Eldamar
elvenhome
eldamar
place name. Elvenhome
The home of the Elves within Valinor (S/59). This name is a compound of Elda “Elf” and már “home”. As noted by Tolkien, it must have been a late compound, otherwise the more primitive form ✶-mbar of the second element would have been preserved as ✱✱Eldambar (PE17/106).
Conceptual Development: This name dates back all the way to the earliest Lost Tales, where it had essentially the same form, meaning and etymology (LT1/19, LTA1/Eldamar).
Elements
Word Gloss Elda “Elf, (lit.) one of the Star-folk” már “home, dwelling, habitation, home, dwelling, habitation; [ᴹQ.] house; earth” Variations
- Eldambar ✧ PE17/106 (Eldambar); PE17/164 (Eldambar)
mélamar
home
mélamar noun "home", Exilic Quenya word of emotional sense: place of ones birth or the familiar places from which one has been separated (PE17:109). Mélamarimma noun "Our Home", an expression used by Exilic Noldor for Aman.
már
home, house, dwelling
már (mar-) (2) noun "home, house, dwelling" (also "house" in the sense of family as in Mardil, q.v.). See mar above for references. In Mar-nu-Falmar, Mardil, and as final element in Eldamar, Fanyamar, Valimar, Vinyamar..
Elendë
elvenhome
Elendë (1) place-name "Elvenhome", regions of Valinor where the Elves dwelt and the stars could be seen (MR:176, ÉLED). Plural ablative elendellor in the phrase et elendellor, evidently *"out of the elf-lands" (VT45:13).
Eldamar place-name "Elvenhome" (ÉLED; found already in Narqelion), according to MR:176 another name of Tirion (see tir-).