Quenya is the Elvish language that J.R.R. Tolkien created under that name.
Tolkien based Quenya partly on the sound and structure of Finnish, while also developing it through his own historical-linguistic methods. In his mythology, it is associated especially with the High Elves and the ancient realm of Valinor. The language has a deliberately layered history, with older and later forms appearing in Tolkien’s writings.
Quenya is often confused with Sindarin, another major Elvish language in Tolkien’s legendarium. Sindarin was more widely spoken in Middle-earth during the period described in The Lord of the Rings, while Quenya had a more elevated and ceremonial status. The two languages are related within the fictional history but are not interchangeable.
Tolkien’s language construction was central to his creative process. He frequently developed peoples, histories, and place-names around the sound changes and word relationships of his invented languages, rather than treating language as a decorative feature added after the stories.