#speaking elvish

[gandalf-the-fool]

#lord of the rings #lord of the rings memes #lotr #lotr memes #lotr meme #lord of the rings meme #lord of the rings post #lotr post #aragorn #meme #elvish #speaking elvish #language #language meme #legolas and aragorn #then i shall die as one of them

[geezmarty]

my beautiful italian wife marcille

#dungeon meshi #marcille donato #she's speaking elvish don't worry about it #f

[heph]

Elvish

#baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #bg3 gale #astarion #astarion bg3 #gale #bloodweave #halsin #shadowheart #wyll #wyll ravengard #im having intense artblock at the time of writing... #i think gale is a polyglot! astarion curses im elvish and realises gale was the only one who understood #enter halsin stage right and theyve gotten used to conversing secretly in elvish (flirting) and he hears aaaaallll the saucy goodness #Imagine Gale sheepishly asking Halsin if he speaks Elvish (of course he does)

[brain-rot-central]

Eating muff - ✅

Speaking your native tongue while doing so because your ex has a thing for it - ✅✅✅✅✅

#ascended astarion #astarion #my writing #sotlc #fanfiction #astarion smut #astarion speaking elvish has officially entered the chat 🫡

[pinacoladamatata]

I found the digital deluxe character sheets....

did....did y'all know Astarion speaks... not only abyssal but also. orc?

Gale;

Karlach;

Lae'zel;

Shadowheart;

Wyll;

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #little mr overachiever here knowing 5 languages?? #like i EXPECTED common elvish and thieves cant #but why tf abyssal? and orc? #also gale??? speaking giant? #the fanfic possibilities with this......

[wardenofthesixtyninth]

So in DND 5e, humans know Common and one extra language. And the Cloistered Scholar character background provides two additional languages on top of that, and typically a character with that background would choose languages that are relevant to their studies. And we know that Elvish is a common language for the study of magic.

So what I'm saying is Falin definitely speaks Elvish and she and Marcille have conversations in Elvish all the time.

#dungeon meshi #farcille #falin touden #marcille donato #delicious in dungeon #will i be writing fics where they speak in elvish now? probably

[somethingblu3]

Gods, I NEED to hear Astarion speaking elvish I can't believe that we don't have a single scene. Almost hoping someone asks Neil over cameo lmao.

#astarion speaking elvish? i would die #neil newbon #astarion ancunin #little elf man

[invinciblerodent]

... so does anyone have any clue on how undeath is supposed to affect elven souls?

Because I have been building my own elf character, and thinking about this a lot, and it's a thought that just will not leave me (hard not to think about this with an Astarion romance), so it's time for another one of my navel-gazey thinkpieces i guess lol.

Like, my main source is Mordekainen's Tome of Foes, and that book states clearly that elven souls are immortal. Their numbers are more or less fixed, or rather "capped" (that's why they haven't "outbred" every other race even with their long lifespans), and each elf currently living is the reincarnation of an elven soul that's already been to Arvandor (their afterlife) at some point, and then returned in a new body. That's why they have such few children: because a birth is as much a joy as it is a sorrow. It's both the arrival of a new life, and the death of another- either decades, centuries, millenia past, or as soon as barely a few months ago.

As a quick and dirty run-down for those who don't really want to wade into the lore (I don't blame you, it's murky in there), early in their lives and when they are nearing death are the times when elves are most intimately connected to their previous lives, and in their sleep-trance (their "Reverie"), these individuals can call upon memories of those past lives. The young elves relive exclusively the experiences and adventures of their immortal soul until their second or third decade- then, slowly, those memories become interspersed with those from their current life (the First Reflection, the first time that happens, marks the start of their "adolescence" of the mind essentially- they are physically fully mature by then), until roughly the end of their first century, which is when their access to these primal memories is cut off. From that point forward, the elf loses access to their previous lives. This is called the Drawing of the Veil, and from that point forward, the elf may only relive events from their current life in their trance, right until they start nearing the end of their natural lifespans some 600 years later.

