Quenya 

alatar

masculine name. Alatar

One of the Ithryn Luin (Blue Wizards) who went to the East and South (UT/394). The meaning of his name is unclear, though the final element seems to be -tar “-lord” as seen in other names like Annatar and Sorontar. Damien Bador suggested that it might be related to ✶alatā “radiance” (variant form of ✶ñ(g)alatā) or a restoration of [ᴱQ.] alatya- “to protect”, analogous to his other name Rómestámo “East-helper”.

Quenya [PMI/Alatar; UTI/Alatar] Group: Eldamo. Published by

aratar

collective name. High Ones, The Exalted, The Supreme

A term used for the greatest of the Valar (S/29), it is the adjective arata “high, exalted” used as a plural name.

Quenya [LT1I/Aratar; MRI/Aratar; PE17/186; PM/363; PMI/Aratar; S/029; SA/ar(a); SI/Aratar; SMI/Aratar; WJ/399; WJ/402; WJI/Aratar] Group: Eldamo. Published by

atar

father

atar noun "father" (SA; WJ:402, UT:193, LT1:255, VT43:37, VT44:12). According to the Etymologies (ATA) the pl. is atari, but contrast #atári in Atanatári "Fathers of Men" (q.v.); possibly the word behaves differently when compounded. Atarinya "my father" (LR:70), atar(inya) the form a child would use addressing his or her father, also reduced to atya (VT47:26). Diminutive masc. name Atarincë ("k") "Little father", amilessë (never used in narrative) of Curufinwë = Curufin (PM:353). Átaremma, Ataremma "our Father" as the first word of the Quenya translation of the Lord's Prayer, written before Tolkien changed -mm- as the marker of 1st person pl. exclusive to -lm-; notice -e- as a connecting vowel before the ending -mma "our". In some versions of the Lord's Prayer, including the final version, the initial a of atar "father" is lengthened, producing #átar. This may be a contraction of *a atar "o Father", or the vowel may be lengthened to give special emphasis to #Átar "Father" as a religious title (VT43:13). However, in VT44:12 Atar is also a vocative form referring to God, and yet the initial vowel remains short.

atar

noun. father

Quenya [PE 22:118] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

atar

noun. father

The Quenya word for “father”, derived from the root √AT(AR) (PM/324; WJ/402; VT48/19).

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. atar “father” dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, though in that document it was “a more solemn word ... usually to 1st Person of the Blessed Trinity”, as opposed to more ordinary ᴱQ. attu “father” (QL/33). In the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s, ᴱQ. atar was the ordinary word for “father”, but with variant archaic form †attar (PE15/72). ᴹQ. atar “father” reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√ATA of the same meaning (Ety/ATA). It appeared again in the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s in various inflected forms (PE22/118-119). It continued to appear regularly in Tolkien’s later writings. Thus this word was established early and retained its form throughout Tolkien’s life with only minor variations.

Quenya [PM/324; SA/atar; UT/186; UT/193; UT/273; VT43/13; VT43/37; VT44/16; VT47/26; WJ/402] Group: Eldamo. Published by

arata

high, lofty, noble

arata adj. "high, lofty, noble" (PE17:49, 186). Also used as a a noun with nominal pl. form Aratar "the Supreme", the chief Valar, translation of the foreign word Máhani adopted and adapted from Valarin (WJ:402). Aratarya "her sublimity"; Varda Aratarya "Varda the lofty, Varda in her sublimity" (WJ:369). In one source, Aratar is translated as a singular: "High One" (PE17:186)

arata

adjective. high, noble, exalted, lofty

Quenya [PE17/049; PE17/118; PE17/147; PE17/186; PM/346; PM/354; WJ/369; WJI/Varda] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Návatar

father

Návatar noun a title of Aulë referring to his position as the immediate author of the Dwarvish race, apparently including atar "father", but the first element cannot be related to any known term for "Dwarf" (PM:391 cf. 381)

arata

high, lofty, noble

arata adj. "high, lofty, noble" (PE17:49, 186). Also used as a a noun with nominal pl. form Aratar "the Supreme", the chief Valar, translation of the foreign word Máhani adopted and adapted from Valarin (WJ:402). Aratarya "her sublimity"; Varda Aratarya "Varda the lofty, Varda in her sublimity" (WJ:369). In one source, Aratar is translated as a singular: "High One" (PE17:186)

