elbereth

masculine name. Elbereth

elbereth

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

elbereth gilthoniel (draft)

Elbereth Gilthoniel (draft)

The draft version of S. A Elbereth Gilthoniel, appearing on RS/394. The version here includes the draft of Sam’s invocation of Elbereth (WR/218), whose first three lines are nearly identical to the lines appearing on RS/394, and whose 4th line resembles that of 4th line of the later version of the invocation. It has no translation, and is sufficiently different from the later version of the poem that it is quite difficult to analyze.

elbereth gilthoniel

Elbereth Gilthoniel

bredhil

feminine name. Varda

A Noldorin name for Varda appearing in the earliest Silmarillion drafts from the late 1920s, replacing older G. Bridhil (SM/43). It also appeared in The Etymologies from the 1930s as a derivative of ON. Bradil (Ety/BARÁD), but these names were rejected and possibly replaced by N. Berethil or N. Elbereth (Ety/BARATH).

gilbrennil

feminine name. Varda

A name for Varda appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s (Ety/GIL), a combination of geil “star” and brennil “lady”. This name was probably replaced by Elbereth.

Elbereth

Elbereth

1b theon.

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).

Elbereth

theology. 'Star-queen'

theon.'Star-queen'. On the mythological association of Varda with stars, see PE17:22. Same meaning as Q. Elentári. Rarely Bereth. Formed later, Elbereth would prob. have been given such forms as Bereth (in)-elin or Bereth (in)gîl. >> Bereth (in)-elin, êl, elen

Elbereth

noun. star queen/lady

êl (“star”) + bereth (“queen, spouse of a king”) No lenition: original name Elenbarathi yielding Elmbereth, where triconsonantal lmb > lb.

elbereth

varda

a tiro nin, fanuilos

o guard me, Elbereth

baradā

adjective. Varda