Ilmarë

starlight

Ilmarë noun "starlight", also fem. name, referring to a Maia (GIL, SA:ilm-)

ilmarë

feminine name. Ilmarë

A Maia who was the handmaiden of Varda (S/30). The meaning of her name is unclear, but it is probably derived from Ilma “Starlight” (SA/ilm).

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, she was called ᴱQ. Erinti and was the daughter of Varda and Manwë (LT1/58). This name also appeared in the Qenya Lexicon from the 1910s, but without any clear etymology (QL/36).

The later form of her name Ilmar(ë) first appeared in the Ainulindalë drafts from the 1930s, still as Varda’s daughter (LR/162, 165). In The Etymologies, the name ᴹQ. Ilmare was a derivative of ᴹ√GIL alongside ᴹQ. Ilma “Starlight” (Ety/GIL); this entry is the source for the etymology given above. In Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s, she became Varda’s handmaiden rather than daughter (MR/147).

Elements

Word	Gloss
Ilma	“Starlight”
?

Ilma

starlight

Ilma noun "starlight" (GIL)

Ilmarin

mansion of the high airs

Ilmarin noun "mansion of the high airs", the dwelling of Manwë and Varda upon Oiolossë (SA:ilm-)

ilmarin

place name. Mansion of the High Airs

The mansion of Manwë and Varda on Taniquetil, translated as “mansion of the high airs” (LotR/235, RC/217). The etymology of this name is unclear, but it is probably derived from Ilma “Starlight”, and related to Ilmen “Place of (Star)light” (SA/ilm).

Conceptual Development: The name ᴹQ. Ilmarin first appeared in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (TI/92). It did not appear in The Silmarillion proper, though it was discussed by Christopher Tolkien in The Silmarillion index and appendix (SI/Taniquetil, SA/ilm).

Elements

Word	Gloss
Ilma	“Starlight”
?

silmë

starlight

silmë noun "starlight", also name of tengwa #29 (Appendix E), though in the pre-classical Tengwar system presupposed in the Etymologies, the name silmë instead applied to tengwa #3 (VT46:13). Silmë nuquerna "_s reversed", name of tengwa #30, similar to normal silmë but turned upside down (Appendix E)_. In the Etymologies, stem SIL, silmë is defined as the "light of Silpion" (Telperion), and also a poetic word for "silver".

silmë

noun. starlight, starlight; [ᴹQ.] silver [light], moonlight, light of Silpion

A word for “starlight” and also the name of tengwa #29 [i] (LotR/1123), clearly derived from the root √SIL.

Conceptual Development: The earliest hint of this word was in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s where ᴱQ. silmea seems to be an adjective meaning “✱lunar” (QL/56). ᴱQ. silme also seems to be an adjectival element “gleaming, silver” in ᴱQ. silmerána “gleaming moon, silver moon” from the Oilima Markirya poem and its drafts from around 1930 (MC/220; PE16/75). In The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹQ. silme was derived from primitive ᴹ✶silimē “light of Silpion, †silver” under the root ᴹ√SIL “shine silver” (Ety/SIL) and thus seems to mean “moonlight”. Indeed, silme had the gloss “moonlight” in notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s and 40s (PE22/22, 51), where it was already the name of tengwa #29. It became “starlight” in Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings, however (LotR/1123), and elsewhere “moonlight” was isilmë (MC/223).

Derivations

• √SIL “shine (white or silver)”

Element in

• Q. isilmë “moonlight”
• Q. silmë nuquerna “s-reversed” ✧ LotR/1123

Variations

• silme ✧ LotR/1123

ilm-

mansion of the high airs

ilm- stem appearing in Ilmen, the region above the air where the stars are, in Ilmarë, name of a Maia, and in Ilmarin "mansion of the high airs", the dwelling of Manwë and Varda upon Oiolossë (SA)

Ilmarë

Ilmarë

Her name may be related to one of the Quenya words for "Starlight". Christopher Tolkien has noted that Ilmarë is related to such words as Ilmen and Ilmarin.

ilma Reconstructed

proper name. Starlight

An (archaic?) name for “Starlight”, it is not directly attested in Tolkien’s later writing, but appears as an element in several names (SA/ilm). It is a derivative of the root √(Ñ)GIL “shine (white)”. Elsewhere, the usual Quenya word for “starlight” is given as silmë (LotR/1123).

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. ilma “air” appeared in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/142). The name ᴹQ. Ilma “Starlight” is directly attested in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (LR/205), where it first appeared as Silma (SM/240). Ilma also appeared in The Etymologies as a derivative of ᴹ√GIL (Ety/GIL), which is the source of the etymology noted above.

Derivations

• √(Ñ)GIL “shine (white); silver glint; white or silver light”

Element in

• Q. Ilmarë ✧ SA/ilm
• Q. Ilmarin “Mansion of the High Airs” ✧ SA/ilm
• Q. Ilmen “*Place of Starlight” ✧ SA/ilm

Variations

• ilm- ✧ SA/ilm