Ilu

(the) world

Ilu noun "(the) world" (FS, LR:47, 56), "universe" (IL); ilu "everything, all, the whole" (of the universe also including God and all souls and spirits, which are not properly included in the term Eä; see VT39:20, also referenced in VT49:36)

ilu

noun. everything, all, the whole, everything, all, the whole; [ᴹQ.] universe, world; [ᴱQ.] ether

A term for everything that is, thus referring to the entire universe and everything in existence, which Tolkien clarified as being:

> ... more than ëa, which is all “nature”, but was not held to include [souls?] and spirits. ilu includes God, all souls and spirits as well as ëa (VT39/20 note #20).

It is derived from the root √IL “all”.

Conceptual Development: The first mention of the term ᴱQ. ilu was in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s where it was glossed “ether, the slender airs among the stars”, and serving as an element in the ᴱQ. Ilúvatar (QL/42), in this document translated as “Heavenly Father” rather than “All-father” as it was later. Thus the early conception of ᴱQ. ilu seems closer to “sky” or “heaven” than “universe”. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. ilu was glossed “universe” beside variant ᴹQ. ilúve and given as a derivative of ᴹ√IL “all” (Ety/IL). The word ilu was glossed “world” in various iterations of the ᴹQ. Lament of Atalante in the 1930s and 40s (LR/047; LR/56), though in the 1940s versions it was replaced by {eru >>} ᴹQ. Arda (SD/310). In a 1968 addendum to the Quendi and Eldar its meaning was restricted to “everything, all, the whole” referring to the entirety of existence including God and the divine realm, as indicated by the quote above (VT39/20 note #20).

Derivations

• ✶ilū “all, everything, the whole” ✧ VT39/20
  • √IL “all”

Element in

• ᴺQ. iluasta “omnipresence”
• Q. ilucara “omnificent” ✧ VT39/20
• Q. iluisa “omniscient” ✧ VT39/20
• Q. ilúvala “omnipotent” ✧ VT39/20
• Q. ilúvë “the whole, the all, allness, the whole, the all, allness; [ᴹQ.] universe, world; Heaven”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶ilū- > ilu	[ilū] > [ilu]	✧ VT39/20

illi

all

illi noun "all" (as independent noun, apparently treated as a plural form). Imb' illi "among all" (VT47:30)

illi

noun. all

Element in

• Q. A ancalima imb’ illi “A is brightest of all” ✧ PE17/091

ilya

all

ilya adj. and noun "all" (LR:47, 56; SD:310), "all, the whole" (IL); "each, every, all of a particular group of things" (VT39:20); ilyë before a plural noun, "all" being inflected like an adjective (Nam, RGEO:67): ilyë tier "all paths" (Namárië, VT39:20), ilyë mahalmar "all thrones" (CO), ilya raxellor "from all dangers" (VT44:9; we might expect *ilyë raxellor here), ilyárëa (older ilyázëa) "daily, of every day" (evidently ilya "every" + árë, ázë "day" + -a adjectival ending) (VT43:18). Tolkien apparently abandoned ilyárëa in favour of ilaurëa, q.v.

ilyë

adjective. all

eä

Eä

Eä was the word spoken by Eru Ilúvatar by which he brought the universe into actuality.

ëa

eä

ëa (1) (sometimes "eä")vb. "is" (CO), in a more absolute sense ("exists", VT39:7/VT49:28-29) than the copula ná. Eä "it is" (VT39:6) or "let it be". The verb is also used in connection with prepositional phrases denoting a position, as in the relative sentences i or ilyë mahalmar ëa "who is above all thrones" (CO) and i ëa han ëa "who is beyond [the universe of] Eä" (VT43:14). Eä is said to the be "pres[ent] & aorist" tense (VT49:29). The past tense of ëa is engë (VT43:38, VT49:29; Tolkien struck out the form ëanë, VT49:30), the historically correct perfect should be éyë, but the analogical form engië was more common; the future tense is euva (VT49:29). See also ëala. Eä is also used as a noun denoting "All Creation", the universe (WJ:402; Letters:284, footnote), but this term for the universe "was not held to include [souls?] and spirits" (VT39:20); contrast ilu. One version of Tolkien's Quenya Lord's Prayer includes the words i ëa han ëa, taken to mean "who is beyond Eä" (VT43:14). Tolkien noted that ëa "properly cannot be used of God since ëa refers only to all things created by Eru directly or mediately", hence he deleted the example Eru ëa "God exists" (VT49:28, 36). However, ëa is indeed used of Eru in CO (i Eru i or ilyë mahalmar ëa** "the One who is** above all thrones") as well as in various Átaremma versions (see VT49:36), so such a distinction may belong to the refined language of the "loremasters" rather than to everyday useage.

