldalamberon #12)

*Fana-losse "Snow-white", shortened from *Fana Oiolosse 'bright angelic figure ever white as snow', Sindarin Fanuilos (R, p. 66)
silma 'shining white, lustrous'
Eari pella Númenye 'beyond Western Seas'; for the word order, cf. tellumar nu luini ("Namárie")
calina '(spiritual) light', cf. coacalina "light of the house" = 'indwelling spirit' (MR, p. 250)
*men dative 'to us'
i *ranyar 'who wander'
sina mi 'in this'
*alda-rembe-a 'tree-mesh-ed'

*hendu-lya dual of natural pairs 'thy (pair of) eyes'
*súlya 'thy breath'; this either is a haplology of súle-lya or contains QL sú used as a synonym of súle (cf. tumba, tumbale, both meaning 'deep valley')
*laita-mme-l 'we praise thee'
Earen '[the] ocean', Sindarin (g)aearon (PM, pp. 348, 362)
*haira-nórie-sse 'in a far land', cf sinda-nórie-llo ("Namárie")
*len dative 'to thee'
*liri-mme 'we sing'
*laita-linde 'song of praise'

*yar plural of the relative pronoun ya- 'which, that'
rende past tense 'sowed' ("The Etymologies", s.v. RED-)
*sílala participle of sil- 'shine white'; márya sílala 'her shining hand'
*al-anar-ya 'sunless' (lit. 'not-sunn-y'); i Yénesse Alanarya 'in the Sunless Year'
*telpe-losse- 'silver blossom'
*laiya '[to] flower, flourish', verbal stem formed from the base LAY in laire 'summer' (L 211), cf. LAYA 'be alive, flourish' (QL)
*súrimar 'wind-home, land of winds', cf. Old Norse vindheimr, a kenning for the sky
tye 'you', the "familiar" 2^nd person pronoun, here plural as in the Arctic sentence in The Father Christmas Letters
*ceni-mme 'we see'

(In a less poetic word order lines 15-16 would run: Sí tye cenimme mí súrimar laiya calima telpelossenen 'now we see you in the land of winds flourish with bright silver blossom')

*i aldali 'the many trees'
háya adverb 'far [from thee]'
*mare 'stays, dwells' men mare enyalie silmelyo 'for us remains the remembrance of thy starlight'
*enyali-mme 'we recall, we remember'

teithant Findegil, o Mellonath Daeron