Quenya is the fictional Elvish language Tolkien developed as a High-elven language. It is one of the best-known languages in his legendarium and appears in names, poems, songs, and formal speech.
Tolkien based Quenya’s sound and structure partly on languages he studied, especially Finnish, Latin, and Greek. Within the fictional history of Middle-earth, Quenya developed from an earlier Elvish language and was associated particularly with the Elves of Valinor.
Quenya is often confused with Sindarin, another major Elvish language in Tolkien’s writings. Sindarin was more commonly spoken by Elves in Middle-earth, while Quenya had a more formal, literary, or ceremonial role. Tolkien treated his invented languages as historical systems with related stages and dialects.