átaremma i ëa han eä

our Father who art in Heaven

The first line of Átaremma, Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Lord’s Prayer. The first word Átaremma “our Father” is atar “father” with the 2nd-person-plural-exclusive suffix -mma consistent with the 1st edition of The Lord of the Rings (after the 2nd edition of The Lord of the Rings, this suffix would be -lma).

The remainder of the phrase i ëa han “who art in Heaven” is a circumlocution, literally meaning “✱who is beyond Creation [the Material Universe]”. This allowed Tolkien to avoid an explicit name for Heaven, though he did use Eruman for “Heaven” in the fifth line of the prayer.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> Átar-emma i ëa han Eä = “✱Father-our who is beyond Creation [the Material Universe]”

Conceptual Development: The form Ataremma for “our Father” appears in all versions of the prayer, sometimes preceded by the interjection a or Ai “O”. Wynne, Smith and Hostetter suggested that the long Á of Átaremma in versions V to VI of the prayer may be a coalescense with this interjection (VT43/13).

In versions I-IV, Tolkien use menel for the word “Heaven” in various configurations, most involving an assimilated locative, such as meneldea “in Heaven”. In other writings, Tolkien said that menel referred to the dome of the sky or “the firmament”, and therefore was not proper for “Heaven” (MR/387, PE17/152). Perhaps because of this, in version V he switched to the circumlocution i ëa pell’ Eä, with an assimilated form of the preposition pella “before”. In version VI he changed the preposition to han, as above.

In the earliest version (I), Tolkien used the word na for “is”, added at the end of the phrase, but it was omitted later.

| |  I  |IIa|IIb|III|IV|V|VI| | |A|Ai| | |Ataremma|Átaremma| | |i| |i| |{menellea >>}|menelzea|meneldea|ëa pell’ ëa|ëa han ëa| |na| |

Quenya [VT43/08; VT43/09; VT43/10; VT43/11; VT43/12] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tar-

affix. high, high; [ᴹQ.] king or queen (in compounds)

Quenya [PE22/148; SA/tar] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Máhan

doom ring

Máhan (pl. Máhani attested in WJ:402), noun: one of the eight chiefs of the Valar (adopted and adapted from Valarin, but usually translated as Aratar). Máhanaxar the "Doom Ring" of Aman; adopted and adapted from Valarin. (WJ:399)

ala-

verb. to plant, grow, to grow (of plants) [intr. and trans.], plant; *to thrive, flourish (of other creatures)

A verb glossed “plant, grow” in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s discussing the derivation of S. galenas “pipeweed” (PE17/100). The verb ala- was used several times in verb charts, such as illustrating pronominal suffixes (PE17/132) or giving the inflections of a-verbs (PE22/164).

Conceptual Development: As suggested by Gilson, Welden and Hostetter, the earliest appearance of this verb might be in the phrase ᴱQ. alildon ornin lassevarnen, which seems to mean something like “✱grow trees leaf-brown” (PE16/80). The word element (and verb?) ᴹQ. ’al appeared under the root ᴹ√GALA “thrive” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/GALA); an earlier iteration of this root had the glosses “grow, thrive, prosper, be healthy, be glad” along with a word element (and verb?) al-, but the gloss “grow” was deleted along with a statement that “grow is ol-” (Ety/GAL(AS)).

