Translation of Psalm 2
Petri Tikka
1 Manan ramar i nóri ar lustave lamyar i lier?
2 Ortar i arani cemeno, yomenir i cundur ara Eru ar Hristorya:
3 "Ascatuvalme nútentar, mello hatuvalme nardantar!"
4 I mare Erumande laluva, yaituva i Héru te.
5 San quetuva tien aharyanen, ar ruhtuva te úreryanen:
6 "Inye asátie Araninya Aire-orontinya Síonna!"
7 Nyaruvan Eruo namna. Eque ninna: "Yondonya nalye, síra onostienyel.
8 Arca nillo, ar antuvan i nóri harmalyanna, ar i tyeldi cemeno véralyanna.
9 Racuvalyet angaina vandilenen, rucuvalyet ve cemnaro-vene."
10 Sie a hanya arani, na saitane, a námor cemeno!
11 A veuya Eru áyanen, ar álasta pampilenen!
12 A mique i Yondo, var ahea nauvas ar mistuval i tiello, an rato tinta aharya.
13 Máne i rucir senna!
Psalm 2 (King James version)
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD, and against his anointed, [saying],
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh:
the Lord shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath,
and vex them in his sore displeasure.
6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me,
Thou [art] my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8 Ask of me, and I shall give [thee] the heathen [for] thine inheritance,
and the uttermost parts of the earth [for] thy possession.
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;
thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish [from] the way,
when his wrath is kindled but a little.
13 Blessed [are] all they that put their trust in him.
NOTES:
*airelinde 'holy song, psalm' < aire 'sanctity' (PM:363) + linde 'song, air, tune' (LR:359); cf. S aerlinn *'holy song' (RGEO:70) < aer 'holy' (VT44:21,24) + lind 'aire, tune' (LR:369). attea 'second' (VT42:25).
Verse 1: *manan 'what for, why' < mana 'what' (PM:395) + -n dative ending. rama- 'shout, sound loud, bray, blare' (PE12:78). nóre 'country, land, race' (LR:378).
*lustave 'vainly' < lusta 'void, empty'; cf. English vain << Latin vanus 'idle, empty'. lamya- 'to sound' (LR:367, VT45:25). lie 'people' (LR:369).
It seems that a subject with the article follows its verb as a rule: Auta i lóme! 'The night is passing!' (Silm ch. 20), Utúlie'n aure!
'The day has come!' (cf. Aure entuluva! 'Day shall come again!', not *Entuluva aure!), tintilar i eleni 'the stars tremble'
(RGEO:66,67). There are exceptions in internally early Quenya poetry: yar i vilya anta miqilis 'to whom the air gives kisses'
(MC:216), i lunte linganer 'the boat hummed like a harp-string' and i súru laustaner 'the wind 'lausted' (made a windy noise)'.
But neither *yar anta i vilya miqilis, nor *linganer i lunte, nor yet *laustaner i súru would work metrically.
Verse 2: orta- 'rise, raise' (LR:379). aran 'king' (WJ:369). cemen 'earth' (VT44:34). #yomen- 'meet, gather' (of three or more coming from different directions) < yomenie 'meeting, gathering' (of three or more coming from different directions) (WJ:407). cundu 'prince' (LR:366). ara 'outside, beside (local sense); along side; *against' (349, VT43:33); the extended meaning from ada: "...the root ara 'along side' (in apparent contrast with another root, ada 'against, opposed to, opposite')". Eru 'the One God' (Letters:387). Hristo 'Christ' (VT44:18); English Christ < khristos, which is Greek for 'anointed' = Hebrew 'maschiyach'.
Verse 3: ascat- 'break asunder' (SD:301). núte 'bond, knot' (LR:378). hat- 'break asunder' (386) + unattested meaning 'hurl, *throw' < KHAT- 'hurl' (363). narda 'knot' (387).
Verse 4: mar- 'abide, be settled or fixed' (UT:317). Erumande 'in heaven' (VT43:12,16). lala 'laugh' (PM:359), and perhaps with a nod at lala- 'to deny' (LR:367). *yaita- 'mock' < YAY- 'mock' (400). i Héru 'the Lord' (VT43:28,29).
