Early Quenya
lótefalmarínen
with waves crowned with flowers
Element in
Elements
Word Gloss lóte “flower, bloom, blossom” falmar “wave (as it breaks), foamcrest” Variations
- lótefalmarínen, ✧ MC/220
- {i falmain >>} falmain {lótanéro >>} lótanéren ✧ PE16/057
- lootefalmariinen ✧ PE16/072
The sixth phrase of the first version of the Oilima Markirya poem (MC/220). It is a compound word, a combination of lóte “flower”, and the instrumental plural form falmarínen of the noun falmar “wave”. In the English translation “with waves crowned with flowers”, the word “crowned” is a poetic addition. A better translation might be “with foamcrests like flowers” (PE16/62).
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> lóte-falmar-í-nen = “✱flower-wave-(plural)-with”
Conceptual Development: This phrase appeared in the second draft of the poem (OM1b: PE16/57-8), where Tolkien wrote i falmain lótanéro >> falmain lótanéren, using the nominative plural of the related noun falma “foam” and the feminine plural of the verb lóto- “to bloom”, perhaps “✱foam was blooming”. He revised it to lótefalmarínen in the third draft (OM1c: PE16/60) and aside from the variant Finnish-like spellings of the fifth draft (OM1e: PE16/72), it remained the same thereafter.