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Skellige jargon is the language used in Skellige. It's based on the Elder Speech of Aen Seidhe elves but has undergone many changes to suit the Islanders. For example, questions are formed by adding "ell'ea" at the end of the sentence, in a manner considered impolite in classical Elder Speech.[1]

During the formative centuries, Skelligers had their own runes[2] but apparently adopted the modern alphabet or First Runes at some point later on.[3]

Dictionary[]

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Names Phrases

A[]

Skellige jargon English
aen by
aep of (appears to be just general genitive, not marking solely hereditary ties)
ard high
arse arse

B[]

Skellige jargon English
bloed blood
blota[2] wet

C[]

Skellige jargon English
cuach crazy

D[]

Skellige jargon English
dottir daughter
drakkar longship

G[]

Skellige jargon English
geas oath, curse (geis is a magical obligation/prohibition in Irish mythology. Also; geas, geasa)
glaeddyv sword

H[]

Skellige jargon English
havfrue mermaid
himmel[2] sky

K[]

Skellige jargon English
kaarl[2] man
kaer fortress, castle, keep, watchtower
kelpie kelpie
konung[4][2] king
krig[5] war

L[]

Skellige jargon English
lionors lioness
lagman[4] chief judge

M[]

Skellige jargon English
mardroeme[2] psilocybe
me my
modron mother
muire sea
mylla[2] soil

N[]

Skellige jargon English
nagl nail

O[]

Skellige jargon English
och and
op up

R[]

Skellige jargon English
rhena queen

S[]

Skellige jargon English
skjald[2] skald, courtly poet
skugga[2] shadow
svarm[2] to swarm
sverd[5] sword

T[]

Skellige jargon English
tirth wild boar
trall[4] slave, prisoner-of-war
trold troll

V[]

Skellige jargon English
vild[2] wild

Y[]

Skellige jargon English
ys of (from below)

Z[]

Skellige jargon English
zvaere to swear

Names[]

Skellige jargon English
Bifrost Rainbow Bridge
Kaer Trolde Trolls' Fortress
Vildkaarl[2] Wildman
Xintra Cintra

Phrases[]

Skellige jargon English
Cuach op arse, ghoul y badraigh mai an cuach... Crazy up the arse, a ghoul of [battle ?], a crazy mother... (meaning of "badraigh" is unknown; it may be based on an Old Norse "bardagi", word for battle or beating)
Aen me Glaeddyv, zvaere a'Bloedgeas, Ard Rhena, Lionors Aep Xintra! By my sword, I swear Blood Oath, the Highest Queen, Lioness of Cintra!
Skugga! Svarm! Vattna halla! Blota himmel, blota mylla, braka och blixtar! Blota himmel! Blota mylla![2] Shadow! Swarm! Water the frost! Wet sky, wet soil, crack and lighten! Wet sky! Wet soil!

Notes[]

  • Apart from using altered words of the Elder Speech, based mainly on Celtic languages, Andrzej Sapkowski's language of the Islanders draws heavily from Norwegian and Danish.
    • In Wiedźmin: Gra Wyobraźni, the language is said to be hard to distinguish from the Nilfgaardian language. This may allude to a minor Dutch influence as the Nilfgaardian is classically full of it.
    • After being asked by a fan, CD PROJEKT RED's narrative designer Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz confirmed Skelligan language used in their games references several different Scandinavian dialects.[6]
    • The storytellers at R. Talsorian Games seconded this in The Witcher Role-Playing Game by stating that Skelligan names − and by extension the jargon − are generally Scandinavian.

References[]

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