Celeborn : Seleborn or Keleborn ?

[Elfhelm25]

Ive always thought of Celeborn, Celegorm etc. as Seleborn, Selegorm. Reading through Silmarillion, I discovered it is actually Kelegorm, Keleborn. Anyone else discover that ? It changes the picture in my mind of them completly with that little pronounciation difference.

[Anamatar IV]

Try saying Serdan for two years before reading the appendixes and finding out it's really keardan. But you get used to saying all the c's with k's.

[BlackCaptain]

All names in ME that begin with C are pronounced like a K.

Cirith Ungol = Kirith Ungol
Celeborn = Keleborn
Cirdain - Kirdain
Cair Andros - Kair Andros
Ceorl - Keorl
Crebain - Krebain
Celebrant - Kelebrant
Cirith Gorgor - Kirith Gorgor

And so on

[Celebithil]

I guess I was one of the lucky ones who always thought that it was a "K" sound.

[FrankSinatra]

I always went for the 'S' until i heard the BBC radio dramatisation.

'Keleborn' it is then!

[Elfhelm25]

Too many ! I thought they were ALL with S's !
My whole Tolkien world is going to change in my mind. Kirith Ungol cannot possibly be the same as Sirith Ungol...
I hope I survive the change ;)

[Maeglin]

I've known that its supposed to be pronounced with a K for a few years now, but it annoys me so I ignore it and say the C's as S's, and Celebithil I would like to inform you that you have the greates avatar the world has ever seen!!! Yankees Suck!!!!:D :cool:

[33Peregrin]

I think for the first few pages of Celeborn I thought it was "Seleborn", but soon just changed it in my head. It was weird, but my head was right. Then I later got to Cirith Ungol, and thought it was "Sirith". That was bad, but when I learned it was Cirith, it was easy to change. I'm reading Cirith Ungol again right now, and can't imagine ever saying Sirith. It sounds strange. For all the rest, I always thought K.:)

[olorin the maia]

Took me awhile (no pun intended):rolleyes: to get the pronunciation correct. The appendix in ROTK helps, and a better guide is in UT. Now the K for C just seems right and natural....no doubt as the Author intended. I didn't really pay close attention until I was reading the Tale aloud to my kids. Then it became more important to get it right, in deference to the Author, if not for personal preference.

[Valawen]

I used to pronounced either S or K depending on which sounds good with the rest of the letters. Like, Sirith Ungol, Seleborn, Kirdain, Kair Andros, Keorl, Krebain, Selebrant, Sirith Gorgor. And got myself all confused. Still confused now. I'm too used to my method. :p

[Elendil3119]

I also was one of the unfortunate ones who said "Seleborn" for a LONG time. But when I read the appendices, I realized my error.;) Now I enjoy correcting my friends, and seeing the shocked expression on their faces when they hear my say "Keleborn", and "Kirith Ungol". :cool: :D

--Elendil3119--

[Ithrynluin]

As a child, I watched Bakshi's LOTR and I pronounced it "Seleborn" and I pronounced the "au" in Sauron like "o" so "Soron" because that's how they did it in that cartoon. Years later, when I obtained the books, I learned the correct pronunciation. I had a very hard time getting used to it at first, but you get used to it eventually.

[Bergile]

I think the soft C sounds more elvish and the hard C seems more mannish.

[Maeglin]

Where in the world did you ever hear all of that stuff?!

[Anamatar IV]

Which website? The Tolkien Sarcasm page?:rolleyes:

I still have not fully converted to the k's. I still say , Siriol, Sirith Ungol, Celegorm, and all those things.

[Bombadillo]

i also say seleborn and all those things, the only broblem is that i don't even understand some of the things said on this forum on pronounctiation, cause my english isn't very good, sometimes someone says is it pronounced this way or that way, and i can't hear a difference in pronounctation.... (shame)

[Niniel]

In Appendix E it says that all C's are supposed to be pronounced as K, so it should be Keleborn. But in Dutch it is natural to pronounce C as S in many cases, so I say Seleborn most of the time.

[Goldberry]

Years ago, a friend, who read LoTR many more times than I, told me about the K pronunciations. He explained that JRRT used the Celtic sound for C. Up until then, I had been reading it with the S sound for C.

[Gothmog]

I have deleted some off topic posts on this threads. I you would like edit your posts to remove the references to these it will tidy up the thread. :)

[Tinuvien21]

It's pronounced Keleborn. Because in the back of one of the books it said that all names that start with C are pronounced like a K.

[Lantarion]

Originally posted by Bergile
I think the soft C sounds more elvish and the hard C seems more mannish.
It's obviously a matter of opinion, but I happen to both agree and disagree. If you think about it, the name Celeborn is, after all, Sindarin (better than the Quenya Teleporno, I think!), and should be pronounced and thought of as Sindarin; not as English! If the name were of English origin, the name would obviously be pronounced as an 's'. But if thuoght of as an Elvish word, Celeborn would sound silly if said with an 's'. the 'k' is much more appropriate.
And as for the 'Mannish' sound, I might agree with you if more "uncouth" letters like 'g', 'j' or 'ch' were included in the name. But in many words, such as the Khazad word khelek for 'glass', the 'k' is not only appropriate but adds to the effect that the word portrays.

[Sam_Gamgee]

i alwasy thought cirith.......was sirith.........like in cirith ungol thats wierd to think its kirith..........but i knew of the other ones

[Lasgalen]

I somehow always thought of Cirdan as a K. Celeborn, Celebrian etc on the other hand I originally thought of as a S until I read the appendix. That took some getting used to. At least I got them right in the Sil!

-Lasgalen

[elf boy]

I always thought of it as Seleborn and Sirith Ungol. Maybe I'm wrong (and apparently I am), but I read the books three times thinking that so i'm just gonna go on thinking that way! ;)