Valinnar

Valinnar is a fictional language and cultural system developed for fantasy settings, notably in novels and role-playing games. It is spoken by the Valinnar, a people described as skilled artisans and astronomers who inhabit the northern highlands of the continent of Eldoria. In-world, Valinnar functions as a marker of identity and tradition, with its own literature, chants, and ceremonial vocabulary.

Linguistically, Valinnar is described as an agglutinative, subject–object–verb language with a rich nominal case system. Core word order is SOV, though some discourse segments may reorder for emphasis. The noun system distinguishes nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, and locative cases, with several directional and relational suffixes. Verbs encode tense, aspect, mood, and evidentiality through affixes and auxiliary constructions. The language features vowel harmony and a modest inventory of consonants, allowing for syllable structures of CV and CVC, with limited clusters. Pronominal system marks inclusive and exclusive forms in the first person plural, and evidentials indicate whether information comes from direct observation or inference.

The Valinnar writing system, historically called the Valinnar script, is a runic-inspired alphabet used on stone, wood, and parchment. Modern renderings in literature employ a standardized orthography, with Latin transliteration as a common bridge for readers.

In-world history traces Valinnar to the Age of Stars, with later standardization during the Reform Epoch. The language reflects Valinnar identity through poetry, astrological charts, and ceremonial speech.

Outside fiction, Valinnar has been discussed in linguistic-worldbuilding guides and appears in tabletop settings such as the Eldoria Campaign.