Finnish
The language Tolkien found in a grammar — the sound of Quenya
suomi
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In 1911 Tolkien found a Finnish grammar in the Exeter College library when he should have been reading for his classics exams. He compared the discovery to a cellar full of an amazing wine and was, by his own account, quite intoxicated: he gave up the Germanic language he had been inventing and started again. Finnish gave High-elven its long vowels, its case endings, its dislike of consonant clusters — Tolkien himself described Quenya as Latin at bottom, blended with two further sources that pleased his ear, Finnish and Greek. He never learned to speak it; it was the sound and the shape he wanted.
What became of it
Sound and structure of High-elven: Tolkien named Finnish, with Greek, as the main ingredient beside the Latin base, and dated his fresh start on his invented languages to the day he found the Finnish grammar.
- The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien — Letter 144
two other (main) ingredients that happen to give me 'phonaesthetic' pleasure: Finnish and Greek
- The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien — Letter 163
It was like discovering a complete wine-cellar filled with bottles of an amazing wine
- The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien — Letter 144
Sources
- The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien — Letter 163
- The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien — Letter 144
Cite this page
Legendarium (2026): „Finnish“. Last updated September 22, 2026. https://www.legendarium.page/tolkien/finnish/
APA
Legendarium. (2026). Finnish. Last updated September 22, 2026. https://www.legendarium.page/tolkien/finnish/
MLA
„Finnish“. Legendarium, 2026, https://www.legendarium.page/tolkien/finnish/. Last updated September 22, 2026.
BibTeX
@misc{legendarium-finnish-en,
title = {Finnish},
author = {{Legendarium}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://www.legendarium.page/tolkien/finnish/}},
note = {Last updated September 22, 2026}
}