Enyalië

From Tolkien Gateway

Enyalië (pronounced [enˈjalie] /en-yar-ly-eh/) is an annual activity held as the concluding part of The Tolkien Society's Oxonmoot celebration.[1]

On the Sunday morning of the Oxonmoot convention, attendees of the event take a coach trip to Wolvercote Cemetery where J.R.R. Tolkien and his wife Edith are buried. Enyalië is a "sombre" wreath-laying ceremony which involves a "short act of remembrance" at Tolkien's graveside.[2] The Chairman of the Society reads a passage from Tolkien's works whilst the song Namárië is sung by one of the Society's long-standing members.[3]

Chairman of The Tolkien Society, Shaun Gunner, described the event as "poignant and touching" whilst noting that "many regard it as the single most important activity of Oxonmoot".[3]

Etymology[edit | edit source]

Enyalië is a Quenya noun meaning "memory"[4] or "remembrance".[5] It features in the Oath of Eorl - in the form enyalien - published in Unfinished Tales.[6]

References

  1. Jeff Gordinier, "'The Lord of the Rings': Elvish Lives!" dated 14 December 2001, Entertainment Weekly (accessed 19 March 2024)
  2. "Oxonmoot 2010", Festival Art and Books (accessed 11 August 2015)
  3. 3.0 3.1 Shaun Gunner, "10 reasons why you should attend Oxonmoot" dated 11 August 2015, The Tolkien Society (accessed 11 August 2015)
  4. "[1]", Parf Edhellen (accessed 11 August 2015)
  5. "Celebrate Tolkien at Oxonmoot 2006 at Oxford" dated 23 August 2006, The One Ring (accessed 11 August 2015)
  6. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan"
The Tolkien Society
President: J.R.R. Tolkien · Vice-president: Priscilla Tolkien · Chair: Shaun Gunner
Topics History (Letter to Vera Chapman and the Tolkien Society) · Archives · Awards · Enyalië · Smials · Tolkien to the World · Tolkien fandom
Chairs Vera Chapman (1970) · Keith Bridges (1970-1973) · Hartley Patterson (1973-1974) · Jonathan Simons (1974-1984) · Brin Dunsire (1984-1988) · Alex Lewis (1988-1992) · Amanda Fingleson (1992-1996) · Chris Crawshaw (1996-2008) · Matthew Vernon (2008-2009) · Sally Kennett (2009-2013) · Shaun Gunner (2013-present)
Annual Events Birthday Toast (3 January) · Tolkien Reading Day (25 March) · AGM and Springmoot (April) · Seminar (July) · Oxonmoot (September)
Conferences Oxonmoot (annual, 1974-present) · J.R.R. Tolkien Centenary Conference (1992) · Tolkien 2005: The Ring Goes Ever On (2005) · The Return of the Ring (2012) · Tolkien 2019 (2019)
Publications Journals Belladonna's Broadsheet (1969-1970) · Mallorn (1970-present) · The Tolkien Society Bulletin (1970-1971) · Andúril (1972) · Amon Hen (1972-present) · Quettar (1980-1995)
Books An Extrapolation on The Silmarillion (1975) · The Trees, the Jewels and the Rings (1977) · Tolkien in Oxford: The Tolkien Society Guide (1978) · The Tolkien Society Songbook (1985) · Tolkien and Romanticism (1988) · Proceedings of the J.R.R. Tolkien Centenary Conference (1995) · The Oxonmoot Songbook (1997) · The Filking Songbook (2001) · The Tolkien Society Guide to Oxford (2005) · Proceedings of the Tolkien 2005 Conference (2008) · Tolkien 2005 Souvenir Book (2009) · Proceedings of the Tolkien Society Conference 2012 (2016)
Peter Roe Books 1. Some Light on Middle-earth (1985) · 2. Leaves from the Tree (1991) · 3. The First and Second Ages (1992) · 4. Travel and Communication in Tolkien's Worlds (1996) · 5. Digging Potatoes, Growing Trees, vol. 1 (1997) · 6. Digging Potatoes, Growing Trees, vol. 2 (1998) · 7. Tolkien, the Sea and Scandinavia (1999) · 8. The Ways of Creative Mythologies (2000) · 9. Tolkien: A Mythology for England? (2000) · 10. The Best of Amon Hen, vol. 1 (2000) · 11. Digging Potatoes, Growing Trees, vol. 3 (2001) · 12. Sindarin Lexicon (2001) · 13. The Best of Amon Hen, vol. 2 (2002) · 14. Tolkien: Influenced and Influencing (2005)· 15. Freedom, Fate and Choice in Middle-earth (2012) · 16. Journeys & Destinations (2015) · 17. Death and Immortality in Middle-earth (2017) · 18. Poetry and Song in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien (2018) · 19. Tolkien the Pagan? (2019) · 20. Adapting Tolkien (2021) · 21. Twenty-first Century Receptions of Tolkien (2022) · 22. Tolkien and Diversity (2023)