súlimo

masculine name. Lord of the Breath of Arda, (lit.) Breather

A title of Manwë as the Vala of Winds, glossed “Lord of the Breath of Arda” in The Silmarillion (S/26) and translated “Breather” in linguistic notes from the 1950s (PE21/85). This name is a compound of súlë (þúle) “spirit; breath”, and the agental suffix -mo, but was also influenced by ✶sūli “wind” (NM/237).

Conceptual Development: This name dates back to the earliest Lost Tales (LT1/52), and ᴱQ. Súlimo appeared in the Qenya Lexicon from the 1910s as a personalized form of ᴱQ. súlime “wind” (QL/86, LT1A/Súlimo). In The Etymologies from the 1930s, Tolkien gave a new etymology of ᴹQ. Súlimo, deriving it from ᴹQ. súle “breath” (Ety/THŪ).

Tolkien continued to use similar derivations in his later writings, where Q. Súlimo appeared as a derivative of the related roots √THŪ or √SŪ, as a blending of more archaic Thūrimo and Sūlimo (PE17/124; NM/237). See the entry on Q. súlë for a discussion of the relation between “breath” and “spirit” in Elvish thought.

Cognates

• S. Thû “Sauron; Manwë?” ✧ PE17/124

Elements

Word	Gloss
súlë	“breath; (movement of) spirit, emission of power (of will or desire)”
-mo	“agental suffix”

Variations

• Thúlimo ✧ NM/237 (Thúlimo)
• Súrimo ✧ NM/237 (Súrimo)
• Sūlimo ✧ PE17/124
• Thūrimo ✧ PE17/124 (Thūrimo)