Best Speaker of Elvish in FOTR-SEEDVD

[Iarfirithwen]

OK before everyone shoots me down in flames for not including Legolas, I was trying to go for who said the most in Elvish so we got a better idea, and I thought Haldir and Elrond got a little more to say - just.
Same goes for why Liv IS in there ;)

Okay personally I thought Cate (Galadriel) and Viggo (Aragorm) were probably tops (and hard to choose between) but then Hugo really really impressed me in the Gilraen memorial scene (to my way of thinking the most Elrondy scene in the FOTR-SEEDVD, definitely, for me anyway, Elrond's voice)
I wish we got a chance to hear him speak more Elvish than just that scene.

[Tar-Ancalimë]

can i shoot you down for not including celeborn? i thought he was the best at it... yes, i know, one line, but i really really liked that one line :grin:

in your poll... i have to vote Aragorn, even tho you cant understand him a bit... i just like the way he says it, that's all...



one little note... Cate speaks elvish presentably, but may i draw your attention to the line: Farewell, Frodo Baggins. I give you the light of Eärendil, our most beloved star.Puh-leez! She says "Erendil," and even the most elementary scholar of Sindarin (or anyone who has read Appendix E, for that matter) knows that it ought to be "E-a-rendil"

lol picky, picky Tar ;)

[Lady Ashley]

Aww, my twin! We're very picky, aren't we?

I had to pick Liv, of all those. yes, I know, it's ASHLEY, who HATES Liv, but she did a really good job of speaking in Elvish.

[Sindarin]

I vote for Aragorn, even though Liv did a fantastic job at Elvish as well.

[Catz]

Viggo ofc.......he spoke it like he spoke it every day..........Liv had this sense of speaking a second lanuage....a slight hesitation in the flow of the words that Viggo didnt have.....
:catz:

[Sindarin]

Come to think of it, you are right about that, Catz. Liv did sound like Elvish was her second language.

[Iarfirithwen]

Tar-Ancalimë I did love that scene with Celeborn and really thought it should've been on the original theatrical edition, I mean its only like 15 sec long. It totally changed his character from the dreamy arrival sequence and added urgency and caution to the journey down the river. Definitely one of my favourite new scenes. But I cut it from the poll for length, sorry. If noone votes for Haldir I'd be quite happy to replace Haldir with Celeborn :)

I blame the Eärendil pronounciation problem on the dialect coaches they had :grin: Cates usually a consummate professional :grin: (Cate fan!). Otherwise I thought she sounded quite natural at it during the Lothlorien scenes and I loved the prologue. But being picky with pronounciations is good. slight variations can produce very different meanings, as a friend of mine found out in Thailand, but that's another story lol

Have to agree with Catz. I thought Viggo conveyed emotion naturally in his delivery. Maybe he spoke Elvish to himself when he was off fishing and whatnot lol Liv was qute good but it sounded a little forced to me. Hugo was more natural.

[Undomiel]

I had to say Aragorn because he made it dound so natural-like he was just speaking his native language or something. I'd have to say Liv next. I loved their their conversations together they just sounded so great.

[A! Elbereth]

Aragorn :thumbs:

But I wish Frodo would have said some elvish :(

[Lady Ashley]

well, Frodo KNEW elvish...otherwise he wouldn't have known what Aragorn was singing about!

[Adunauriel]

I too chose Aragorn/Viggo. Like some of you, I think he seemed the most natural at it.. The words just seemed to flow off his tongue... I was saddened not to see Legolas/Orlando. He may have only spoken Elvish a little, but he too spoke it with very little problem... Plus, from him it was just swoonie.......;)

[Iarfirithwen]

Yes but Legolas IS just swoonie standing in the background somewhere. He doesn't need to speak Elvish for that lol So it's hard to tell how extra swoonie Legolas' Elvish is when you compare it against such a high swoonie baseline lol (Iar's scientist inside raises her head briefly).
Anyway, apologies to all fans of the Elvish spoken by Celeborn and Legolas. I only 5 options & I decided to go for length as the deciding factor.

