Alqualondë

swan-road, swan-haven

Alqualondë place-name "Swan-road, Swan-haven", capital of the Teleri _(ÁLAK, LOD, KHOP[there spelt Alqalonde], Silm)._

alqualondë

place name. Haven of the Swans

The chief city of the Teleri in Valinor (S/61). It is a compound of alqua “swan” and londë “haven” (SA/alqua, londë).

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this city was called ᴱQ. Kópas Alqalunte(n) “Haven of the Swanships” (LT/164), but this was changed to ᴹQ. Alqalonde in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (SM/265), which remained the city’s name in all later versions of the tales.

Elements

Word	Gloss
alqua	“swan”
londë	“(land-locked) haven, (land-locked) haven; [ᴹQ.] road (in sea), fairway, entrance to harbour; gulf”

londë

land-locked haven

londë noun "land-locked haven" (cf. #lóndië "harbourage"), "gulf" (TI:423). In Alqualondë "Swan-haven" (SA), "Haven of Swan" (VT45:28), Hirilondë ship-name "Haven-finder" (UT:192). In the Etymologies, londë is glossed "road (in sea), entrance to harbour" (LOD) and also "fairway" (VT45:28), i.e. a navigable channel for ships. In VT42:10, where the stem is given as LON rather than LOD, the gloss is simply "haven".

Alqualondë

Alqualondë

Alqualondë means "Swanhaven" in Quenya (from alqua = "swan", londë = "harbor, haven").