The ancient tongue of the Noldor and Vanyar Elves, developed in Valinor and brought back to Middle-earth by the returning Noldor. By the Third Age, Quenya is used mainly as a language of ceremony, lore, and high names, much as Latin was used in medieval Europe. Tolkien based Quenya primarily on Finnish, with influences from Latin and Greek. It is one of the most fully developed of Tolkien's invented languages, with its own grammar, vocabulary, and writing system (Tengwar).