_n. _Firmament. o menel aglar elenath ! lit. 'from Firmament glory of the stars !'.
Sindarin
Menel
noun. sky, high heaven, firmament, the region of the stars
Menel
noun. the heavens
Menel
noun. Firmament
menel
noun. the heavens, firmament, region of the stars
A word for the “the heavens, firmament, region of the stars”, a loan word from Quenya (MR/387; RGEO/64). See the entry on Q. menel and √MENEL for further details.
Conceptual Development: This word began to appear as an element in Sindarin in late Lord of the Rings drafts (SD/45) and drafts of Lord of the Rings appendices (PM/130) from the early 1950s. In the Sindarin prayer Ae Adar Nín from the mid-to-late 1950s, Tolkien used Menel for “Heaven” as in ae Adar nín i vi Menel “our Father who [art] in Heaven” (VT44/21), but this seems not to be the proper Elvish usage, so could perhaps be considered a Mannish misconception (or Tolkienish vacillation on the meaning of the word). Elsewhere Tolkien only used S. menel for “the heavens”, such as in o menel aglar elenath “from heaven [the firmanent] on high the glory of the starry host” from the A Elbereth Gilthoniel poem (LotR/238, 1028; RGEO/63-64). Note that menel did not appear in the earliest drafts of Elbereth Gilthoniel from the 1940s (RS/394).
Cognates
- Q. menel “the heavens, firmament, sky” ✧ PE17/024; MR/387
Derivations
Element in
- S. ae Adar nín i vi Menel “our Father who [art] in Heaven” ✧ VT44/23
- S. bo Ceven sui vi Menel “on Earth as [it is] in Heaven” ✧ VT44/23
- S. Meneldor “*Lord of the Heavens”
- S. Menelrond “Heaven-dome”
- S. Menelvagor “Orion, (lit.) Swordsman of the Sky”
- S. menel-vîr síla díriel “*heaven-jewel shines having watched [for us]” ✧ LB/354
- S. o menel aglar elenath “from heaven on high the glory of the starry host” ✧ LotR/0238; PE17/024; RGEO/63; RGEO/64
- S. o menel palan-diriel “from heaven gazing far” ✧ LotR/0729; RGEO/64
- S. Ormenel “*Heavens-day, Wednesday”
Variations
- Menel ✧ VT44/23
magor
noun. swordsman
magor
noun. swordsman
Cognates
- Q. macar “swordsman; †forger”
Derivations
- √MAK “cut, hew with a sharp edge; kill, slay; forge metal, cut, hew with a sharp edge, [ᴹ√] cleave; sword, fight (with a sword); ️[√] forge metal; kill, slay”
Element in
- S. Magor “The Sword”
- S. Menelvagor “Orion, (lit.) Swordsman of the Sky” ✧ LotR/0081
Menel
heaven
menel (i venel), pl. menil (i menil)
menel
heaven
(i venel), pl. menil (i menil)
magor
swordsman
magor (i vagor), analogical pl. megyr (i megyr)
magor
swordsman
(i vagor), analogical pl. megyr (i megyr)
_n. _the heavens, the apparent dome of the sky. Probably a Quenya word introduced into Sindarin. It was a 'pictorial' word, as the lore of the Eldar and the Númenoreans know much astronomy.