Early Quenya
oilima markirya (first version)
Oilima Markirya (First Version)
Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!
The first version of the Oilima Markirya poem (MC/220-221). It was preceded by six drafts, discussed in PE16 (PE16/53-76), labeled OM1a to OM1f by the editors of the Early Qenya Poetry article (Gilson, Welden, and Hostetter). A seventh draft, labeled OM1g in the article (PE16/77-80), is sufficiently different that I treat it as a separate poem: Oilima Markirya (Intermediate Version).
The text and translation presented here is the one accompanying the publication of Tolkien’s “A Secret Vice” essay (MC/220-221), presumably the final draft before Tolkien rewrote the poem as discussed in the entry on Oilima Markirya.
The text is divided into phrases for each line of the poem, except for lines 15-16 (mandulómi anta móri Ambalar), 17-18 (telumen tollanta naiko lunganar), 19-20 (kaire laiqa’ondoisen kirya), and 20-22 (karnevaite úri kilde hísen níe nienaite) which are combined to make more complete phrases. The textual history is discussed in the entries for individual phrases.
My analysis of this poem is based almost entirely on the work of the editors of the Early Qenya Poetry article: Gilson, Welden, and Hostetter (PE16/53-76).