ann

noun. gift

The most commonly accepted Sindarin word for “gift” is S. ann, equivalent to Quenya Q. anna “gift”, both derived from ✶annā based on the root √ANA “towards” (PE17/90). It was also an element in the names Melian “Dear Gift” (SA/mel) and Rían “Crown Gift” (Ety/RIG). However, Tolkien experimented with a variety of other forms throughout his life.

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. ôn “gift” related to the verb G. antha- “give” (GL/19, 62), both based on the early root ᴱ√ANA “give, send towards” from the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon (QL/31). The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. {ann >>} ant “gift” under the root ᴹ√ANA “to, towards” (Ety/ANA¹; EtyAC/ANA¹). S. ann “gift” < ✶annā appeared in notes from around 1967 (PE17/90). In Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 Tolkien had S. anw as the equivalent of Q. anwa “gift” (PE22/163), perhaps derived from ✱(h)an-mā.

ann

noun. gift

n. gift.

anw

noun. gift

anw

noun. gift

melian

feminine name. Dear Gift

The Maia who married Thingol and ruled Doriath with him (S/55-6), her name was translated “Dear Gift”, a combination of mell “dear” and ann “gift”, or more accurately derived from the ancient form ✶Melyanna (SA/anna, mel).

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, her name was given as G. Gwedheling along with numerous variations (LT2/50), but in later revisions was changed to G. Melian (LT2/51), the form of her name in the Lays of Beleriand from the 1920s (LB/12). Her name remained Melian in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (SM/13, LR/220), though at this stage her name was likely Ilkorin like that of her husband, Ilk. Thingol.

rían

feminine name. Crown-gift

Wife of Huor and mother of Tuor (S/148), her name seems to be a compound of rî “crown” and ann “gift”, though it could also be rían “queen” used as a name.

Conceptual Development: When it first appeared in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, this name was N. Rían (SM/35) but in later drafts it appeared as N. Rian with a short i (LR/131), which was its usual form in this period. In The Etymologies it appeared as N. Rhian glossed “Crown-gift”, which is the source of the gloss and derivation given above (Ety/RIG). In Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s, the form S. Rían with a long í was restored (WJ/52).

Rían

noun. crown-gift

rî (crown) + an (from anna- “give”)

ant

gift

ant, pl. aint, coll. pl. annath. Also ann (-an at the end of compounds), pl. ain.

ant

gift

pl. aint, coll. pl. annath. Also ann (-an at the end of compounds), pl. ain.

Melian

Dear gift

Melian (pron. ) in Sindarin means Dear gift. Her Quenya name was Melyanna (pron. ; from mel, "love" and anna, "gift"). She was also called Tóril meaning "Queen".

Melian

Melian

Melian (pron. [ˈmeljan]) in Sindarin means Dear gift. Her Quenya name was Melyanna (pron. [meˈʎanːa]; from mel, "love" and anna, "gift"). She was also called Tóril meaning "Queen".

anta-

verb. add to

_ v. _add to, give. pa.t. ónen (with pron. suff.).

Eru

the one

as a name of God: #Eru, isolated from CHILDREN OF THE ONE (Elves and Men) Eruchín** **(sg. *Eruchen)

anna

gift

anna noun "gift" (ANA1, SA), "a thing handed, brought or sent to a person" (PE17:125), also name of tengwa #23 (Appendix E); pl. annar "gifts" in Fíriel's Song. Masc. name Annatar "Lord of Gifts, *Gift-lord", name assumed by Sauron when he tried to seduce the Eldar in the Second Age (SA:tar). Eruanna noun "God-gift", gift of God, i.e. "grace" (VT43:38)

anna, anwa

noun. gift

anwa

noun. gift

andor

place name. Land of Gift

A name of Númenor meaning “Land of Gift” (S/260). It is a compound of anna “gift” and -ndor “land”.

Conceptual Development: This name appeared in the earliest tales of Númenor (LR/19). In earlier writings, it often appeared in an extended form: ᴹQ. Andóre (SD/247, 305).

anna

noun. gift, (orig.) thing handed, brought or sent to a person, gift, (orig.) thing handed, brought or sent to a person, *present

A word for “gift”, also the name of tengwa #23 [h] (LotR/1123), derived from the root √ANA “motion to” and more precisely meaning “a thing handed, brought or sent to a person” (PE17/91).

