Quenya is the language associated with the High Elves in J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium.
Tolkien based much of Quenya’s sound and structure on Finnish, while also drawing on his broader interest in historical linguistics. Within the mythology, it developed from the speech of the Elves who travelled to Valinor and became a prestigious, literary language.
Quenya is not the same as Sindarin. Sindarin became the everyday Elvish language of many Elves in Middle-earth, whereas Quenya often carried a formal, ceremonial, or ancient status. Tolkien created vocabulary, grammar, and sound patterns for both languages, rather than merely inventing lists of names.
Readers sometimes describe Quenya as simply “the Elvish language,” but Tolkien’s world contains several Elvish tongues. Other constructed languages include Telerin and the secretive speech of the Valar. Quenya’s best-known phrases include “Elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo,” used as a traditional greeting.