This is all fairly clear in the case of a living elf.

But what happens if that immortal elven soul, that's so intimately interconnected with the afterlife and the very passage of time, finds itself suddenly housed in an undead, unaging, immortal body? How does that change things?

It's got to change things, no?

Like this is such a specific thing, I don't believe specifically elven intelligent undead (that is also a protagonist about whose soul we are supposed to care) has been written about super extensively in the sourcebooks, but my guess personally is that the moment of undeath, it... severs the bond of the soul to Arvandor. This is not unrealistic, as that bond can break for many reasons: Drow for one are never invited back and die true deaths with no way to be reincarnated, and so do elves who have turned to gods outside of the Seldarine. (.... that also means that, with the drow's propensity for casual murder, the number of elven souls available for rebirth is in a constant and steep decline, but that's a whole other thing.) (I've no clue what this means for the Seldarine drow. I wanna say that they can gain admission back, but that's just me being an optimist, I've no recollection of a source literally confirming or denying that.)

This loss of the primal memories, it's said to be a traumatic experience in itself, even if it comes naturally, as just part of the elven life cycle, and it coming on the heels of such a profound upheaval of one's life (such as being turned into a vampire), it may just be the least of the person's worries... but it would explain some things in a way that goes beyond the traumatic experiences of Astarion's current life.

If that moment of being cut off were to happen before the elf would naturally lose their ability to access primal memories, I assume that they would... be forced to more or less "grow up" (at the lack of a better term) in an instant. And to be denied roughly half the time you would have otherwise had for regaining experiences and memories from your past lives, it's got to leave one a bit... emotionally stunted, when compared to a living elf of a similar age, who had time to go through their natural life cycle as one should.

(Which, it's not a huge reveal that I believe our guy to be emotionally immature, and a bit stunted in his emotional growth. That's, like, clear, and I don't mean to say anything to the effect of "ooooh, he was so youuuung, still an uwu baaaaby---" no, we're unequivocally talking about a fully grown, adult man lol, but specifically in the case of how this all relates to this weird trait of elves, it's still interesting to think about this odd dissonance that... may very well exist between a living- and an undead elf.)

Hell, my personal little theory is that elven intelligent undead (like vampires, who do retain a soul within their bodies) specifically, while they do go into a trance and have dreams/nightmares/memories of their current lives, may just even lose the ability to recall events from their pre-undeath life (beyond conventional memory, meaning that they can't strengthen those memories and are bound to eventually forget them) as well, as evidenced by Astarion not remembering his own face, or what color his eyes were once. (You can't tell me that while he was alive, he didn't spend a shitton of time looking at his own face. If he could relive pre-undeath memories, he'd know these things, or would be able to recall them if he wished.)

There would be something... strangely tragic, in this kind of isolation, for an elf. By becoming a vampire, you'd become undead first, and an elf.... somewhere way, way, way down the line.

As a fairly young undead elf, you're somehow simultaneously ancient, adolescent, and middle-aged, and also pretty much confined to a singular existence of nothing but pain and abuse, with memories of a distant childhood slowly fading just out of reach, knowing that... this, this is just your soul's lot now. That a significant part of your fey heritage, your very ancestry as well as part of your immutable essence, has been torn from you in just one moment, in exchange for preserving this current life, as a simulacrum of itself. And now there is no next life, because this one is one without a natural end, and Sehanine Moonbow will now never invite your immortal soul back to Arvandor to be reborn, because it's been cut off from you, and your very body is holding you hostage. Six, sixteen, or sixty centuries can come to pass, and still nothing is going to change... unless you die, in which case you're just dead, like any non-elven creature.

Anyway, there's no real point to this, or a conclusion to be drawn, beyond just... fuck, man, they couldn't have made this fucker more of a tragic figure if they tried.

