Thought I'd rise from the dead a little. I've been so busy that I haven't written much poetry in the past years, but I have a little to show off from irresponsible-o'clock at night.

For one of my personal projects, I've been making a constructed language. They're entirely functional, based on natural languages, but they're usually much more regular in fiction, designed to help fill in a world or culture. Perhaps the first and greatest example is the masterpiece of J.R.R. Tolkien's work, Elvish. Others have followed in his wake, giving us Dothraki, the Dragon tongue from Skyrim, and then of course, just simple alphabets as we find in the Zelda series. However, very few have come to match the complexity of Tolkien's. It takes a mind honed with years of study to do what he did as well as he did.

For years, even after starting on my own constructed language, I had convinced myself that to create a rhymed and metered poem like the ones he made would take possibly a linguistics degree and most certainly years of study. I've yet to make it to either of those, and two nights ago, up at 12:47 am, one word came into my head. It was: 'Eluwend' a character name, taken from the stems 'elu'-star and 'wend' doom. With a little of my poetic background in English, I dove in and began swimming. This language is called Eithranin.

Over the last two days, I've been honing and micro-editing. For now, it's still a draft, but here it is. Stress marked in bold. Youtube video is my recording of it, so you can hear how it sounds.

Eluwend, Eluwend!                                     Eluwend, Stardoom!

evendirno kaitonnem,                               shining from the sky

Uitan deghen evern nui                             why is knowledge like a curse

Eluwend elünem?                                         Eluwend from stars?

Soeithra e Katane felch!                             My lady and my Captain!

erythemaan aondelukoich.                       with honor of star-ward-stone (mountains)

Nas vandir feiln, merachen velch           We have need of your wisdom/mercy

ok uitan felch vakoich.                              for your knowledge is of truth-ward (virtue).

Vadün felch, sovadün felch!                     My friend, my friend,

sikaurn neir-avenech,                                 champion of brightest light

ne aspel vam; ne aspel vedem                offer truth, offer peace

Sovadün kaitonech.                                     friend of the sky.

In a letter to my aunt last night, I was working on the English translation. Here it is in poetic form.

Eluwend, Stardoom!

shining from the sky

Eluwend from stars,

knowledge is a curse. Why?

My lady and my Captain!

with honor of a mountain

Your knowledge is a virtue,

for now we need your wisdom.

My friend, my honored friend,

of brightest light the champion

offer truth, offer peace

with honor by sky befriended.