Indeed, the verb ᴹQ. ’alā- “grow” appeared in Quendian & Common Eldarin Verbal Structure (EVS1: PE22/98) from the late 1940s and again in Quenya Verbal System from 1948 (QVS: PE22/106 note #39), but in the latter document it was replaced by ᴹQ. ola- “grow” (PE22/113 note #80). However, in Common Eldarin: Verb Structure (EVS2) from the early 1950s, primitive ✶galā- was restored, but with a more specific sense “grow (of plants)”, as opposed to ✶olā- “become, come into being, turn into (another state)” (PE22/134). This plant-growth meaning seems to have carried forward into Tolkien’s later writings (see above: PE17/100).

Neo-Quenya: For purpose of Neo-Quenya, I would assume the verb ala- only means “grow” when applied to plants, but more generally could mean “✱thrive, flourish” when applied to other living creatures, as in i lótë ala “the flower grows” but i Elda ala “the Elf thrives/flourishes”. Based on its glosses from PE17/100, I would assume it can also be used transitively when applied to plants to mean “cause to grow = plant”, as in i Elda ala lóti “the Elf grows/plants flowers” or álëa lóti “... is planting flowers”.

Quenya [PE17/100; PE17/132; PE22/164] Group: Eldamo. Published by

altáriel

feminine name. Galadriel

The Quenya name of Galadriel, an adaptation of the Telerin name Alatáriel (UT/266, PM/347). See the entry on Galadriel for further discussion of this name’s history, and ✶Ñ(g)alatā-rigelle for a discussion of the conceptual development of its etymology.

Quenya [MR/182; MRI/Altariellë; NM/346; NM/353; PE17/050; PE17/084; PE17/169; PM/347; PMI/Galadriel; RGEO/58; SA/kal; UT/266; UTI/Al(a)táriel] Group: Eldamo. Published by

arta

adjective. high, noble, exalted, lofty

atto

father, daddy

atto noun "father, daddy" (hypocoristic)(ATA, LR:49), supposedly a word in "actual 'family' use" (VT47:26), also used in children's play for "thumb" and "big toe" (VT47:10, 26, VT48:4, 6). The dual form attat listed in VT48:19 seems to be formed from the alternative form atta, though attat was changed by Tolkien from attot. - Compare atya.

halda

adjective. high, tall

Quenya [PE 22:103; PE 22:148] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

naltariel

feminine name. Galadriel

What the Quenya name of Altáriel (S. Galadriel) would have been if it had been coined in Quenya instead of adapted from Telerin (PM/347). This name is a compound of nalta “radiance, glittering reflection” and riel(lë) “garlanded maiden”. See S. Galadriel and ✶Ñ(g)alatā-rigelle for further discussion.

Quenya [PE17/059; PE17/060; PM/347] Group: Eldamo. Published by

high

2) adj. "high" (LT1:264; there spelt . This is hardly a valid word in Tolkien's later Quenya, but cf. tára "lofty".)

tána

high, lofty, noble

tána (meaning unclear, probably adj. "high, lofty, noble") (TĀ/TA3). Compare tára.

(ana)tarwesta

noun. crucifix(ion)

@@@ NQNT uses tarwestië

Primitive elvish

atar

noun. father

Primitive elvish [PE21/71; PE21/74; PE21/75; PE21/76; PE21/77; PE21/83] Group: Eldamo. Published by

at(ar)

root. father

As the basis for “father” words, √AT and its extended form √ATAR date all the way back to Tolkien’s earliest ideas. The root itself did not explicitly appear in the Qenya or Gnomish Lexicons of the 1910s, but forms like ᴱQ. atar, G. †ador “father” indicate its presence (QL/33; GL/17). The root ᴹ√ATA “father” did appear in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives ᴹQ. atar, N. adar (Ety/ATA) and the base √AT(AR) “father” was mentioned again in late 1960s notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals (VT48/19). In this late period, the Elvish words for “father” remained Q. atar and S. adar (PM/324).

