Dathomiri was a language used by the culture of witches of the Outer Rim Territories planet Dathomir known as the Witches of Dathomir. Specifically, it was utilized alongside Galactic Basic Standard, by both the Human and Dathomirian members of the order. Historically, it had ties to the language of Dathomir's Paecian Empire. The Shaman Talzin and the Sisters of her coven, the Nightsisters, often used it during the time of the Clone Wars to perform incantations. Members of the Singing Mountain Clan were known to utilize the language frequently.
The Witches of Dathomir (pictured) were the speakers of Dathomiri.
Dathomiri was a language was utilized by the Witches of Dathomir, a culture of Human and Dathomirian witches native to the Outer Rim Territories planet Dathomir. It was similar to and potentially derived from Paecian, the language of the ancient Paecian Empire.
- — 'Jedi'
- — 'Wookiee' (the Dathomiri name for the species)
- — 'Whuffa worm' (the Dathomiri name for the species)
As recited by Mother Talzin:
As recited by Teneniel Djo:
Sometime before 2992 BBY, Humans from the Outer Rim planet Paecia founded the Paecian Empire. The empire colonized Dathomir and imposed its language, Paecian, onto the people of the planet. Even after the empire collapsed around 2992 BBY, the influence of the Paecians remained. The native women of the planet formed the language, Dathomiri, which contained many phrases and words similar to and perhaps derived from those of the Paecian language. After the Jedi Knight Allya was exiled to Dathomir in 600 BBY, she taught the native women the ways of the Force and they eventually became the Witches of Dathomir.
Prior to and during the time of the Clone Wars conflict between the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Nightsister coven of the Witches of Dathomir spoke and wrote mainly in Galactic Basic Standard, but utilized Dathomiri during incantations and spells. The Nightsister Clan mother Talzin used the language in several notable instances. In 21 BBY, she spoke an incantation which transformed her son Savage Opress, a member of the Nightbrothers who were warriors subservient to the Nightsisters, into a hulking version of himself. In 20 BBY, she recited an incantation in Dathomiri to restore the mind of another one of her sons, the broken Sith Lord Maul. During the Separatist invasion of Dathomir in 20 BBY, the eldest and wisest Nightsister Daka recited the Dathomiri Chant of Ressurection to raise dead Nightsisters to fight against the invasion force.
Charal kneeling before Terak after failing to activate a crystal oscillator using a Dathomiri chant
By the time of the Imperial Period, the Singing Mountain Clan obtained a preference for Basic as well. In 3 ABY, the Nightsister Charal, was stranded on the Outer Rim forest moon Endor. By this time, she had established an alliance with the Sanyassan king Terak who was on a quest to retrieve a crystal oscillator that was in possession of the Towani family. After Terak retrieved the oscillator and brought it back to his castle, Charal attempted to activate it using a Dathomiri spell to no avail.
By 8 ABY, the Singing Mountain Clan returned to a more frequent use of Dathomiri. In 8 ABY during the post-Imperial era, the New Republic members Han Solo, Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, and Chewbacca visited Dathomir. They encountered some of members of the Singing Mountain who began exclaiming the word "whuffa." The protocol droid C-3PO, who was programmed for language recognition, stated that their dialogue was not one he recognized, but was able to note its connection to Paecian. Throughout the group's stay, they befriended many members of the Singing Mountain Clan, including Teneniel Djo. During the Battle of Dathomir against the Nightsisters, Djo recited the Spell of Storm in Dathomiri.
Eventually, Teneniel bore the Jedi Knight Tenel Ka Djo. In 45 ABY, during a vacation on the planet Luuhar, Tenel Ka's pet nexu ran off. Upon running after the feline, Tenel Ka sensed danger and yelled a Dathomiri war cry upon drawing her lightsaber.
Dathomiri first appeared in Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (pictured).
The Dathomirian language first appeared, albeit through retroactive continuity, in the 1985 direct-to-video movie, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. After Charal was retconned to have been a member of the Nightsisters in the 1995 book, The Illustrated Star Wars Universe, the cultural language she incanted was thus also retconned to one of the Witches of Dathomiri. Prior to this retcon, the language made its first proper appearance in the 1994 novel The Courtship of Princess Leia, written by Dave Wolverton. It was first identified as Dathomiri in "Good Hunting," a short story released in the one hundred fourty-second issue of the Star Wars Insider magazine series on June 10, 2013.
Several sources erroneously state that the Witches of Dathomir spoke Paecian. However, The Courtship of Princess Leia, from which these claims are taken, states in actuality that the language the Dathomirians speak is a different, but similar language.
- Cracken's Threat Dossier
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars Annual 2013