Yéni En Gilambion I
or
Years of Star-Speech
A Raiaeran Prayer-Book for the Years of Ainalin
translated from the Elvish Prayers of Hir-Menegil of the Peaks
Translator's Introductory Note
In order to understand this work as a scholar, one must understand the Raiaeran Calendar. In order to engage with this book as a prayerful supplicant of the Star-Gods, however, one does not need any advanced knowledge. As such, errata and miscellanea related to the Raiaeran calendar is included in the Appendices, so as to let those interested in the devotional aspects of this work move immediately into the spiritual jewels that come from practiced engagement with the speech of the divine Stars.
This book is the work of Hir-Menegil, and represents the years of his life spent in dedication to the Star-Gods. Any errors of faith or doctrine contained in this translation are those of the translator, not the divinely inspired devotion of this most holy mystic.
Translator's Preface
For eons, we prayed these years.
On Aurenaneth of Aurienquië in Asta en Aurient in Lissilinyen, we prayed in languages even we had forgotten to Aurient, for healing, for new strength, for the renewed body of the heavens. On Aureada of Galatienquië in Asta en Galatirion in Turlinyen we prayed for redemption, for forgiveness, for the hope of reconciliation, for the purity of our souls and our world. On Rossaurë of Enquiearlon in Asta en Earlon in Enarlinyen our voices lamented the hardened rain and our splintered communities. These were just three of our seven holidays; there were years for each of the star-gods and their musics, and each of those years we would exult the different aspects of the faith which gave rhythms to our lives. And they set us apart; the words themselves were in our own tongue, only the most learned among men could understand us when we spoke of Glîaurë of Arddunwenquië in Asta en Arddunwë in Aglarlinyen, of Araukarë of Enquiaryë in Asta en Cuaryë in Ostlinyen, or of Aurisil of Megenquillion in Asta en Megillion in Dagorlinyen. Our culture was ours, and we were steeped in its prayers as much as we were steeped in anything else. Its rhythms, its calendars, its gods, they belonged to us, we did not need to speak of them to anyone else. We did not even need to make the words understandable to those of the world beyond our shores who visited us. There was no need.
In his travels through this world and in worlds beyond our own, Hir-Menegil came across a book. In it, there was a poem that spoke to him, for he reported it said, "How can we sing the songs of God in a strange land?" When Hir-Menegil reported these words to me, I wept, for this is the state of life my people find themselves in today. Our homeland lies in ruins, our once valiant garrison of Valinatal a blasted ruin, our wayposts of Carnelost and our port of Trenycë smoking ruins. Barely a stone is on top of each other in the fabled city of Eluriand, save for an embattled remnant. And our people are scattered across the face of the earth. We are indeed in a strange land, and the songs of our people, once as much a fabric of our lives as breathing, are only for a generation. The languages of our most holy Ainelenari, known to the humans as Star-Gods, may not last much longer.
We cannot last as a people if we do not change, and so I present this small volume as a reflection and a summons to the people of Raiaera. Our gods are fading with our languages. And so I set out this prayer-book to the Raiaeran Star-Gods, and I set it forth not in the high and noblest tongues of our ancestors, but in the simpler vernacular of the common tradeperson. This may be, more and more, the language of the children of the elves.
These are the prayers I have prayed for these many years. Some Hir-Menegil himself did not write, but drew them directly from the holy deposit of faith laid up by the Brothers of the Peaks. Others he originated; still others may have provenance so ancient we can never know. It is my hope that the translation of this work will provide new readers with the same insights and revelations of divine love and protection it has provided me over the years.
This is not the entirety of Hir-Menegil's work. Raiaera has seven star-gods, and each year's calendar of prayers and remembrances follows a specific of our deities. This is merely the section translated into common tradespeak. I have selected this section for translation for a reason.
Our first month is dedicated to Selana; the first week of every month is also hers. Still again, the first day of the week resides under her protection. As such, Selana's High Holiday occurs on the First Day of the First Week of the First Month. She inaugurates our year, as the cold snows of winter finally begin to lessen, as the earth remembers that it was born to growth and renewal. It is my own prayer that translating this volume into the vernacular will be a similar rebirth and renewal of our hearts, our hopes, our voices.
Selana is also the Star-God we associate with memory. Selana's prayer as our race began was that we would not forget who we were, who we are, who we will be. I hope that this booklet of prayer will stir our memories again, remind the roots buried deep in our people that it is time to grow once more.