[Adunauriel]

It's ok, and yes.... Legolas is just Swoonie........................................... .........................;) :blush:

[Polly Sandybanks]

I had to choose between Viggo and Cate. In the end I chose Cate because Viggo had more votes. :) But both of them were great.

[Bonos-Girl]

i chose viggo.....he was really natural and spoke it with ease just like i speak english...or maybe i'm not the best example of someone who can speak english well!!!!!!

[Adunauriel]

I liked how in the Documentary, "the Fellowship of the Cast", or one of those beautiful documentaries. Viggo said that speaking elvish in the scenes with Kate made it easier. He said it was because she spoke it so well.... I still vote for Viggo thou, I just thought what he said was so sweet.....;)

[Undomiel]

i love those documentaries. I think the scene between Aragorn and Galadriel is great. All in elvish-FANTASTIC!!! I also thought the scene where Arwen first appears and they are speaking elvish to eachother was very natural. They got a good amount of expression in.

[Wilwarin]

I had to vote for Hugo/Elrond. Hugo has always pronounced the Elvish words right, when ever he says them, not just in his elvish phrases. He says all the Elvish names right too :p I would have to vote Liv next, simply because she always pronounced everything right (I hate it when the Elvish words aren't pronounced right! It really bugs me!) That is one reason I didn't vote for Vigo. I think he mispronounces words more than any of the other cast members! (not including Ian McKellen that is) Plus he's hard to understand. As far as I know the only word Cate said wrong was Ëarendil.

[Iarfirithwen]

Someone voted for Hugo :hooray: I'm excited! Unfortunatley Hugo didn't get my vote but I was torn and I really thought he deserves some. As I said before I was impressed, not that I know how everything should be pronounced, but I was impressed with the delivery. It was simply beautiful. It just seemed to roll of his tongue effortlessly, a little like a lullaby I guess (not quite what i was thinking of but what it reminds me of hasn't come to me just yet), and the rhythm of it rolls around in my head during the day, much as a song does (same for one of Cate's sentences). I really loved the Gilraen memorial scene, its one of my favourites of the new ones (ah hell they all are!).
Thanks Wilwarin for your wisdom with regard to the languages. Now that you've said that I have even more appreciation for Hugo's Elvish. I should spend more time in your forum ~ Bag End:Languages .

[Tar-Ancalimë]

ah, but wil, the one word cate pronounced wrong was her one elvish word in the theatrical cut....now i know thats not her fault, but it does make a strong first impression on me

ps you should go there :grin: wil and isil are amazing! lol

[Adunauriel]

Originally posted by Tar-Ancalimë
ps you should go there :grin: wil and isil are amazing! lol Yes, everyone should... They helped me with the Elvish quote in my siggy........ ;)

[Bonos-Girl]

what does it say?

[Adunauriel]

The quote in my siggy says.... "Live life fully!.... Love Orlando!..";)

[Wilwarin]

Well thank you very much guys! I hope some others vote for Hugo too.

Oh and yes! Please do go visit the Elvish forum. It's been getting a little slow in there lately. :(

[Adunauriel]

Well, as soon as I can think of something else I want, or need translated... I'll be sure to pop over there and let you know....;)

[Lady of the Galadhrim]

I vote on all of them hehe, they all did an amazing wonderful job on their part. <(^_^)>

[Brego]

I think Liv spoke elvish beautifully and i've heard her say on more than 1 occasion how much she loved the language, so i think she's put alot into it :grin:

[ImDaMom]

I'll go with Viggo, only because in the speech Cate has she hesitates between the words Arwen and Undomiel, like it was the beginning of another thought or sentance, and the 2 should flow together. Otherwise, Cate's elvish was truly beautiful (but then, I have to admit I'm partial to Viggo)

[Melian]

I have to go with Viigo also. He is so at home with the language that he even mumbles it. He is sometimes hard to understand, he speaks so fast.

