A title in The Etymologies translated “Vala-king”, a combination of the root ᴹ√BAL and Ilk. tôr “king”, also attested in its plural form Balthorin (Ety/BAL). It is an example of how voiceless stops became spirants after liquids l and r.
Qenya
valatar
proper name. Vala-king
Cognates
Elements
Word Gloss Vala “Power, God” tar- “high; king or queen (in compounds)”
Title of the nine great male Valar appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s as a combination of Vala and tar- “king” (Ety/BAL, TĀ). Its (ᴹQ) genitive and plural forms Valatáren and Valatári indictate that its stem form is Valatár-. In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, Tolkien consider this as a name for Aragorn’s father (TI/363).