Conceptual Development: The earliest iteration of this word was ᴱQ. an (and-) “gift” in the Qenya Lexicon under the early root ᴱ√ANA (QL/31). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon Tolkien gave ᴱQ. anō as the equivalent of G. ôn “gift” (GL/62). The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. anna “gift” under the root ᴹ√ANA “to, towards” (Ety/ANA¹). The word anna “gift” appeared among tengwar names in notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s and 1940s, though in the former it was for double nn [5P] (PE22/23) and in the later was the name of a variant short vowel carrier [ゼ] not appearing in Tolkien’s later writing, and in any case the paragraph with this name was deleted (PE22/52 note #193).

In Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 Tolkien had both anna “gift” and anwa “gift” (PE22/163), the latter perhaps derived from ✱(h)an-mā. Tolkien indicated that this version of the noun influenced by {√ƷAN >>} √HAN “enhance, enrich, add to”.

Use as a Tengwar Name: The application of anna as the name for tengwa #23 is quite mysterious. In Quenya this tengwa was originally used to represent a voiced velar spirant ʒ < g, and after that sound was lost was used only to represent consonantal y by adding a palatal marker [hÍ]. Since anna has nothing to do with either sound, my best guess is that the name anna comes from some “full mode” where tengwar #23 represents the vowel a, except that in most full modes it represents the vowel o.

Alternately, it may be that at some point Tolkien imagined the noun anna as being derived from ʒannā; see the [rejected] root √ƷAN in its 1969 etymology noted above. In the 1930s this tengwa was named Osse either as a vowel sign for o or as a derivation of ᴹ√GOS (PE22/22), and in the 1940s it was named {’anne >>} ’enne “thought, purpose” where the ’ indicates lost ʒ (PE22/51 and note #190).

yavanna

feminine name. Giver of Fruits, (lit.) Fruit-gift

Valië of the earth, spouse of Aulë, whose name was translated “Giver of Fruits” (S/27). This name is a compound of yávë “fruit” and the noun anna “gift” (SA/yávë, anna), so literally meant “fruit-gift” (PE17/93).

Conceptual Development: This name dates back to the earliest Lost Tales (LT1/66), and ᴱQ. Yavanna appeared in the Qenya Lexicon as a derivative of the root ᴱ√ẎAVA along with other words having to do with “fruit” (LTA1/Yavanna, QL/105). In The Etymologies from the 1930s, ᴹQ. Yavanna appeared with the etymology given above (Ety/ANA¹, YAB). This etymology appeared in later writings as well (PE17/93).

Andórë

land of gift

Andórë noun full form of Andor, "land of gift", name of Númenor (SD:247)

Tarannon

high-gift

Tarannon masc. name; ?"High-gift"? Or, if -annon is a Sindarin-influenced form of andon "great gate" rather than a masculinized form of anna "gift", "Lord of the Gate"??? (Appendix A)

Yavanna

fruit-gift

Yavanna, fem. name: Yav-anna, "Fruit-gift" (PE17:93) or "Fruit-giver", name of a Valië, spouse of Aulë, associated especially with plants (YAB, ANA1; cf. yávë)

melyanna

feminine name. *Dear Gift

The Quenya name of Melian (NM/21).

Eru

the one

Eru divine name "the One" = God (VT43:32, VT44:16-17), "the One God" (Letters:387), a name reserved for the most solemn occasions (WJ:402). Often in the combination Eru Ilúvatar, "Eru Allfather" (cf. MR:112). Genitive Eruo (MR:329, VT43:28/32), dative Erun (VT44:32, 34). The adjectival form Eruva "divine" (Eruva lissëo "of divine grace", VT44:18) would be identical to the form appearing in the possessive case. Compound nouns: Eruhantalë "Thanksgiving to Eru", a Númenórean festival (UT:166, 436), Eruhin pl. Eruhíni "Children of Eru", Elves and Men (WJ:403; SA:híni, cf. _Eruhîn _in Letters:345), Eruion *"son of God" (or "God the Son"?) (VT44:16), Erukyermë "Prayer to Eru", a Númenórean festival (UT:166, 436), Erulaitalë "Praise of Eru", a Númenórean festival (UT:166, 436), Eruamillë "Mother of God" (in Tolkien's translation of the Hail Mary, VT43:32, see also VT44:7), Eruontari, Eruontarië other translations of "Mother (Begetter) of God" (VT44:7, 18), Erusén "the children of God" (RGEO:74; this is a strange form with no plural ending; contrast the synonym Eruhíni.) #Eruanna and #erulissë, various terms for "grace", literally "God-gift" and "God-sweetness", respectively (VT43:29; these words are attested in the genitive and instrumental case, respectively: Eruanno, erulissenen).

