J.R.R. Tolkien created Quenya with Finnish as its principal linguistic inspiration.
Quenya is one of Tolkien’s Elvish languages and is associated especially with the High Elves. Tolkien’s interest in Finnish developed after he encountered the language through the national epic Kalevala. Finnish grammar and sound patterns strongly influenced his early construction of Quenya, although the fictional language is not simply Finnish with different vocabulary.
Tolkien also drew on other languages when developing his invented tongues. Welsh influenced the sound and style of Sindarin, while Latin and Greek contributed ideas in some areas of his linguistic work. He treated language creation as a central artistic activity rather than as a decorative addition to his stories.
Quenya appears in names, poems, inscriptions, and formal speech across Tolkien’s legendarium. Its relationship to Finnish is therefore an important part of both Tolkien’s literary method and the history of modern constructed languages.