el

star

n. star.

El(d)rim

noun. elves

el(d) (from CE *eldā- connected or concerned with the stars) + rim (collective plural suffix) Ll-r in secondary contact > ldr, later again simplified.

eledh

noun. Elf

ell

noun. Elf

elen

noun. Elf

elbereth

feminine name. Queen of Stars, (lit.) Star-queen

The Sindarin name of Varda, a compound of êl “star” and bereth “queen”, that is: “Star-queen” (LotR/378, RGEO/66). The Quenya equivalent of this name is Elentári. This name was of ancient derivation, from ✶elen-barathī > elmbereth > Elbereth, as shown by the fact that the initial [b] in the second element did not lenite to [v] (MR/387, PE17/22).

Possible Etymology: In the 1930s, N. Elbereth was likewise derived ✶el(en)-barathī (Ety/EL, BARATH). This 1930s derivation worked through a combination of i-affection and i-intrusion, with the resulting ei > e as often happened in unstressed final syllables in Noldorin of the 1930s:

• ✱elen-barathī > elem-berethi > el(e)mbereith > N. elbereth.

This derivation no longer works in Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s, however, since [[s|later [ei] became [ai] in final syllables]] in Sindarin and did not reduce to e. Thus we should have ✶barathī > ✱✱beraith. One possibility is that Tolkien transferred this derivation to the root √BER “marry”: in The Road Goes Ever On published in 1967, Tolkien said “bereth actually meant ‘spouse’, and is used of one who is ‘queen’ as spouse of a king” (RGEO/66). This theory was first proposed to me by Elaran in a private Discord chat in November 2018, and I find it very compelling; it neatly resolves the phonological problem if bereth is derived from ✱berettē or something similar.

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this name was G. Timbridhil “Queen of Stars” (GL/71, LT1A/Tinwetári), which reappeared in The Etymologies from the 1930s as N. Timbreðil (Ety/TIN). Tolkien revised the name to N. Elbereth “Star Queen” (Ety/EL, Ety/BARATH), which appeared in the narratives starting with the Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (RS/68).

Before giving this name to Varda, Tolkien used the name Ilk. Elbereth for the youngest child of Dior (Ety/BER), but he changed that name to Elrûn (later S. Elurín). Tolkien also used the name N. Elbereth for one of the sons of Elrond before renaming him S. Elrohir (WR/297).

elen

star

pl1. elin, pl2. elenath _n._star. Its collective plural (pl2.) designates 'the (host of all the) stars, (all) the (visible) stars of the firmament'. Q. elen, pl1. eldi, eleni. o menel aglar elenath ! lit. 'from Firmament glory of the stars !'. >> êl

elen

noun. star

edhel

noun. Elf

-iel

suffix. daughter; feminine suffix

A widely used feminine suffix in Sindarin (PE17/23, 190). It sometimes more specifically meant “-daughter” in names such as Elrenniel “Arwen; ✱(lit.) Elrond-daughter” (PE17/56) or Tinúviel “Daughter of Twilight” (S/165), but in other cases it simply meant female as in names like Gilthoniel “Star-kindler [female]” (PE17/23). It was also sometimes reduced to -il or -el. See the entry on the root √YE(L) for a discussion of various conceptual vacillations in its connection to “daughter”.

Conceptual Development: The use of N. -iel dates back to Noldorin, where its connection to “daughter” was more explicit, though Tolkien vacillated on whether the suffix was based on ᴹ√YEL or ᴹ√SEL (Ety/SEL, YEL). The suffix does not appear to be specifically feminine in Gnomish of the 1910s, however, appearing in both female names like G. Níniel (LT2/100) and male names like G. Inwithiel (LT1/22).

mellon

noun. friend

_ n. _friend. Pedo mellon a minno! 'Say friend and enter'. 

-elir

suffix. 2nd person plural polite possessive suffix

mellon

noun. friend

-el

suffix. your

_2nd sg./pl. poss. suff. _your. Maybe the polite form of this suff. See also the paradigm of poss. suff. in PE17:46. Later -lein. >> -eg, -lein

-el

suffix. 2nd person singular polite possessive suffix

Menel

noun. sky, high heaven, firmament, the region of the stars

mellon

noun. friend

elleth

elf-woman

(pl. ellith) (WJ:363-64, 377)

ellon

elf-man

(pl. ellyn)

elvellon

elf-friend

(pl. elvellyn, coll. pl. elvellonnath (WJ:412);

dúnedhel

elf of beleriand

(i Núnedhel), pl. *Dúnedhil*** (i Ndúnedhil*). (WJ:378, 386)*

edhel

elf

(pl. edhil). Coll. pl. Edhelrim (or Edhellim) (UT:318). Also †eledh, pl. elidh, coll. pl. eledhrim (Letters:281), also elen, pl. elin, also with coll. pl. eledhrim (elen + rim with the regular change nr > dhr). (WJ:363, 377-78; the shorter coll. pl. Eldrim > *Elrim*** may also occur). But since elin** also means "stars", other terms for "Elf" may be preferred.

