Sindarin 

gelir

noun. merry, happy, gay person

Sindarin [SD/129-31] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gelir

masculine name. Merry

Sindarin translation of the name of Sam’s son Merry, appearing in Tolkien’s unpublished epilogue to The Lord of the Rings and in the King’s Letter (SD/126, 129). Most likely this name is an elaboration of [N.] gell “joy”.

Conceptual Development: In drafts of the epilogue, this name was initially (rejected) Riben (SD/117).

Element in

Sindarin [AotM/062; SD/117; SD/126; SD/129; SDI1/Gelir; SDI1/Riben] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gelir

adjective. merry

Sindarin translation of the name of Sam’s son Merry, appearing in Tolkien’s unpublished epilogue to The Lord of the Rings and in the King’s Letter from the early 1950s (SD/126, 129). This word is apparently an adjective, most likely an elaboration of [N.] gell “joy”. In Didier Willis’s Sindarin Dictionary, it is suggested this word might instead be a noun, an agental formation meaning “✱merry person” (HSD/gelir).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, the word for “merry” was G. dairog (GL/29), likely derived from ᴱ√TYALA “play”. This was revised to G. dairion in the “Gnomish Lexicon Slips” (PE13/112) and again to ᴱN. gair in Early Noldorin word lists from the 1920s (PE13/141, 143). This last change probably also reflects a new root, though exactly what this root might be is unclear. There isn’t a clear connection between these early forms and later gelir beyond a superficial resemblance of form.

Element in

  • S. Gelir “Merry” ✧ SD/129

Elements

WordGloss
gell“joy, triumph, (?victory), joy, triumph”

Variations

  • Gelir ✧ SD/129

gelir

merry

(attested as the S equivalent of the name Merry) gelir (lenited elir; no distinct pl. form).

gelir

merry

(lenited ’elir; no distinct pl. form).