Ulmo

the pourer

Ulmo masc. name, used of the Vala of all waters (ULU), interpreted "the Pourer" by folk etymology, but the name was actually adopted and adapted from Valarin (WJ:400)

ulmo

masculine name. Pourer

A Vala, Lord of the Waters (S/26). This name was originally derived from his Valarin name or title Ul(l)ubōz (WJ/400). Later it was interpreted as a combination of the root √UL “pour” and the agental suffix -mo, thus meaning “Pourer”, and this interpretation influenced its final Quenya form (WJ/401).

Conceptual Development: The name ᴱQ. Ulmo appeared in the earliest Lost Tales as a replacement for very early ᴱQ. Linqil (LT1/58, 61), and the name kept this form in all of Tolkien’s later writings. At the earliest stage, ᴱQ. Ulmo appeared in the Qenya Lexicon as a derivative of the root ᴱ√ULU “pour, flow fast”, and in The Etymologies from the 1930s the name ᴹQ. Ulmo still had this derivation, from the root ᴹ√ULU “pour, flow”. The idea that his name was derived from Valarin did not emerge until the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 (WJ/400), but Tolkien retained the earlier derivation of his name as a false etymology.

Derivations

• Val. Ul(l)ubōz “Ulmo” ✧ WJ/400

Elements

Word	Gloss
UL	“pour (out), flow, pour (out), flow, [ᴱ√] flow fast”
-mo	“agental suffix”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
Val. Ul(l)ubōz > Ulmo	[ulubōz] > [ulmo]	✧ WJ/400

Ulmo

Ulmo

The name Ulmo is said to derive from the Valarin Ullubōz. Alternatively, Ulmo is a Quenya title, which means "He who pours" (cf. ulya- "to pour" and agentive ending -mo "-er").[source?] In the earlier writings his Noldorin name was Ylmir, among them Tuor's The Horns of Ylmir.[source?] (Another Noldorin translation of his name is given as Nûron.) The Sindarin form is Ulu ([ˈulu]), though he is also called Guiar ([ˈɡuɪ.ar]) and Gulma ([ˈɡulma]).[source?] In Eriol's Old English translations, Ulmo is referred to by various names: Garsecges frea "Ocean ruler", ealwaeter-frea "All-waters ruler" or agendfrea ealra waetera "owning lord of all waters".

Ulu

ulmo

Ulu, but ”usually” this Vala was called Guiar or Uiar (LR:392 s.v. WAY, LR:396 s.v.

ulu

ulmo

but ”usually” this Vala was called Guiar or **Uiar **(LR:392 s.v.

ulmō

masculine name. Ulmō

Variations

• Ulmṓ ✧ PE18/106

núron

masculine name. Ulmo

A Noldorin name for Ulmo appearing only in The Etymologies from the 1930s (Ety/NU), apparently a masculinized form of nûr “deep” and with the suffix -on.

Variations

• Nûron ✧ Ety/NU

uiar

masculine name. Ulmo

Noldorin name of ᴹQ. Ulmo from The Etymologies from the 1930s (Ety/WAY), also appearing as Guiar (Ety/ULU), derived from the primitive form ᴹ✶Wāyārō.

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, his name was given as G. Gulma (GL/18, 43), but appears as Ulm or Ulum in “Official Name List” for the Lost Tales (PE13/101). In the Lays of Beleriand from the 1920s, his name was first given as Gulma but was revised to ᴱN. Ylmir (LB/93), a form that reappeared in the earliest Silmarillion drafts (SM/13).

Cognates

• ᴹQ. Ulmo ✧ Ety/LEP

Derivations

• ᴹ√WAY “enfold” ✧ Ety/LEP; Ety/ULU
• ᴹ✶Wāyārō ✧ Ety/WAY

Element in

• N. Ar Uiar “Day of Ulmo, second day of the Valian week” ✧ Ety/LEP

Elements

Word	Gloss
ui	“ever”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶wā́yārō̆/Vā́yārō̆ > Uiar	[wājāro] > [wājaro] > [wājar] > [wǭjar] > [wǭiar] > [wuiar] > [uiar]	✧ Ety/WAY

Variations

• Guiar ✧ Ety/ULU