Verse 5: san 'then' (MC:216). quet- 'say, speak' (SA:quen-/quet-). aha 'rage' (Apeendix E); the best equivalent to Hebrew
'aph 'anger, wrath' one could find. ruhta- 'terrify' (WJ:415). úre 'heat' (Appendix E); the original Hebrew is charon 'anger, heat, burning (of anger)' (only of God's wrath'): the Quenya word is similarly used metaphorically here.
Verse 6: sati- 'set aside, appropriate to a special purpose or owner' (VT42:20). oron(t-) 'mountain' (LR:379). *Síon 'Zion', phonologically adapted from Hebrew Tsiyown; another possibility would be to translate it from its meaning 'sign(post)': tanna 'sign' (MR:385).
Verse 7: nyar- 'tell, relate' (LR:374). namna 'statute' (MR:258). yondo 'son' (VT43:37). síra 'this day' as adverb (18). nosta- 'beget' (SD:73).
Verse 8: arca- 'pray, petition' (VT44:8); the closest equivalent to Hebrew sha'al 'to ask, enquire, borrow, beg' one could find:
#maquet- *'ask' (PM:403) is evidently only for asking questions, *hyam- 'pray' (VT43:34) for praying on behalf of someone. anta- 'give' (LR:348). harma 'treasure, a treasured thing' (360), related to harya- 'possess': closest thing to the Hebrew original nachalah, which means both 'inheritance' and 'possession'. Alternatively, one could try (speculative) coining: *hilma '(concrete) heirloom, inheritance, legacy' < KHIL- 'follow' (364; whence also hildinyar 'my heirs') + ma 'something, a thing' (VT42:34; cf. parma 'book' < PAR- 'compose, put together', LR:380); *hilme could be 'legacy' as an abstract conept, cf. melme 'love' < MEL- 'love (as friend)' (372). tyelde 'end' (366). véra 'personal, private, own' (PM:340) used nominatively: *'owned property'.
Verse 9: rac- 'break (MC:223). angaina 'of iron' (LR:348). *vandil 'staff' < vandl 'staff' (PE12:99). #ruc- 'confuse, shatter, disorder' < rúcina 'confused, shattered, disordered' (MC:223). This might be the same as ruc- 'feel fear or horror (from)' (WJ:415) and ruc- 'fly (to)' (VT44:7). After all, horror is a rather shattering emotion, and Quenya verbs can often be both transitive and intransitive at the same time (eg. orta-): 'shatter' > 'be shattered'; 'be shattered (by someone/thing)' > 'feel fear or horror (from someone/thing)'; 'feel fear or horror (to someone/thing)' > 'fly in horror (to eg. a refuge)'. _cemnaro_ 'potter' (LR:363). _vene_ 'small boat, vessel, dish' (LT1:254).
Verse 10: sie 'thus' (VT43:24). hanya- 'understand, know about, be skilled in dealing with' (LR:363). *saita- 'instruct, teach' < SAY- 'know, understand' (385). Námo 'Judge' (WJ:402).
Verse 11: *veuya- 'follow, serve' < PE *beuyá- 'follow, serve' (LR:352). áya 'awe' (PM:363). *alasta- 'rejoice, be glad' < GALÁS- 'joy, be glad' (LR:357). The long vowel in *álasta is a contraction of the imperative particle with the initial vowel of alasta; cf. this concerning Átaremma: "The most likely possibility, however, is that the long vowel is a contraction of the interjection a! with the initial vowel of atar; cf. the use of a and ai as interjections or vocative particles in At. II." (VT34:13). pampile 'trembling' (PE12:72).
Verse 12: miq- 'to kiss' (61). var 'or' (100). *ahea 'rageful, angry' < aha 'rage'. -s in nauvas refers here to Eru, not to Yondo (cf. -nte 'they' "when no subject is previously mentioned", UT:317), otherwise no person marker would probably be needed (cf. Nai elye hiruva. 'Be it that even thou find will [it].', RGEO:67). mista 'stray about' (LR:373). tie 'path, course, line, direction, way' (LR:391). rato 'soon' (The Father Christmas Letters). tinta- 'to kindle, make to spark' (LR:394).
Verse 13: mána 'blessed' (LR:72). #se 'he, she' (VT43:29).
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