Wheel of Time Old Tongue translator
The Wheel of Time is a series of high fantasy novels by American author Robert Jordan, with Brandon Sanderson as a co-author for the final three novels. The Old Tongue is a now-dead language in the Wheel of Time universe, once common parlance in the Age of Legends, but now spoken only by scholars and certain nobles, and not perfectly by either of those. Its structure and meaning are shaded so that a single phrase can have many different meanings, depending on context. Our Wheel of Time translator takes plain English and converts it to Wheel of time old tongue.
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What Is the Old Tongue?
The Old Tongue is the ancient language of the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan, used in the Age of Legends — the golden era of civilisation preceding the Breaking of the World. In the series' present day, the Old Tongue is a dead language: known in fragments by scholars, Aes Sedai, and the nobility, but no longer spoken as a living tongue by any nation. It functions similarly to Latin in medieval European culture — a prestige language of learning, ceremony, and tradition whose phrases and titles persist long after its daily use has ended.
The Old Tongue appears throughout the series in names, battle cries, titles, and sayings. Characters with ancient connections — Ogier, Aes Sedai, Warders — use Old Tongue phrases and names. The language is characterised by its multi-syllabic flow, specific grammatical structures, and a phonology that sounds ancient and ceremonial to English ears. Robert Jordan developed it with internal consistency, and dedicated fans have reconstructed considerable vocabulary and grammar from passages scattered across the fourteen main volumes.
Robert Jordan and the Wheel of Time
Robert Jordan (James Oliver Rigney Jr., 1948–2007) began the Wheel of Time series in 1990 with The Eye of the World. He drew on mythologies from around the world — Arthurian legend, Norse mythology, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism — weaving them into an epic fantasy world that spans fourteen main volumes plus a prequel novella. The series follows Rand al'Thor, a young shepherd who discovers he is the Dragon Reborn — the prophesied figure destined to either save the world from the Dark One or destroy it.
Jordan died in 2007 before completing the final volume, having left extensive notes. Brandon Sanderson completed the series in three volumes (2009–2013) from Jordan's notes, maintaining the Old Tongue and other linguistic elements Jordan had established. The series has sold over 90 million copies worldwide and was adapted into a television series by Amazon Prime Video beginning in 2021. The Old Tongue remains one of the most developed constructed languages in epic fantasy, alongside Tolkien's Elvish and Martin's High Valyrian.
Old Tongue Words and Phrases
Common Old Tongue vocabulary from the Wheel of Time:
| Old Tongue | English |
|---|---|
| Tai'shar | True blood of (honorific) |
| Al'Thor | Of the Two Rivers (name element) |
| Saidin / Saidar | Male/female half of the One Power |
| Treesinger | Ogier ability to communicate with trees |
| Aes Sedai | Servants of All (channelers) |
| Carai an Caldazar | For the honor of the Red Eagle |
| Dovie'andi se tovya sagain | It's time to toss the dice |
Constructed Languages in Fantasy
The Wheel of Time's Old Tongue sits within a tradition of constructed languages in fantasy that begins with Tolkien's Elvish. Unlike fully developed conlangs, the Old Tongue was not created with complete grammar and extensive vocabulary from the start — Jordan built it organically across the series, adding words and phrases as needed, with enough internal consistency to satisfy readers while maintaining his freedom as an author.
Fan communities have extensively catalogued Old Tongue vocabulary and grammar, attempting to reconstruct complete rules from the fragmentary evidence in the texts. This fan linguistic work mirrors the academic study of dead languages like Latin and Old English — reconstructing a language from limited textual evidence. The existence of dedicated fan lexicons speaks to how deeply invested Wheel of Time readers become in the world's linguistic details.
How This Old Tongue Translator Works
This Wheel of Time Old Tongue translator converts English into the ancient language of the Age of Legends — drawing on the vocabulary and patterns Robert Jordan established across the series to produce text in the style of the Old Tongue as used in Randland.
Perfect for Wheel of Time fans writing fan fiction, creating character names, adding authenticity to roleplay, or simply honouring the rich linguistic heritage Jordan built. The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills — and so does language.
