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:
“Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“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)