Á mapa aure

"The Best of Times" in Quenya

By Findegil / Björn Fromén

Lúron ammára sí,
tuilello lemba lotse equélie;
lúron ammára sí,
man ista pá nuóra ré, i ré, i ré?
A himya sillume,
na cuilen, melmen quante poldori,
á tyares termare,
an lúmion ammára sí, ná sí, ná sí!

Sí - ar lá i yáre úrénima.
Sí - nuóra ré vahaiya ná.
A himya sillume,
na cuilen, melmen quante poldori,
á tyares termare,
an lúmion ammára sí, ná sí, ná sí!

Literal translation

Carpe diem!
Of times [the] best [is] now,
from spring [the] small flower left behind has faded;
of times [the] best [is] now,
who knows about [the] day to be, the day, the day?
Stick to this hour,
[let there] be for life, for love full powers,
make it last,
for of hours [the] best [is] now, is now, is now.

Now - and not the former days unmemorable.
Now - [the] day to be is far away.
Stick to this hour,
[let there] be for life, for love full powers,
make it last,
for of hours [the] best [is] now, is now, is now.

Glossary

a or á the imperative particle

mapa- 'grasp, seize'

aure 'daylight, day'

*lúron genitive plural of lú 'time, occasion'

*ammára from an-, the superlative prefix, and mára 'good'

sí 'now'

*tuilello ablative singular of tuile 'spring-time'

lemba 'left behind, remaining'

lotse '(small) flower'

*equélie perfect tense of quel- ‘fade, wane'

man interogative pronoun 'who'

ista 'knows'

pá preposition 'as regards, concerning' (VT 44, p.26)

nuóra adjective 'tomorrow's, to be' (PE 12, p.66). It is related to nó 'after (of time)', an element that still appears in a preliminary version of LR Appendix D (PM, p.135).

ré 'day'; nuóra ré 'day to be, tomorrow'

himya 'stick to, abide by'

sillume 'this hour' (VT 44, p.35)

na imperative of na- 'to be' (VT 43, p.14)

cuile 'life'

melme 'love'

-n in *cuilen and *melmen is the marker of the short allative (dative)

quante plural of quanta 'full'

*poldori plural of poldore *'strength, physical power'

tyar- 'to cause, do'

-s pronominal suffix 'it'

ter-mar- 'abide permanently, stand, last'

an conjunction 'for'

*lúmion genitive plural of lúme 'hour'

ná 'is'

ar 'and'

lá 'not'

yáre 'former days'

*ú-rén-ima 'un-memor-able', (from *réne, Sindarin -rín 'remembrance' [PM, p.372], cf únótima 'uncountable, numberless' from nóte 'number')

vahaiya '(very) far away'

Original lyrics (from La Cage aux Folles by Jerry Herman)

The best of times is now
What's left of summer but a faded rose
The best of times is now
As for tomorrow well, who knows, who knows, who knows?
So hold this moment fast
And live and love as hard as you know how
And make this moment last
Because the best of times is now, is now, is now!

Now - not some forgotten yesterday
Now - tomorrow is too far away
So hold this moment fast
And live and love as hard as you know how
And make this moment last
Because the best of times is now, is now, is now!

A note for the singer
The tune necessitates elision of the final e's in lots(e) [line 2] and yár(e) [line 9].