[< Previous Phrase] Lúthien’s Song

The fifth phrase of Lúthien’s Song (LB/354). Three translations of this phrase are:

• Patrick Wynne: “*to thee I sing, I, the Nightingale” (NTTLS/11)
• David Salo: “*I sing to you, I, Nightingale” (GS/211)
• Bertrand Bellet and Benjamin Babut: “*to thee I sing, Tinúviel myself” (GTLC)

The first word is the 2nd-person-polite pronoun le “thee”, with its use as the indirect object “to thee” implied by its position before the verb, as suggested by Wynne and Salo (NTTLS/10, GS/213). The second word linnon “I sing” is the present 1st-person-singular form of the verb linna- “to sing”. The third word is the first person or reflexive pronoun im¹ “I, myself”. The last word Tinúviel is the other name of the speaker, Lúthien, usually translated “Nightingale”.