[ImDaMom]

Can I go with viggo??? Please please please :drool:

[Lasgalen]

I'm partial to Cate, but I had to vote for Viggo. His Elvish sounded so natural, like he was a native speaker. In the scene where Aragorn and Legolas argue at Helm's Deep, I thought "How sad, the Man's Elvish sounds better than the Elf's"

[Tar-Ancalimë]

I can't believe I'm defending him but here goes... how natural would you sound whining about how the odds are so against you? he was stressed, and spitting out his words, lacking some control aragorn had (all right not completely defending lol). I thought his elvish was very well done (just saw the movie again today... wow I love it better each time), like the rest of the cast's :)

was re-reading this thread... about the Earendil pronunciation... I think it was the editor's fault, rather than that of cate or the dialect coaches. I mean in the early scenes I'm sure she couldn't get every word right, and so the stupid editing process just left a bad scene in when they should have used a correct one... just my thoughts

[Lasgalen]

I like Legolas, but his Elvish sounded forced.

[Tar-Ancalimë]

yeah I know you do... and I don't like him much but I did like his elvish. It sounded very... sophisticated. of course celeborn's was better *frowns* he really needed a bigger role...

[Elvenwanderer]

I read in a book somewhere that "[Celeborn] doesn't seem exceptionally bright."

The book came out after the movies, and I agree he needed more lines.... but... I voted for Viggo, he seemed like the kind of actor who would go back to the hotel at night and practice his elvish for hourse before he would go to bed. "Man cenich...man cenich.... man cenich..." (forgive spelling mistakes...)

[Lasgalen]

Celeborn is only called dull by people who don't like him (or the actor) in the movie. He was wise in the book.

[Gwaihir]

I think Viggo's Elvish was pretty good. It sounded of wisdom and sorrow, as it should.
The worst Elvish speaker is Arwen, in my opinion. I don't understand why they had to make her voice so raspy and whispering, just to make her seem more wise and beautiful. Apologies to those who disagree.

[Lasgalen]

I do agree with you that Viggo did a good job with Elvish. Even tho I don't care much for the Arwen character in the movie, I do think Liv did a convincing job at speaking Elvish.

[Melian]

Viggo seems so comfortable with the language that sometimes he mumbles elvish. I heard that in the scene where Arwen first meets Frodo, she had to speak her lines in Elvish very fast. They then took that footage and slowed it down to get the effect that they wanted.

[Beleriel]

I chose Elrond. I think he sounds so natural speaking Elvish. It just seemed to be his own language somehow!

[Elvenwanderer]

I thought Celeborn wise in the book too... he just seemed a bit dim in the movie, he should have had some better lines, but then they would have had to nix some other better lines.... oh well. We'll never be happy with everything! lol

[Lasgalen]

I don't think he was dim so much as he just talked too slowly.

[Ereinion]

Originally posted by Lasgalen
I don't think he was dim so much as he just talked too slowly.

MUCH too slowly...lol
I really loved Cate's elvish...She's such a great actress! She made it sound so natural! Craig Parker's elvish was great too!:thumbs:

[Aranel of Mirkwood]

I can't decide.
In extended it's Legolas when he speaks Elvish that sends shivers down my spine.

[Roxanne Elessar]

I think Viggo spoke Elvish just beautifully...Liv comes next. In the extended DVD, it had something about the language, and a little about Viggo and how the instructor said he was, well, I don't remember what, but something like he just learned it so well, and they hadn't even met when he walked up to her and said he came up with a tune to the song of Barren and Luthien, and you could hear him singing it! I just loved it!! :drool:

[Radagast]

I liked the way Cate Blanchett did her elvish, she is a perfect Galadriel.

[Luvara]

I think Viggo was the one who spoke the best elvish; it sounded very natural for him, like if it was just like speaking english...:thumbs:

[Radagast]

He did it good to... of course he did he is a Dane... from Denmark.. like me!