Belchur

theology. Melkor

theon. Q. Melkor, Melkóre. >> Belegûr

Belegûr

theology. Melkor

theon. Q. Melkor, Melkóre. >> Belchur

belegûr

masculine name. He who arises in Might, (lit.) Mighty Arising

The Sindarin cognate of Q. Melkor “He who arises in Might”, but this name was never used, being replaced with an altered form Belegurth “Great Death” (SI/Melkor, PM/358). The initial element of his name is beleg “mighty” and its final element is derived from primitive ✶ōre “arising”, hence literally: “Mighty Arising” (PE17/115). This Sindarin name indicates that the primitive form of his name must have begun with mb-: ✶Mbelekōre (PE17/115, WJ/402).

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, his Qenya name was ᴱQ. Melko and in the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, its cognate was given as G. Belca >> Belcha from a root ᴱ√(M)BELEKE along with derivatives related to fire (GL/18, 22). In the Lays of Beleriand from the 1920s, the name was changed to ᴱN. Belegor >> Melegor (LB/21), but in Early Noldorin word lists from the 1920s the name appeared as ᴱN. Maileg (PE13/149).

In The Etymologies from the 1930s, the name changed to N. Maeleg >> Moeleg, derived from the root ᴹ√MIL(IK) along with derivatives related to greed and lust (Ety/MIL-IK). The form N. Moeleg appeared in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (SM/79, 164, 167). In later writings his Sindarin name was usually given as Belegûr, though in one place an alternate form Belchur was also given (PE17/115).

Cognates

• Q. Melkor “He who arises in Might; (lit.) Mighty Arising” ✧ PE17/115; PM/358; PMI/Belegûr; PMI/Melkor; SI/Melkor

Derivations

• ✶Mbelekōre “Might(y) Arising” ✧ PE17/115

Elements

Word	Gloss
beleg	“great, mighty; large, big, great, mighty; large, big, [ᴱN.] huge”
ōre	“arising”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶mbelek-óre > Belegûr	[mbelekōre] > [belekōre] > [belekūre] > [belekūr] > [belegūr]	✧ PE17/115

Variations

• Belchur ✧ PE17/115