elen

star

elen noun "star" (SA:êl, elen, EL, VT49:39); pl. eleni (occasionally in verse: eldi) (WJ:362, PE17:127); partitive pl. elelli for elenli (PE17:127), gen. pl. elenion in the phrase Elenion Ancalima "brightest of stars" (LotR2:IV ch. 9; see Letters:385 for translation); elen atta "two stars" (VT49:44), genitive elen atto "of two stars" (VT49:45), eleni neldë "three stars", archaic elenion neldë = "of stars three". Genitive "of 3 stars" = elenion neldë (for archaic elenion neldëo) (VT49:45). Allative elenna "starwards" used as name of Númenor _(Silm; see Elenna)_; ablative pl. elenillor "from stars" in Markirya. **Nai elen siluva ***"may a star shine", VT49:38.

elen

noun. star

The most common Quenya word for “star”, mentioned very frequently, derived from an extended form ✶elen of the root √EL “behold” (PE17/67; WJ/360, 362). Its usual plural form is eleni, but it has an archaic plural †eldi sometimes used in verse, the result of the Ancient Quenya sound whereby [[aq|[ln] became [ld]]] after the ancient plural underwent the Quenya syncope, ✶elenī > AQ. elni; its normal modern plural form eleni was actually a reformation from the singular (PE17/57, 151; WJ/362).

Conceptual Development: This word first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, though in the original entry for the root ᴹ√EL Tolkien said it was poetical and gave variants ellen and elena (Ety/EL).

Cognates

• S. êl “star” ✧ PE17/024; PE17/024; PE17/067; PE17/127; PE17/151; SA/êl; WJ/362
• T. él “star” ✧ WJ/367
• T. elen “star” ✧ WJ/362

Derivations

• ✶elen “star” ✧ PE17/067; PE17/151; WJ/360
  • √EL “lo, behold; star, lo, behold; star, [ᴹ√] starry sky” ✧ Let/281; PE17/067; VT42/11; WJ/360
• √EL “lo, behold; star, lo, behold; star, [ᴹ√] starry sky” ✧ PE17/151; PM/340; RGEO/65; SA/êl

Element in

• Q. aiya Eärendil elenion ancalima “hail Eärendil, brightest of stars” ✧ LotR/0720; LotR/0915; PE17/090; PE17/101
• Q. ancalima ep’ eleni “brighter than stars” ✧ PE17/056
• Q. ancalima imbi eleni “brightest among stars” ✧ PE17/091
• Q. arcalima ar eleni “A is brightest of all” ✧ PE17/056
• Q. arcalima ep’ eleni “far and away brighter than stars” ✧ PE17/056 (arcalima ep’ eleni)
• Q. elenion ancalima “brightest of stars” ✧ PE17/056; PE17/056; PE17/056; PE17/057; PE17/091
• Q. Elemmacil “*Star Sword”
• Q. Elemmírë “Elven-gem, Star-gem” ✧ PE19/096
• Q. elen atto “of 2 stars” ✧ VT49/45
• Q. Elendil “Elf-friend, Star-lover”
• Q. Elendur “*Star-servant”
• ᴺQ. elengolmë “astronomy”
• Q. elenillor pella talta-taltala “beyond the stars falling” ✧ MC/222
• Q. eleni neldë “*3 stars” ✧ VT49/45
• Q. elenion neldë “of 3 stars” ✧ VT49/45; VT49/45
• Q. Elenna “Starwards”
• Q. elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo “a star shines on the hour of our meeting” ✧ Let/265; LotR/0081; PE17/012; WJ/367
• Q. Elentári “Queen of the Stars, Star-queen”
• Q. Elentir “*Star-gazer”
• Q. Elentirmo “Star-watcher” ✧ UT/213
• Q. Elenwë
• Q. elenya “adjective referring to the stars, *of the stars, stellar” ✧ WJ/362
• Q. Elerondo “Elrond, (lit.) Star-dome”
• Q. Elerossë “Star Foam”
• Q. Elerrína “Crowned with Stars”
• Q. Elessar “Elfstone”
• Q. Elestirnë “Star-brow”
• Q. nai elen atta siluvat aurenna veryanwesto “*may two stars shine upon the day of your wedding” ✧ VT49/44; VT49/44
• Q. nai elen siluva lyenna “*may a star shine upon you” ✧ VT49/39
• Q. nai elen siluva parma-restalyanna meldonya “*may a star shine upon your book-fair, my friend” ✧ VT49/39
• Q. yassen tintilar i eleni “wherein the stars tremble” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
• Q. yassen tintilar i eleni “in which twinkle the stars” ✧ RGEO/59

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶elen > elen	[elen]	✧ PE17/067
✶elni > eldi	[eleni] > [elni] > [eldi]	✧ PE17/151

Variations

• Elen ✧ LotR/0081; WJ/367

-ion

son (of), descendant

-ion (patronymic ending) "son (of), descendant" (YŌ/YON, LT1:271, LT2:344). Not to be confused with the genitive ending -on when added to words with nominative plurals in -i, e.g. elenion "of stars" vs. eleni "stars".