edhelharn

elf-stone

(pl. edhelhern) (SD:128-31).

gwanwel

elf of aman

(”departed” Elf), pl. gwenwil (in gwenwil), coll. pl. gwanwellath. (WJ:378) Also gwanwen; see

laegel

green-elf

pl. laegil; coll. pl. laegrim or laegeldrim (WJ:385). These forms from a late source would seem to supersede the ”N” forms listed in LR:368 s.v. LÁYAK: *Lhoebenidh* or *Lhoebelidh*. The Green-elves of Beleriand were also called Lindel (pl. Lindil), also Lindedhel (pl. Lindedhil)  *(WJ:385)*.

miniel

first elf

(i Viniel), pl. Mínil (i Mínil), coll. pl. Miniellath. (WJ:383)

mornedhel

dark elf

(i Vornedhel), pl. Mornedhil (i Mornedhil). Conceivably the entire word could be umlauted in the pl.: ?Mernedhil. **(WJ:409) Another term for ”Dark Elf” is Dúredhel (i Dhúredhel), pl. Dúredhil (i Núredhil**).

penedh

noun. Elf

peredhel

half-elf

(pl. peredhil) (PM:256, 348).

meldis

friend

(i veldis), no distinct pl. form except with article (i meldis), coll. pl. meldissath.

mellon

friend

1. (masc.) mellon (i vellon) (lover), pl. mellyn (i mellyn), coll. pl. mellonnath. Also meldir (i veldir), no distinct pl. form except with article (i meldir). Also seron (i heron, o seron), pl. seryn (i seryn), coll. pl. seronnath. 2) (fem.) meldis (i veldis), no distinct pl. form except with article (i meldis), coll. pl. meldissath.

mellon

friend

(i vellon) (lover), pl. mellyn (i mellyn), coll. pl. mellonnath. Also meldir (i veldir), no distinct pl. form except with article (i meldir). Also seron (i heron, o seron), pl. seryn (i seryn), coll. pl. seronnath.

êl

noun. star

A Sindarin word for “star” that is largely archaic and poetic, and is mainly used as element in names like Elrond (Let/281; WJ/363; Ety/EL); the more usual word for “star” in ordinary speech was gil (RGEO/65). However, the collective form elenath is still used in common speech to refer to the entire host of stars (WJ/363). The plural of êl is elin, as this word was derived from ancient ✶elen, and the final n that was lost in the singular was preserved in the plural. In some cases Tolkien posited a restored analogical singular elen from the plural form (PE17/24, 67, 139), but this isn’t in keeping with the notion that the word was archaic, so I would ignore this for purposes of Neo-Sindarin.

Conceptual Development: This word and its root first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where N. el “star” was derived from the root ᴹ√EL of similar meaning, but was “only [used] in names” (Ety/EL). It seems Tolkien introduced the root to give a new etymology for names like N. Elrond and N. Elwing, which initially appeared under the root ᴹ√ƷEL “sky” (Ety/ƷEL).

-eg

suffix. your

_2nd sg./pl. poss. suff. your.Maybe the familiar form of this suff. See also the paradigm of poss. suff. in PE17:46. Later -gen_. >> -el, -gen

-lein

suffix. your

_2nd sg. poss. suff. your.Maybe the polite form of this suff. See also the paradigm of poss. suff. in PE17:46. Earlier -el_. >> -el

calben

elf of the great journey

(i galben, o chalben), pl. celbin (i chelbin).

lefn

elf left behind

pl. lifn.

avar

non-eldarin elf

pl. Evair, also called

send

grey-elf

(i hend, o send, construct sen) (probably a term only used by the Noldor, borrowed from Quenya Sinda), pl. sind (i sind), coll. pl. Sendrim (the only attested form).

-il

suffix. feminine suffix

A fairly common feminine suffix appearing as -il in Sindarin, either formed on its own or as a variant of the feminine suffix -iel. This suffix was also common Noldorin words in The Etymologies of the 1930s, along with an alternate form -ril that seems to be a feminine agental suffix, the equivalent of masculine -(r)on, seen in pairs like N. melethril/melethron “lover” and N. odhril/odhron “parent” (Ety/MEL, ONO). The -il suffix and its -ril variant are seen all the way back in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s in pairs like G. gwadhril/gwadhron “inhabitant” (GL/47) and G. ainil/ainos “god”, female and male respectively (GL/18). So it seems this feminine suffix was well established in Tolkien’s mind.