(...... Fun fact, Silvanus is not part of the Seldarine. So unless he maybe turns to worship Rillifane Rallathil instead, Halsin's soul would not be reincarnated either. But he seems to have made that decision himself and he seems content, so I'm guessing he's just cool with it.)

(I'm not fucking touching half-elves now, you can't make me, that's such a fucking can of worms oh my god)

#baldur's gate 3 #astarion #astarion ancunin #to think that i was just searching for elvish pet names when i fell down this rabbithole huh #squirrel plays bg3 #(yeeesh i did find one I like) #(c'mon now; it's their shared native language; he just hasn't used it in a long time- of course she's gonna make use of that) #(especially since she herself only ever had the chance to speak it with her father too) #(let me tell you; the dictionaries I've found are LIGHT on words of affection) #(it's almost as if DnD is not a dating sim?????? weird) #(edited only to fix a word repetition btw)

[autumnmobile12]

Canon according to The Silmarillion:  A lot of dwarves can speak Elvish, but almost no elves can speak Dwarvish and that’s largely because they never cared to learn.  They thought their language was ugly.  Meanwhile, the dwarves were all, “Someone get pen and paper, we gotta figure out what these pointy ears are saying!”  And then they did.

In the elf dungeon:

Kili:  “Balin, what are they saying?”

Balin (presumably one of the more educated of the Company):  “Well, the blond one asked why you keep staring at his friend.  She doesn’t know and commented you are tall for a dwarf, and then he called you ugly.”

Fili:  “Seems legit.”

#the hobbit #silmarillion #tolkien #desolation of smaug #canon dwarves speaking elvish #rings of power #I heard that #the old elf v dwarf trope #kili #legolas #tauriel

[the-writing-warg]

Obsessed with the idea of Thranduil turning up to an important event in Valinor for the first time looking like this

With most of the first age elves having a breakdown.

And the looks of complete adoration from elfings as he let's them add flowers and leaves, and let's them braid them into his hair

(He also struts up to whoever is ruling valinor at the time, wine glass held loosely in his hands and declares that he is thranduil and he speaks for the trees)

#thranduil is a feral gremlin you cant convince me otherwise #he is the elvish lorax #and i dream of him meeting tom bombadil #to all the none elvish peoples hes this cold ruthless king who loves wine a bit too much #but to the elves of the third age hes an unhinged creature who speaks to trees and knows where to find the best pipeweed #in my headcanon he trades weed with the shire #lord of the rings #the hobbit #lotr #hobbit #tolkien #thranduil #tolkien legendarium #thranduil oropherion #sindar elves #elven king #the elvenking #tolkien elves

[too-many-blorbos]

I read a Drizzt fic where he learned Common from Bruenor and, as a result, talked in the same accent as Bruebor and Catti-Brie.

And I think more fics should have Drizzt with highly-specific-and-incongruous accents, because it's hilarious

#drizzt do'urden #when he speaks drowic he sounds like the most sophisticated posh elf ever #when he speaks Common he sounds like a cockney urchin #also a big fan of the idea that the Underdark is Elf Australia so Drizzt speaking surface Elvish sounds like Steve Irwin

[silkendandelion]

Currently giggling at the idea of bards writing in different languages, both in the idea of creating poetry that’s meaning cannot be translated, and in getting away with nasty songs in public

Like the gang is in a tavern or brothel and the person on stage is just working the audience with something in elvish but the only people who know what they’re saying are the ones who can speak it

Dayedan’s looking around like he needs an adult, “Where are we? Is that allowed?”

Gale understands enough surface level elvish that all he knows is the subjects in the song are not clothed (he wants somebody to translate it for him tho)

Astarion: Quick, somebody give me some gold. I want to make a request

Shadowheart, tutting a tease: Sweet Day, I didn’t realize your sensibilities were so delicate.

Dayedan: Then you can’t understand him, or your ears would be red.

Shadowheart (Perception Failed): This isn’t about me.