Primitive elvish [VT48/19] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tā/taʒ

root. high, high, [ᴹ√] lofty; noble

This root and ones like it were used for “high” things for much of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as unglossed ᴱ√TAHA in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. “high; high above, high up”, ᴱQ. tahōra or tayóra “lofty”, and ᴱQ. tāri “queen”; it had a variant form ᴱ√TAʕA where the ʕ might be a malformed Y (QL/87). The corresponding forms in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon were G. “high” and G. dara “lofty” (GL/29), indicating the true form of the root was ᴱ√DAHA, since initial voiced stops were unvoiced (d- > t-) in Early Qenya (PE12/17). Primitive forms like ᴱ✶dagá > ᴱN. /ᴱQ. “high” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s indicates the root continued to begin with D for the following decade (PE13/141, 161).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave this root as ᴹ√TĀ/TAƷ “high, lofty; noble” with derivatives like ᴹQ. tára “lofty, high”, ᴹQ. tári “queen” and N. taen “height, summit of high mountain” (Ety/TĀ). In Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 Tolkien gave the root as √TAG or Tā- “high”, and in notes from around 1967 Tolkien gave √TAƷ as the explanation of the initial element of Q. Taniquetil and contrasted it with √TĂR “stand” (PE17/186). In 1970 green-ink revisions to the Outline of Phonology (OP2), Tolkien wrote a marginal note giving √TAƷ > “high”, but this note was rejected with a statement “transfer to Gen. Structure. No [ʒ] existed in Eldarin” (PE19/72-73 note #22).

This last rejection seems to be part of Tolkien’s general vacillation on the nature and phonetic evolution of velar spirants in Primitive Elvish in 1968-70. For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would assume the root form was √TAH or √TAƷ > √ as the basis for “high” words, much like √MAH or √MAƷ > ✶ was the basis for “hand” words.

Primitive elvish [PE17/186; PE19/073] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tāra

adjective. high

Primitive elvish [PE17/067; PE17/186] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Noldorin 

adar

noun. father

ada

noun. father, daddy

Noldorin [Ety/349] Group: SINDICT. Published by

adar

noun. father

Noldorin [Ety/349, PM/324, MR/373, LotR/II:II, VT/44:21-22] Group: SINDICT. Published by

galadriel

feminine name. Galadriel

Noldorin [PE22/068; SDI1/Galadriel; TI/246; TII/Galadriel; WRI/Galadriel] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Adûnaic

attô

noun. father

A noun for “father” (SD/434). Tolkien gave two forms of this word, attû and attô, with no indication as to which would be preferred. For reasons similar to those given in the entry for ammê “mother”, my guess is that attû is an archaic form, and attô was preferred by the time of Classical Adûnaic. This word is probably related to the Elvish root √AT(AR) “father”, perhaps from Primitive Elvish ᴹ✶atū.

Telerin 

alatáriel

feminine name. Galadriel

Telerin [NM/349; NM/352; NM/353; PE17/060; PM/346; PM/347; PMI/Galadriel; UT/266] Group: Eldamo. Published by

atta

noun. father

Sindarin 

Ara-

prefix. high, noble, royal

Sindarin [S/428] Reduced form of , element in the names of the kings of Arnor and Arthedain. Group: SINDICT. Published by

adar

noun. father

Sindarin [Ety/349, PM/324, MR/373, LotR/II:II, VT/44:21-22] Group: SINDICT. Published by

adar

noun. father

The Sindarin word for “father”, derived from the root √AT(AR) (PM/324; VT44/21-22; VT48/19).

Conceptual Development: N. adar “father” also appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√ATA of the same meaning (Ety/ATA). In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, however, G. †ador “father” was marked as archaic, and it seems {athon >>} G. nathon was the ordinary word for ”father” (GL/17, 59).

