Silmaril (Silmarill-, as in pl. Silmarilli), noun, name of the shining jewels made by Fëanor; full sg. form Silmarillë (SA:sil, SIL, RIL, MIR).Translated "radiance of pure light" in Letters:148. Gen. pl. Silmarillion, as in (Quenta) Silmarillion "(the Story) of the Silmarils".
Quenya
silmaril
proper name. Great Jewel
Element in
- Q. Quenta Silmarillion “History of the Silmarils” ✧ S/033
Elements
Word Gloss silima “crystal substance devised by Fëanor” RIL “brilliant (light), brilliance, brilliant (light), brilliance, [ᴹ√] glitter” Variations
- silmaril ✧ LotR/1034; PE17/112
- silmaril(le) ✧ PE17/047
- silmaril(lë) ✧ PM/363
- Silmarillë ✧ PMI/Silmaril
- silma-ril ✧ RGEO/65
Silmaril
radiance of pure light
maril
glass, crystal
maril noun "glass, crystal" (VT46:13; if this is to be the same word as the second element of Silmaril, the stem-form would be marill-, cf. pl. Silmarilli)
calca
glass
calca noun "glass" (VT47:35); compare hyellë, cilin.
calca
noun. glass
Cognates
- T. calca “glass” ✧ VT47/35; VT47/35
Derivations
- √KALAK “glass” ✧ VT47/35
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √KALAK > calca [kalka] ✧ VT47/35
cilin
glass
cilin noun "glass" ("often used as in English ("often used as in English for any thing or implement made of glass") (PE17:37). Compare calca, hyellë.
cilin
noun. glass, glass [transluscent or reflective]
Element in
- Q. cilintilla “looking-glass, looking-glass, *mirror” ✧ PE17/037
- Q. cilinyul “drinking-vessel (made of glass)” ✧ PE17/037
hyellë
glass
hyellë noun "glass" (KHYEL(ES), VT45:23; the later source also provides the unglossed form hyelma, which may be a synonym of hyellë; alternatively hyellë could be "glass" as a substance, whereas hyelma_ rather refers to "a glass" as a drinking vessel). _In later sources, cilin or calca is given as the word for "glass".
mírë
jewel
mírë noun "jewel" (MIR, SA:mîr), "a treasure, a precious thing" (PE17:37).Cf. Elemmírë; short form -mir in Tar-Atanamir (SA:mîr); see also Artamir.
The name of the great jewels crafted by Fëanor from which The Silmarillion legends gets their name (S/33). It sometimes appeared in the longer form Silmarillë (PE17/47, PM/363). Tolkien translated this name as “radiance of pure light” (Let/148) and said that it was a combination of silima, the crystaline substance from which the jewels were made (RGEO/65), and a derivative of the root √RIL “brilliant, brilliance” (PM/363), perhaps in the form [ᴹQ.] rille “brilliance”.
Conceptual Development: The name ᴱQ. Silmaril dates back to the earliest Lost Tales (LT1/128). Christopher Tolkien suggested that at this early stage it was a compound of ᴱQ. Sil “Moon” and ᴱQ. marilla “pearl” (LT1A/Silmaril), which is consistent with its Gnomish cognate G. Silubrilt. In The Etymologies, the name ᴹQ. Silmaril appears as a combination of silma “silver, shining white” and the root ᴹ√RIL (Ety/RIL, SIL), similar to its later etymology.