#I don’t know if Shadowheart can speak elvish I just like when she’s embarrassed #also after Dayedan realizes no one is offended he’s on that dance floor faster than you can say arhklavae #Fey ancestry means you gotta get DOWN whenever someone pulls out any instrument #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #astarion #gale of waterdeep #shadowheart #tav oc: dayedan #oc fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #writing #fanfiction #silkenspeaks

[waitingforsecretsouls]

While the primary view of Maedhros fathername seems to be that it's a dig at Fingolfin, this ignores how the succession is very much not in question until the Valar get involved to banish the heir and the current king goes with him into exile (not to mention that it's exactly this position of Fëanor's which motivates Fingolfin's side of the jealousy). It's not spite to name Maedhros after his legitimate place in the succession. What's more, I find it very likely that, like Fëanor, his fathername might have initially been simply Finwë-the same as Finwë and Fëanor's own fathername ere it was modified later, making "Finwë third" an explicit acknowledgment of the threadline between Finwë, Fëanor and Maedhros that often gets reserved for the Fëanor-Curufin-Celebrimbor triumvirate-and only later changed to Nelyafinwë. But regardless it's still primary a connection to Fëanor's initial fathername and Finwë's name and the commonality between them (the line of succession as well as, I dare say, love and respect).

#silm #maedhros #i know I'm likely not the first to say this but it does irk me #not to start on the same old rant again but not everything the Fëeanorians do is about the Nolofinwëans actually #it's a cute name showing both Fëanor's love for his father as well as pride in the family lineage #the first grandchild and 3rd generation Finwëan! #the Fëanorians as a whole are cute with names #getting the only canonical nicknames (aside from the concept of epessë depending on how you view it) #(given that they otherwise preferred their mn's it's difficult to see another reason for shortforms of their fn's to exist) #and mockingly giving Finrod his famous Felagund (“Mr. badger”) moniker #They DO have that elvish tralala~ factor they DO! Even if it can be a bit mean-spirited... #also speaking to the strength of their friendship with the Dwarves that their nickname got transmitted over them #meaning they definitely used it to talk about Finrod behind his back lol

[thewingedbaron]

Alyss (tiefling ranger) leading the party, tracking the gith back to their crèche.

Astarion (in elvish): Do you think she really knows where she’s going, or is just making it up as she goes?

Shadowheart (also in elvish): totally lost, though her ass looks good when she’s searching for tracks…

Alyss (in elvish): The gith were here an hour ago. You’d know that if you were watching the trail and not my backside.

#these posts are always so funny #not all tieflings speak infernal #no one expects the Devil to know elvish #bg3 alyss #bg3 tiefling oc #thewingedbaron #bg3 fic #bg3 #baldur's gate oc #bg3 shadowheart

[blue-hi]

there are many things i am a fan of joey batey in the witcher for and being the first person to more or less correctly pronounce a welsh word is now one of them

#the witcher #i admit i'm not an expert on the welsh language but i do know <dd> is pronounced like <th> as in ''this'' or ''then'' #so 'gwynbleidd' is not 'gwin-bleyd' but 'gwin-bleyth' #('blaidd' is 'wolf' apparently anyway) #it's just been irking me #celtic languages have been used sporadically throughout the series (every once in a while an irish or irish-like word will show up) #and almost zero times have they been pronounced correctly #so this stood out to me :) #i also want to give credit to the dialect coach who is helping with the elvish language direction #but it was definitely 'bleyd' earlier #whether that was on the particular actor speaking or the director i have no idea #i'm down a language rabbit hole the elder speech language is all i care about now i want to see documentation for it #how close it is to welsh? maybe this is time for me to learn welsh

[sun-moon-and-stars4]

i would do anything for aragorn

#lotr liveblog #hes too hot #illegal #aragorn my bbg #i would do disgusting things to that man #also apparently hes like 80? #him speaking elvish did something to my psyche #lotr #aragorn