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Atta unsar
English
Gothic
Manuscript

𐌰𐍄𐍄𐌰 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌰𐍂 𐌸𐌿 𐍋𐌽 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌼,
Atta unsar þu in himinam,
Our Father, who art in Heaven,
𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌹 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽,
weihnai namo þein,
hallowed be Thy Name.
𐌵𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌹 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌹𐌽𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌿𐍃 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃,
qimai þiudinassus þeins,
Thy Kingdom come,
𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌹 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃,
wairþai wilja þeins,
Thy Will be done,
𐍃𐍅𐌴 𐍋𐌽 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐌰 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌰𐌽𐌰 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌹.
swe in himina jah ana airþai.
on Earth, as it is in Heaven.
𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌽𐌰 𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌰 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌽 𐌲𐌹𐍆 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌼𐌰 𐌳𐌰𐌲𐌰,
Hlaif unsarana þana sinteinan gif uns himma daga,
Give us this day our daily bread,
𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌰𐍆𐌻𐌴𐍄 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌴𐌹 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌽𐍃 𐍃𐌹𐌾𐌰𐌹𐌼𐌰,
jah aflet uns þatei skulans sijaima,
and forgive us our trespasses,
𐍃𐍅𐌰𐍃𐍅𐌴 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 𐌰𐍆𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌼 𐌸𐌰𐌹𐌼 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌼 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌼,
swaswe jah weis afletam þaim skulam unsaraim,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌽𐌹 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍃 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐍋𐌽 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌿𐌱𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌹,
jah ni briggais uns in fraistubnjai,
And lead us not into temptation,
𐌰𐌺 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌴𐌹 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌰𐍆 𐌸𐌰𐌼𐌼𐌰 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌻𐌹𐌽.
ak lausei uns af þamma ubilin.
but deliver us from evil.



𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌴 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰 𐍋𐍃𐍄 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌹
Unte þeina ist þiudangardi
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍅𐌿𐌻𐌸𐌿𐍃 𐍋𐌽 𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌹𐌽𐍃.
jah mahts jah wulþus in aiwins.
and the glory, for ever and ever.



𐌰𐌼𐌴𐌽.
Amen.
Amen.

Commentary
We know this Gothic version of the Lord’s Prayer from the surviving fragments of the Gothic translation of the Bible made by Wulfila in the 4th century.

The translation is the traditional English version of the Lord’s Prayer from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, still used by the Catholic Church – with the final doxology not included into the prayer, but used afterwards as a liturgical element during the Mass. This must have been the version familiar to Tolkien.

The value of the spellings ai and au is debated: some scholars consider that everywhere they denote open varieties of e and o, long or short, while others assign them at times these values, at times the value of diphthongs, on etymological criteria. The first of these positions has been adopted here.

The fifth petition is expressed differently in Gothic and English. The Gothic version follows the gospel of Matthew and literally reads “Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.” The current English versions speaking of trespasses rather follow the gospel of Luke.

The text is transcribed in the Gothic alphabet invented by Wulfila. We made use of George Douros’ typeface Analecta.  Open this mode in Glaemscribe

References
Olteanu, Michael. Convent of Pater Noster: The Lord’s Prayer in 1817 languages and dialects. Christus Rex et Redemptor Mundi, 1995-2014. 🌍 Internet Archive.
Rosary Prayers in Different Languages. 🌍 Mary’s Rosaries.

The works of John Ronald Reuel and Christopher Tolkien are under the copyright of their authors and/or rights holders, including their publishers and the Tolkien Estate.
Quotations from other authors, editors and translators mentioned in the bibliography are under the copyright of their publishers, except for those whose copyright term has ended.
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