Varda

the sublime

Varda fem. name "the Sublime", name of a Valië, spouse of Manwë, the Queen of the Valar, called Elbereth in Sindarin (BARATH, BARÁD, WJ:402; in Letters:282 Varda is translated the "Lofty"). As a general adjective "sublime", †varda could still occur as a poetic word in verse (PE17:23), but normal prose would apparently rather use the related word varanda (q.v.) Genitive Vardo (for Vardao). (Nam, RGEO:66). Vardamir masc. name, "Varda-jewel" (Appendix A, UT:210); vardarianna ?"Varda-gift", name of a tree (but the ri element is obscure) (UT:167)

ant

noun. gift

ant

noun. gift

rian

feminine name. Crown-gift

annā

noun. gift

melyanna

feminine name. Dear Gift

abarzâyan

place name. Land of Gift

A draft Adûnaic name for the “Land of Gift”, later replaced by Yôzâyan (SD/388). Its final element is zâyan “land”. Its initial element seems to be abâr, which also appeared in its predecessor Zen’nabâr. If so, then abâr probably meant “gift” at this stage, though its later meaning was “strength, endurance, fidelity”.

amatthânê

place name. Land of Gift

A draft Adûnaic name for the “Land of Gift”, later replaced by Zen’nabâr (SD/378). A variant of this name reappeared later as Amatthâni, the Adûnaic name for the Blessed Realm.

athânâtê

place name. Land of Gift

The first-draft Adûnaic name for the “Land of Gift”, later replaced by Amatthânê (SD/312).

yôzâyan

place name. Land of Gift

This is the Adûnaic equivalent of Q. Andor “Land of Gift”, one of the names given to the land of Númenor (UT/184, SD/241). Its final element is zâyan “land”, so its initial element ✱yô most likely means “gift”. Conceptual Development: Tolkien experimented with many variations on this name before settling on Yôzâyan. The development seems to have been Athânâtê >> Amatthânê >> Zen’nabâr >> Abarzâyan >> Yôzâyan, all of which were glossed “Land of Gift”.

zen’nabâr

place name. Land of Gift

A draft Adûnaic name for the “Land of Gift”, later replaced by Abarzâyan (SD/378). Its initial element zen is a draft name for “land” also seen in the draft name Zen’namân for the Blessed Realm. Its final element seems to be abâr, joined to the first element with an elided form of the genitive prefix an- “of”. If so, then at the time abâr may have meant “gift”, but its later meaning was “strength, endurance, fidelity”.

êphalak îdô yôzâyan

far away now (is) the Land of Gift

The 13th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). The first word êphalak “far away” is an adverb or emphatic adjective; see the entry for -ak for further discussion. The second word îdô “now” is an adverb. The last word Yôzâyan “Land of Gift” is one of the names for Númenor. There is no subjective noun or a verb, so this phrase is a fragment rather than a full sentence.

The typescript version (and all earlier versions) had īdōn “now (is)” instead of īdō “now”. See the entry for îdô for further discussion.

ēphal ēphalek īdōn athanātē

far far away is now the Land of Gift

The first draft of the 14th (and final) phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/312). It differs from the final version mainly in its use of ēphalek “far away” for later êphalak and athanātē “Land of Gift” instead of later Akallabêth. In the final version of the Lament, another word for “Land of Gift” (Yôzâyan) appears in the second-to-last sentence instead. Like the final typescript version but unlike the final manuscript version, is uses īdōn “is now” instead of īdō “now”. This is likely a combination of the adverb īdō “now” and the predicate suffix -n “is” used elsewhere in the draft version.

yô Reconstructed

noun. gift

An element in the name Yôzâyan “Land of Gift” (UT/184, SD/241). The final element of this name is zâyan “land”, so its initial element yô most likely means “gift”, as suggested by several authors (AAD/24, AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/YAW), though Andreas Moehn points out this word could have the form yôz instead (EotAL/YAW).