Sindarin [PM/324; VT44/22; VT48/17] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ar-

prefix. high, noble, royal

Sindarin [S/428] Reduced form of , element in the names of the kings of Arnor and Arthedain. Group: SINDICT. Published by

atheg

noun. "litte father"

Sindarin [VT/48:6,17] Group: SINDICT. Published by

atheg

noun. thumb (Elvish play-name used by and taught to children)

Sindarin [VT/48:6,17] Group: SINDICT. Published by

ada

father

(pl. edai)

adanadar

father of men

normally pl. Edenedair "Fathers of Men", the early Edain.

adar

father

adar (pl. edair);

adar

father

(pl. edair);

andrath

high pass

(literally "long climb"), pl. endraith.

brand

tall

(lofty, noble, fine), lenited vrand, pl. braind.

duinen

high tide

(i dhuinen), pl. duinin (i nuinin). (VT48:26).

gondrath

highway

(i ’ondrath) (street of stone, causeway), pl. gendraith (i ngendraith = i ñendraith). Archaic pl. göndreith. (WJ:340). Possibly the pl. can also be gondraith, without umlaut of the first element.

hall

tall

(exalted); lenited chall; pl. hail. Note: a homophone means ”veiled, hidden, shadowed, shady”.

or

high

(adjectival pref.) or- (above, over), also ar- (noble, royal). In the form ar(a)- this is an element in the names of the kings of Arnor and Arthedain. Nouns:

or

high

(above, over), also ar- (noble, royal). In the form ar(a)- this is an element in the names of the kings of Arnor and Arthedain. Nouns:

raud

tall

(eminent, noble), in compounds -rod,  pl. roed. Also used as noun ”champion, eminent man, [a] noble”.

taur

tall

(also tor-, tar- in compounds) (lofty, high, sublime, noble; vast, masterful, mighty, overwhelming, huge, awful), lenited daur, pl. toer. Note: homophones mean ”king (of a people)” and also ”great wood, forest”.

telu

high roof

(i delu, o thelu) (dome), pl. tely (i thely).


Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Middle Primitive Elvish

atar

noun. father

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/ATA; PE21/66] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ata

root. father

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/ATA] Group: Eldamo. Published by

atū

noun. father

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/ATA] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

atar

noun. father

Early Quenya [LT1A/Ilúvatar; PE14/077; PE15/72; PE15/76; PME/033; QL/033] Group: Eldamo. Published by

(ana)tarwesta

noun. crucifix(ion)

Early Quenya [QL/031; QL/089] Group: Eldamo. Published by

atto

noun. father

attu

noun. father

Early Quenya [PE16/135; PME/033; QL/033] Group: Eldamo. Published by

rista-

verb. to plant

A verb in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “plant” under the early root ᴱ√RIẎI “scatter” (QL/80).

Early Quenya [QL/080] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tatto

noun. father

Qenya 

atar

noun. father

Qenya [Ety/ATA; LR/061; PE22/018; PE22/046; PE22/047; PE22/118; PE22/119] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Doriathrin

adar

noun. father

The Ilkorin word for “father” derived from primitive ᴹ✶atar[ă], also attested in its plural form edrin (Ety/ATA). It is identical to its Noldorin cognate N. adar having undergone similar phonetic changes from its primitive form, possibly ✱✶atară.

Doriathrin [Ety/ATA] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

ador

noun. father

bâb

noun. father

A word for “father” in the Gnomish Lexicon Slips (PE13/111). In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s itself, G. babi or baba was “mummy, mamma” (GL/21, 57). As pointed out by Gilson, Welden, Hostetter and Wynne, there is a complementary change of {nân “father” >>} G. nân “mother” elsewhere in the Gnomish Lexicon Slips (PE13/115).

adjective. high

Gnomish [GL/29; LT1A/Qalmë-Tári; LT1A/Taniquetil; PE13/112] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nathon

noun. father

Gnomish [GL/17; GL/59] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Ilkorin

tak

adjective. high

tök

adjective. high

Early Ilkorin [PE13/141; PE13/161] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Noldorin

adjective. high

Early Noldorin [PE13/141; PE13/161] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Solosimpi

daga

adjective. high

Solosimpi [PE13/141; PE13/161] Group: Eldamo. Published by