êl

star

pl1. elin, pl2. elenath** ** n. star. Q. elen, pl1. eldi, eleni, pl2. elelli. >> elen

gîl

star

gîl (i ngîl = i ñîl, o n**gîl, construct gil) (bright spark, silver glint), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gîl = i ñgîl), coll. pl. giliath** (RGEO, MR:388). Poetic †êl (elen-, pl. elin, coll. pl. elenath) (RGEO, Letters:281, WJ:363).

gîl

star

(i ngîl = i ñîl, o n’gîl, construct gil) (bright spark, silver glint), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gîl = i ñgîl), coll. pl. giliath **(RGEO, MR:388). Poetic †êl (elen-, pl. **elin, coll. pl. elenath) (RGEO, Letters:281, WJ:363).

tim

small star

(MR:388). Archaic tinw, so the coll. pl. is likely  tinwath. 3)

cidinn

?. [unglossed]

An untranslated word (adjective?) appearing with Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 derived from the root √KIT and cognate to Q. cinta “small”, so perhaps of similar meaning (PE17/157).

cinnog

?. [unglossed]

An untranslated word (noun?) appearing with Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 derived from the root √KIT or √KIN and cognate to Q. cinta “small”, so perhaps of similar meaning (PE17/157).

hand

noun. [unglossed]

maud

?. [unglossed]

-gen

suffix. your

_2nd sg. poss. suff. your.Maybe the familiar form of this suff. See also the paradigm of poss. suff. in PE17:46. Earlier -eg_. >> -eg

egor

conjunction. or

egor

conjunction. or

gil

noun. star, bright spark

In The Etymologies (Ety/358, corrected by VT/45:15), this word was given as geil , plural gîl. However, later in LotR/E and RGEO/73, Tolkien seems to consider gil as a singular (with no hints in the sources of what the plural would be, besides the collective plural giliath )

gil-

noun. star

gil-

prefix. spark

_ pref. _spark, often used for 'star'. Form of gail/geil in compounds. >> gail, geil, Gilgalad

giliath

noun. all the host of stars

gill

noun. star

laer

noun. summer

lo

lo

madu

?. [unglossed]

min

fraction. one (first of a series)

min

cardinal. one, one, [G.] single

mîn

fraction. one (first of a series)

pen

pronoun. one, somebody, anybody

Usually enclitic and mutated as ben.2

tin

noun. spark

_ n. _spark, sparkle (esp. used of the twinkle of stars). >> ithildin

tinu

noun. spark, small star

tîn

spark

n. spark, star. Q. tinwe spark (Poet. star).

êl

noun. star (little used except in verses)

egor

or

egor

egor

or

**

eru

the one

isolated from

gilion

of stars

(lenited ngilion; pl. gilioen). Archaic ✱giliaun.

laer

summer

laer (no distinct pl. form). Note: a homophone means ”song”.

laer

summer

(no distinct pl. form). Note:  a homophone means ”song”.

min

cardinal. one

1. (number ”one” as the first in a series) min, mîn (VT48:6), Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the adjective ”isolated, first, towering”. 2) (number) êr, whence the adjectival prefix er- (alone, lone); 3)

min

one

mîn (VT48:6), Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the adjective ”isolated, first, towering”.

pen

cardinal. one

(indefinite pronoun) (= somebody, anybody) pen (WJ:376); lenited ben. According to one interpretation of the phrase caro den i innas lín from the Sindarin Lords Prayer (VT44:23), this could mean *”let one do your will”, with den (perhaps a lenited form of *ten) as the indefinite pronoun ”one”. However, others interpret den as the accusative form of the pronoun ”it”: ”Do it [, that is:] your will”.

pen

one

(WJ:376); lenited ben. According to one interpretation of the phrase caro den i innas lín from the Sindarin Lord’s Prayer (VT44:23), this could mean ✱”let one do your will”, with den (perhaps a lenited form of ✱ten) as the indefinite pronoun ”one”. However, others interpret den as the accusative form of the pronoun ”it”: ”Do it [, that is:] your will”.

tint

spark

1. tint (i dint, o thint), no distinct pl. form except with article (i thint), coll. pl. tinnath; 2) tinu (i dinu, o thinu; also -din at the end of compounds), analogical pl. tiny (i thiny). The word is also used =

tint

spark

(i dint, o thint), no distinct pl. form except with article (i thint), coll. pl. tinnath

tinu

spark

(i dinu, o thinu; also -din at the end of compounds), analogical pl. tiny (i thiny). The word is also used =

êr

one

whence the adjectival prefix er- (alone, lone)