In Gondor Quenya was considered a difficult language, distant, like the land of Valinor, and learned only by a few. Sindarin, on the other hand, was called in Gondor the ‘noble tongue’ and was spoken by many: “Sindarin was an acquired polite language {among Humans} and used by those of more pure Númenórean descent, esp. in Minas Tirith, if they wished to be polite,” wrote Tolkien in Letter n° 347.

#tolkien #gondor #sindarin #quenya