pân

adjective. all, all, *complete, entire, full, the whole

@@@ extended meaning suggested on Discord 2022-03-11

Cognates

• ᴺQ. qua(na) “all, complete, entire, full, the whole”

Derivations

• √KWA “complete, full, whole, all, every, complete, full, whole, all, every; [ᴹ√] something”

Element in

• S. ar e aníra ennas suilannad mhellyn în phain “and he desires to greet there all his friends” ✧ AotM/062; SD/129

pân

adjective. all, in totality

As no other word beginning in ph- is attested, it is assumed that a nasal mutation is triggered by the pronoun în.1 , hence the form observed in the "King's Letter"

ilu

noun. universe, the whole, cosmos

A neologism coined by Paul Strack in 2021 specifically for Eldamo, the Sindarin equivalent of Q. ilu and Q. ilúvë as terms for the entire universe.

Cognates

• Q. ilúvë “the whole, the all, allness, the whole, the all, allness; [ᴹQ.] universe, world; Heaven”

Derivations

• ✶ilū “all, everything, the whole”
  • √IL “all”

illad

noun. everything

Element in

• ᴺS. illadui “general”

Elements

Word	Gloss
IL	“all”
nad	“thing”

ilnad

pronoun. everything

Elements

Word	Gloss
il	“*all”
nad	“thing”

pân

all

(adj.) *pân, pl. pain (only attested in mutated pl. form phain, SD:128-31). Not to be confused with the noun pân ”plank”.

pân

all

pl. pain (only attested in mutated pl. form phain, SD:128-31). Not to be confused with the noun pân ”plank”.

katha

adjective. all

A word translated “all” in the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/288, VT24/12). This word appeared in the form kâtha in the final typescript version of the Lament (SD/247), but in all other instances appeared as katha. If the final typescript is later than the final manuscript, kâtha may be its final form, but I believe that the manuscript was later, and katha better matches its appearance as an element in kathuphazgân “conqueror” (SD/429). This last example is interesting in that it is an example of an adjective declined into the objective case.

Element in

• Ad. îdô katha batîna lôkhî “now all ways (are) bent” ✧ SD/247
• Ad. īdō kathī batānī rōkhī-nam “lo! now all ways bent-are” ✧ SD/312
• Ad. kathuphazgân “conqueror” ✧ SD/429

ilū

noun. all, everything, the whole

Derivations

• √IL “all”

Derivatives

• Q. ilu “everything, all, the whole, everything, all, the whole; [ᴹQ.] universe, world; [ᴱQ.] ether” ✧ VT39/20
• ᴺS. ilu “universe, the whole, cosmos”

Variations

• ilū- ✧ VT39/20

il

root. all

A root meaning “all” in Tolkien’s writings from the 1930s through 1960s (VT48/25) with derivatives in both Quenya and Sindarin, the most notable being Q. Ilúvatar “All-father” (MR/39). Its earliest precursor is the root ᴱ√ILU “ether, the slender airs among the stars” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, whose derivatives include various sky-words as well as ᴱQ. Ilúvatar, since in this early period the name meant “Heavenly Father” (QL/42). The meaning of the root shifted to ᴹ√IL “all” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/IL), and it retained this sense thereafter.

Derivatives

• ✶ilū “all, everything, the whole”
  • Q. ilu “everything, all, the whole, everything, all, the whole; [ᴹQ.] universe, world; [ᴱQ.] ether” ✧ VT39/20
  • ᴺS. ilu “universe, the whole, cosmos”
• Q. il- “every, *all”
• Q. ilya “every, each, all (of a particular group of things), every, each, all (of a particular group of things), [ᴹQ.] the whole”
• S. il “*all”

Element in

• Q. Ilion
• Q. Ilwen
• ᴺS. illad “everything”