And so I present this book. Where once we might have said, "Ve Aurenath en Selanquië mii Asta en Selana mii Ainalinyen, enyala enyalië." I say instead, "On Youngsday of Selana's Week, in Selana's Month, in the Year of the Holy Song, we celebrate our memories." Whether you are a young elf unconnected to the faith of your parents, an aged elf seeking to remind yourself of the faith you practiced before driven from your homeland, or a respectful soul of any race seeking to learn what we elves have held as wisdom since our first flowering in this world, I pray that this book will enlighten your memory and prepare your heart for the receipt of wisdom.
((The following will be edited heavily and moved to the end when the body of this thread is completed))
CONCLUSION
With the recent troubles in Raiaera being what they are, many of the core texts of the liturgical and religious cycle of Raiaeran elves are in danger of being lost to history. The great library of Anebrilith may be smaller than the library of Ettermire, but its storehouse of texts of Elvish culture and history is unparalleled. Having been in both on many occasions, I can personally vouch that the danger threatening Anebrilith threatens not only the lives and futures of the living souls within those walls, but also the cultural deposit and heritage many now face.
Many of these texts were originally written in obscure and ancient modes of Raiaeran known only to the learned among humans. While elves live long enough that most learn something of these ancient languages in the course of their lifetimes, to most humans the knowledge of these venerable tomes of the Elvish religion is largely absent. This is a shame, as the holy illumination available to those who read and study these texts is the repository and treasure of all things living, not merely those elves who hold them most dear.
And so I have endeavored to provide the first translation into the common language of the tradespeople of one of these texts. It is beyond my capabilities, at present, to present a more complete translation of the greatest work of the elves, the massive (and often fragmentary) collection known as Tel Aina Parma. And so I have set my ambitions slightly lower, on the Yéni En Gilambion. This is a prayer-book, read by many generations of elves, which focuses on the year of the elvish calendar. While the calendar is known by many outside elvish communities, it is my hope that providing this work in a more common vernacular will enlighten others as to the religious and holy meaning the average Raiaeran reads into these calendrical moments.
The form of the book takes one didactic text from Tel Aina Parma for each month of the Elvish year, using that text as a heading to govern the readings for the rest of the weeks of that month. Individually, each week is introduced by a psalm from Tel Aina Parma, meant to be read daily before each devotion. The psalm may be read privately or, when a community of worship has gathered, in the form of call-and-response, noted in this text by alternation of unmarked and bold print. Each day then contains two prayers, one for daybreak, noon, and sunset, as well as citations for further readings in Tel Aina Parma to be read at mid-morning, noonday, mid-afternoon, and midnight.
The three festival weeks of the Elvish calendar, set in spring, summer, and fall, have a similar set-up, with a didactic reading, a psalm, and daily devotional apparatus. A similar procedure is also in evidence for Ainelenaurë, the High Holy Day of the calendar, and Aurenar, the "leap-year" holiday held every fourth year, the Year of Enarlin.
Notably, there is a seven-year cycle for this text, each of the seven years corresponding to one of the seven primary musical schools of Elvish magic. Each year contains a different set of readings entirely; for our purposes, the translation that follows adheres only to Cycle I, the readings associated most closely with the school of Ainalin and the Ainelenar Selana. This school, meaning "Holy Song," and this star-god, associated with memory and the holiness of star-music itself, is the most appropriate for our cycle. Other works may be forthcoming, as reception of this one allows.
Approach this text with whatever you bring to it. Some, especially elvish readers scattered by the recent troubles, maybe children too young to have learned the old tongues yet, may find in it the culture and faith of your fathers and mothers. Those of you who worship other gods may find surprising points of agreement, or disagreement, with your own faiths in these pages. Still others of you may be purely practical on the matter, seeing it as nothing more than an object of anthropological curiosity.
Whatever your approach to this ancient text of Raiaeran wisdom, it is my sincere hope that its translation will illuminate your mind with something of divine wisdom. Our world has seen its share of violence in recent worlds, but the religion of the ancient elves may have its part to play yet in the attempt to rebuild the broken bodies and buildings of our race and the shattered spaces in our souls. I leave you to read this work in peace, at your leisure, with the fervent prayer that its release into the world will do some good.
((This is a work in serious progress. All the posts in this thread will be edited, most likely repeatedly, and will take drastically different form as the project proceeds.))
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