Quenya is the chief language associated with the High Elves in J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium.
Tolkien developed Quenya as an artistic language with a detailed sound system, grammar, and vocabulary. He based much of its aesthetic on Finnish, while also drawing on other linguistic interests. In the mythology, Quenya is linked especially with the Noldor and Vanyar, the Elven peoples connected to Valinor.
Quenya is not the same as Sindarin. Sindarin became the everyday Elvish language of many Elves in Middle-earth, particularly in Beleriand and later regions. Tolkien’s writings describe historical relationships between the languages, rather than presenting them as interchangeable labels.
The name Quenya is also spelled Qenya in some early materials, reflecting Tolkien’s changing ideas. The language appears in names, poems, ceremonial speech, and inscriptions, including the opening words of the Ring verse. Its fictional history is one reason Tolkien’s languages feel connected to real language families.