LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The idea of creating a completely new language for a fantasy world is not new to the genre at all. From the language of elves by JRR Tolkien to something as fun and silly as the language of 'Minions', constructed languages are a central part of fantasy world-building. While other-worldly locations, characters, appearances, races, and social dynamics are usually greatly focused on in fantasy media, language plays just as much of a significant role here.
‘The Witcher’ is one of the many pieces of television writing that has its own constructed languages that are unique to the world it is set in. With the involvement of fantastical creatures, the series also employs an interesting constructed language. While the original text, ie, the book series, uses the “actual” version of the language, the TV adaptation makes certain modifications to it.
Who created the Elder Speech?
The writer of the original ‘The Witcher’ series, Andrzej Sapkowski, is behind the creation of the Elder Speech. Like most constructed languages, Sapkowski brought together existing languages to form the foundation of the language. In the process, the Celtic language, which is often used to add flair to fantasy worlds, came in handy for the Polish writer.
Sapkowski also used other European languages to create verbs and vocabulary. These ranged from German, Latin, Italian, and of course, English.
The Elder Speech is used by the elven communities of Aen Seidhe and Aen Elle with different variations according to the smaller communities, and their cultural, geographical, and economic differences. So, while the speech is essentially “one speech”, like any other language in our real world, it also assumes various forms for a more (ironically) realistic usage.
How did the show use the Elder Speech?
The TV adaptation had to make significant changes while transferring the text to the screen. This was to the point that linguist David J Peterson had to completely recreate the language to fit the usage of TV dialogue, according to IGN. Peterson had previously worked with constructed languages on ‘Game of Thrones’, amongst many other fantasy-fiction media.
The modifications to the speech were necessary since the language from the books was not fit for general spoken usage. The TV Elder Speech was absolutely faithful to the one created by Sapkowski and Peterson largely modified its structural form to make it sound more appropriate for daily usage. A major advantage of Peterson’s contribution to the Elder Speech was how it became a lot more accessible not only for viewers to enjoy the show but also for die-hard fans to learn and become one with the fantasy world.
