lindalë noun "music". Cf. Ainulindalë "Music of the Ainur". (The word is cited as lindelë in the printed Etymologies, entry LIN2, but according to VT45:27, this is a misreading for lindalë in Tolkien's manuscript.) The word lindalë may argue the existence of a verbal stem #linda- "sing, make music".
Quenya
ainulindalë
proper name. Music of the Ainur
Elements
Word Gloss Ainu “holy one, spirit, holy one, angelic spirit (m.); [ᴱQ.] (pagan) god” lindalë “music”
lindalë
music
lindalë
noun. music
Element in
- Q. Ainulindalë “Music of the Ainur” ✧ S/015
- ᴺQ. lindalëa “melodious, *musical”
Elements
Word Gloss linda “beautiful (of sound), sweet, melodious; soft, gentle, light, beautiful (of sound), sweet, melodious; soft, gentle, light, [ᴱQ.] kind; [ᴹQ.] fair” -lë “abstract noun, adverb”
lindelë
music
lindelë noun "music" (LIN2, LT1:258 lindalë in Ainulindalë). According to VT45:27, lindelë in the printed Etymologies (entry LIN2) is a misreading for lindalë in Tolkien's manuscript.
Ainu
holy one, angelic spirit
Ainu noun "holy one, angelic spirit"; fem. Aini (AYAN, LT1:248); "one of the 'order' of the Valar and Maiar, made before Eä"; pl. Ainur is attested. Adopted and adapted from Valarin ayanūz(WJ:399). In the early "Qenya Lexicon", ainu was glossed "a pagan god", and aini was similarly "a pagan goddess", but as Christopher Tolkien notes, "Of course no one within the context of the mythology can call the Ainur 'pagan' " (LT1:248). Ainulindalë noun "Music of the Ainur" (SA:lin #2), the First History (WJ:406), the Song of Creation (AYAN)
The title of the opening story of The Silmarillion (S/15-22), clearly a compound of Ainu “Holy One” and lindalë “music”.
Conceptual Development: Although the story itself dates back to the earliest Lost Tales, this title only emerged in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s version (LR/156).