Christmas may not be here for another few months but we thought we’d treat you, our readers, with a little early Christmas gift this year. That said, how about a movie special? We’re talking Christmas Chronicles and its Elvish Language!
We can safely say that movies about the Christmas holiday rarely disappoint, and not excluded from this is the Christmas Chronicles film series. However, aside from the wholesome family fun and laughter these films bring to the big screen, we couldn’t help but notice the peculiar languages used throughout the film.
If you’ve watched Christmas Chronicles we’re sure you’ll be interested to see what we’ve unearthed about the Elvish language used. So, grab your favorite beverage and or snack, sit back, relax and let’s explore the beauty that is the Elvish language and what makes it so captivating for us language lovers.
The Christmas Chronicles 1
When Kate, one of the main characters of the film sought assistance following Santa’s incarceration, the tiny elves made their first big appearance in The Christmas Chronicles. She was magically transported to the North Pole after crawling into Santa’s luggage. It was at this point that Kate discovered these tiny creatures who we also call Santa’s helpers.
The Elvish language created and spoken in this film was invented by conlanger, David J. Peterson. He has created several other languages including the very popular Dothraki and High Valyrian languages used in Game of Thrones.
When the first Christmas Chronicles aired on Netflix in 2018, the language spoken by the elves and Santa was classified as Yulish in nature by Peterson. It was defined as being non-past tense in nature,with inflected nouns for definiteness along with a drop in intonation when stressing syllables in its words.
Peterson created the Elvish Language to be the official language of Santa Claus and the elves that lived in the North Pole. The Elvish language has now been updated for the sequel, which features Elvish even more extensively than in the original Christmas Chronicles film.
Christmas Chronicles 2
Of course, the adventure didn’t end with the Christmas Chronicles 1, the sequel featured even more excitement and, you guessed it, adventure. The film which was released in 2020 features Belsnickel, a mischievous elf who transports Jack and Kate to the North pole when they run away from home.
When Belsnickel raises trouble by attempting to ruin Christmas, things take a turn for the worse.
All hope was not lost at this point however, because Kate is able to speak Elvish because of her previous encounter with the Elves from Christmas Chronicles 1. In the film franchise, Elvish sounded like a combination of Nordic languages.
This makes sense given that the most renowned Santa legend originates in the Nordic areas. Not only did the sequel flesh out its own Santa background, but it also included the legend of Belsnickel. Interestingly, Santa and Belsnickel both proved to be fluent in English and Elvish.
The Man Behind the Invention of the Elvish Language
David J. Peterson is a man of many languages. He has two degrees in linguistics and speaks eight languages including Arabic and Russian. However, aside from his expertise in real-life languages, Peterson is a master inventor of fictional ones.
He has successfully crafted languages of his own that contain complete alphabets and extensive grammar and vocabulary. If you watched Game of Thrones then you’d know just how raw and realistic Dothraki and High Valyrian are.
Peterson also created Shiväisith, a fictional language used for the Marvel movie Thor: The Dark World. He has also worked on languages for several other TV shows including Penny Dreadful, The Witcher, Lovecraft Country, The CW’s The 100, and MTV’s The Shannara Chronicles.
The Elvish language we hear in Christmas Chronicles 1 and 2 is often compared to and described as a stark contrast to Elvish (Quenya language) spoken in Lord of the Rings. Qenya is viewed as a primitive form of Elvish with sound patterns influenced by ancient Greek, German and Latin languages.
Fans of the Christmas Chronicles claim the Elvish language added depth and realism to the storyline and made the characters more believable than if they spoke strictly English. It’s fascinating that a fictional language adds more range and intensity to a film and its characters.
Time to Wrap Up
If you haven’t watched The Christmas Chronicles series before, this is your sign to watch it! Pay keen attention to the use of Elvish. Fictional languages used in films, plays, or books, hold the immense power of telling you the stories of people and their ideals and cultures.
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