Eldamo

From Tolkien Gateway
Eldamo
URLhttp://eldamo.org/index.html
SloganAn Elvish Lexicon
Commercial?No
LanguageEnglish (Includes optional glosses in Russian and Polish)
OwnerPaul Strack
Launch date2008
StatusActive
(last version 0.8.4.2 — generated 11 December 2022)

Eldamo (Elvish Data Model), or An Elvish Lexicon, is a linguistic website launched in 2008, compiling a lexicon of Tolkien's invented languages. The website is maintained by Paul Strack and, despite its name, does include all of Tolkien's languages, not only the Eldarin family.

The website does not only work as a dictionary, but as a full lexicon that analyzes the relationships between words and the conceptual development of Tolkien's languages through his lifetime. Therefore the invented languages are divided by three periods: Early (1910-30), Middle (1930-50) and Late (1950-73). The entries are extensively sourced.

It also contains a detailed analysis of the grammar and phonetic development of Quenya, Sindarin and Adûnaic. Optionally, a lexicon of commonly used and well accepted Neo-Elvish vocabulary is included, drawn from Helge Fauskanger's New Testament in Neo-Quenya, or the Parma Penyanë Quettaron, among others.

No new Tolkien word were added since the v0.8.6 update (May 2023); among other rare missing sources, the Eldamo lexicon does not include the Marquette Westron words published in Tyalië Tyelelliéva 17 by Lisa Star[1].

Its content is derived from an XML data model, which can be used freely in accordance with the Creative Commons license (with attribution).

As can be noticed, Tolkien Gateway uses Eldamo widely as reference for names that are not glossed in the main sources.

  1. Checked on the 11 March 2024. The lexicon may have been updated since.