The One Ring Inscription
The only example of "pure" Black Speech is the inscription upon the One Ring:
- Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
- ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.
When translated into English, these words form the lines:
- One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
- One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
These are the first two lines from the end of a verse about the Rings of Power. This corresponds to the following table as explained by J.R.R. Tolkien.
| Black Speech | English |
|---|---|
| ash | one |
| nazg | finger ring |
| durb- | constrain, force, dominate |
| at | verb ending, like a participle |
| ulûk | verbal ending expressing object 3rd person pl. "them" (ul) (sic) in completive or total form "them-all". |
| gimb- | seek out, discover |
| thrak- | bring by force, hale, drag |
| agh | and |
| burzum | darkness |
| ishi | in, inside |
| krimp- | bind, tie |
Read more about this topic: Black Speech
Famous quotes containing the words ring and/or inscription:
“But whatever happens, wherever the scene is laid, somebody, somewhere, will quietly set out—somebody has already set out, somebody still rather far away is buying a ticket, is boarding a bus, a ship, a plane, has landed, is walking toward a million photographers, and presently he will ring at my door—a bigger, more respectable, more competent Gradus.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“In the graveyard, which was crowded with graves, and overrun with weeds, I noticed an inscription in Indian, painted on a wooden grave-board. There was a large wooden cross on the island.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)