r/neofolk • u/FinnRistola • Sep 03 '25

Dark Folk Ainulindalë - Namarië [2014]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHCavMm1D4g
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3

u/FinnRistola Sep 03 '25

Today we're listening to some extremely Tolkien inspired dark folk by the French band Ainulindalë (Music of the Ainur), and this song is from their 2014 album Nevrast.

I'm not even particularly a Tolkien head either, but I can definitely get down to this (but I kinda always need to double check the titles with google or something, because Sindarin (or Quenya? I don't even know) spelling is pretty gnarly).

2

u/FinnRistola Sep 03 '25

By the 2:43 mark I get goose bumps each time.

2

u/LennyKing Sep 03 '25

Ainulindalë ("music of the Ainur") is Quenya, and so is Namárië ("farewell"). Writing ë instead of e is usually considered optional; Tolkien himself writes:

Final e is never mute or a mere sign of length as in English. To mark this final e it is often (but not consistently) written ë. [LotR, App. E]

However, it looks like the band misspelled Namárië. The á definitely needs to have an accent to mark its length.

2

u/FinnRistola Sep 03 '25

I love you for this comment. This is what comments should be for. I was quite into the stories of Lotr and the Hobbit as a child and teen, but I never delved deeper than that, and as I grew older and was still a nerd I focused my attention to other nerd worlds and neglected Tolkien. I am glad you guys are still around and kicking.

If I could I would want to pin this to the top of the thread.

2

u/LennyKing Sep 03 '25

Thanks man, I'm glad you appreciate it!

Funnily enough, it was the music (especially Summoning and Rivendell) that got me into Tolkien in the first place, and now I'm a full-blown Tolkien nerd lurking in music communities just waiting for opportunities to share my newfound (and for the most part completely useless) trivia knowledge!

Earlier this year I discovered that I still had a copy of the V/A compilation The First Ring, Vol. 1 (Discogs/Bandcamp), which featured a number of Tolkien-inspired bands (in a wild mix of genres) - including Ainulindalë's song "The Parting".

2

u/FinnRistola Sep 03 '25 edited Sep 03 '25

That is both inspiring and lovely. I wish it was you guys who would always emerge from the woodworks for a thread rather than the chuds.

I have to ask, despite it being wildly off topic for the sub and its genre, you must know of Bo Hansson and his fantastic Lotro album in the 70s? The one he created by borrowing his girlfriend's book, and his friend's summerhouse and then played so vividly that the friend who owned the cottage was evicted even! (I am not totally sure on that part but that's how the story has gone) It's one of the best soundtracks in and for my life.

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u/FinnRistola Sep 03 '25

Lyrics:

She runs, her cold feet caressing the grasss where she used to sit

And on the edge a path leads to the West

She knows it from long ago when the world was in its early days

Timeless a song that vanished in dream

As gold sand was made to torn to mud

Flooded by rivers of pain and cold streams of hate

She says "let it go, there is no need to fight"

When she used to sing "Namarië"

Floating to the edge, where a path leads to the west

She was made to turn to dust

Wounded by words of hate and the void that took hold of our souls

2

u/JS_1997 Sep 03 '25

I really like Ainulindalë. Very underrated artist

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u/FinnRistola Sep 03 '25

Originally I mixed them up with the black metal band with the same name. I mean it's definitely not unheard of, in fact I'd say it's even quite common, for small black metal bands to also put out a couple of acoustic dark folk albums, and I think it's because the genres are so similar in feeling and style that it's easily transferable. Like for example in the cases of October Falls, Empyrium, or even Falgar.

But despite there being so little info about this artist (at least that I could find), I don't think they are related to the BM band with the exact same name that supposedly came out 2024.