Quenya is the language J.R.R. Tolkien created as the language of the Eldar in Valinor.
Tolkien based Quenya’s sound and structure chiefly on Finnish, while also drawing on his broader expertise in historical linguistics. In the mythology, Quenya was associated especially with the High Elves and with the Eldar who had lived in the West. It became a formal, literary, and ceremonial language in later periods.
Quenya is often confused with Sindarin, another major Elvish language in Tolkien’s stories. Sindarin became the more commonly spoken Elvish language among many Elves of Middle-earth, while Quenya retained a high-status or classical role. Tolkien developed both languages extensively, including vocabulary, grammar, sound changes, and historical relationships, rather than treating them as collections of decorative words.