The
Methoria Campaign
The Royal History of Methorian
Language
Hai'Dinn | ||||||||||
Old Elven | Faye |
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Old Haddin | High Elven | Old Dwarven | Giant | |||||||
Beni-Human | Human | Haddin | Low Elven | Dwarven | Goblin | Felli | Ogre | |||
Winged Folk | Elvish | Gnome | Bali | Troll | ||||||
Centauri | ||||||||||
Halfling | Orcish | |||||||||
Reptile Man | Insect Man | Kobold |
The history of the languages of Methoria has been a much debated and researched area of study. According to scholars, there were only 4 truly original languages ever spoken in Methoria: Giant, Orcish, Reptile Man, and Insect Man. All others originated in the language of the Holy Ones, Hai'Dinn.
Hai'Dinn
Hai'Dinn -- According to legend and Church scholars, Hai'Dinn is the language spoken by the Ulmartha. It is a language of creation and power. It cannot be contained in a written form, yet supposedly exists as a set of over 1 million symbols in the minds of the Ulmartha. Once a symbol is drawn, it forever changes into something unique and new with power of its own. It is said that a mortal mind cannot conceive the meaning contained in the simplest symbol of Hai'Dinn, but that has not stopped them from trying. Some of these symbols have supposedly been handed down to us by those that were enlightened. One of them is the Trelic Ral, and books have been written on its meaning.
Old Elven (Elven Runes)-- From the language of the Ulmartha, came the first written language of Methoria, Old Elven. The Elves of old created a set of symbolic runes to contain the power and wisdom of Hai'Dinn. The focus was on copying the sounds of the words as spoken to them by the Ulmartha in the early days after creation. Once written the language was forever changed into something new. Although Old Elven is still a language of great power, it is nothing compared to the true Hai'Dinn that exists in the minds of the Ulmartha. The High Elves of Mount Elic guard scrolls of wisdom in Old Elven from the dawn of time written by the hand of the Ancient Ones, including Elic himself. The Ancient Ones never gave the runes another name but always referred to them as Hai'Dinn.
High Elven -- Not long after the Scrolls of Wisdom were written on Mt. Elic, the Grand Mission was revealed to the entire Elven Race. In essence, this commissioned the First Race as stewards of the land, animals, and other intelligent races of Methoria. They were given the mission of protecting and guiding the other races on their path to perfection. It is not known if this commission took place at the time of the First Dawn or at some time before it. According to scriptures, it was "at the time of the second races' sleep." When the other races begin to appear in Methoria, an universal language was used to communicate and teach. This language is now known to us as High Elven. This language also became the vehicle of great works of philosophy and knowledge that were written for every race. Some have attributed the creation of this language to Elic, due to the fact that the oldest works in this Elven language are in his hand, but he never took credit for it. It used an alphabet that was supposedly derived from the Elven Runes, and which is the origin of the many alphabets that included this language help bridge the gap between the mysterious Elven Runes and the modern languages that use the Ralian alphabet.
Old Haddin -- When Ral became the first enlightened Human, he was bestowed with a gift of understanding from the Ulmartha and allowed to view the Scrolls of the Ancient Ones on Mt. Elic. What he saw became part of his very being and upon uniting the 8 tribes of man, he gave Humankind the gift of Old Haddin. Ral used the alphabet of his people (the tribe of Finn), adding 8 new marks of punctuation and attempted also to copy the sounds made by the words of Hai'Dinn. The creation of the language of Ral was in itself a miraculous task. Evidence exists that indicates Old Haddin is in some respects more true to the original Hai'Dinn that even Old Elven. This leads many to conclude that Ral received aid directly from the Ulmartha giving credence to the scripture that states "...bestowed was he with a perfect wisdom from the Holy Ones themselves."
Faye -- The language spoken by the Faye Folk is said by some to more closely resemble Hai'Dinn that even Old Elven. It is also a language of great power and true knowledge of its secrets is believed to be one of the reasons that the Faye seem to exist in a state of immortality. Extensive studies have been done on the spoken language, but have failed to unlock its secrets. It is not known why some words spoken by the Faye can seemingly tap great power, yet when reproduced seem to produce no effects. This has led scholars to link the language to Haddin, the language of magic, and believe it also to be in a perpetual state of evolution. Unlike Haddin, Faye does not exist in a written form. It is purely symbolic and exists only in the mind as does Hai'Dinn. The Faye that do have a need for writing, most often use the Runes of Old Elven. However, the vast majority of the Faye Race are illiterate.