-on

name

-on gen.pl. ending (3O), in aldaron, aranion, elenion, Eldaron, #esseron, Ingweron, Istarion, Númevalion, Quendion, Silmarillion, Sindaron, tasarion (see Nan-Tasarion), Valion, wenderon, yénion. Normally the ending -on is added to the nominative plural, whether it ends in -i or -r, but some nouns in -ë that would have nominative plurals in -i seem to prefer the ending -ron in the genitive (hence #esseron as the gen. pl. of essë "name", though the nominative pl. is attested as essi and we might have expected the gen. pl. *ession; similarly wenderon, Ingweron).

él

star

†él noun "star", pl. éli given (WJ:362, EL)

él

noun. star

An archaic or poetic word for star (WJ/362), somewhat common in compounds but in ordinary speech typically appearing as elen. It was derived directly from the primitive root √EL “behold”, the basis for other star words (PM/340; WJ/360).

Conceptual Development: This word first appeared as poetical ᴹQ. él “star” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, already with the derivation given above, though in this document the root ᴹ√EL meant “star” (Ety/EL), a common gloss for the root in later writings as well.

Cognates

• T. él “star” ✧ WJ/362

Derivations

• √EL “lo, behold; star, lo, behold; star, [ᴹ√] starry sky” ✧ PM/340
• ✶ēl “star” ✧ WJ/360
  • √EL “lo, behold; star, lo, behold; star, [ᴹ√] starry sky” ✧ WJ/360

Element in

• Q. Carnil “*Red Star”
• ᴺQ. ëarel “starfish, (lit.) sea-star”
• Q. Elatan “*Star Man”
• ᴺQ. élicombë “galaxy, collection of stars”
• Q. Elostirion “*Star Fort”
• Q. elvëa “starlike”
• Q. Elwë
• Q. Luinil “*Blue Star”
• Q. Undómiel “Evenstar”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√el- > el	[el]	✧ PM/340
✶ēl > él	[ēl]	✧ WJ/360

Variations

• el ✧ PM/340

esse

noun. name

essë

name

essë (1) noun "name", also later name of Tengwa #31, originally (MET) called árë (ázë). (Appendix E). With a pronominal ending esselya "thy name" (VT43:14). Pl. #essi in PM:339 and MR:470, gen.pl. #esseron "of names" in the compound Nómesseron (q.v.); we would rather have expected *ession, given the nom.pl. essi; perhaps #esser is a valid alternative plural form. Essecarmë noun "name-making" (MR:214, 470), Eldarin ceremony where the father announces the name of his child. Essecenta *("k") noun "Name-essay" (see centa) (MR:415); Essecilmë noun "name-choosing", an Eldarin ceremony where a child named him- or herself according to personal lámatyávë (q.v.) (MR:214, 471). The meaning Tolkien originally assigned to the word essë** in the Etymologies was "place" rather than "name" (VT45:12).

essë

noun. name

Cognates

• ᴺS. ess “name”

Derivations

• ᴹ√ES “indicate, name”

Element in

• Q. amilessë “mother-name”
• Q. anessë “given (or added) name, nickname, surname” ✧ MR/216
• Q. cilmessë “self-name”
• Q. epessë “after-name”
• Q. Essecarmë “Name-making” ✧ MR/470
• Q. Essecenta Eldarinwa “Enquiry (into the origins) of the Elvish names” ✧ WJ/359
• Q. Essecilmë “Name-choosing” ✧ MR/470
• Q. na airë esselya “hallowed be thy name” ✧ VT43/14
• Q. nómessë “place-name” ✧ VT42/17
• Q. notessë “numeral”
• ᴺQ. tengessë “address, (lit.) indication-name”

Variations

• esse ✧ LotR/1123
• essë ✧ MR/470
• Esse ✧ WJ/359

ílë

star

ílë noun "star" (LT1:269; rather elen, él in LotR-style Quenya.)

esta-

verb. name

sanda

name

[sanda, sandë] (þ) (2) noun "name" (VT46:16)

sanya

name

[sanya] (þ) (2) noun ?"name" (reading of gloss uncertain, VT46:16)