minul-târik

place name. Pillar of Heaven

The Adûnaic name of the Pillar of Heaven (Q. Meneltarma), the great and holy mountain at the center of Númenor (SD/249). The first element is the objective form of minal “the heavens”. The second element târik “pillar” is normally a noun, but in this case it behaves verbally with the sense “that which supports”, since the objective case requires a second verbal element (SD/429). Therefore, the literal translation of the name is “That Which Supports the Heavens”. Conceptual Development: The first Adûnaic name for this mountain was Menel-tūbil or Menel-Tûbal (SD/305, SD/363).

minal

noun. the heavens, sky

An Adûnaic noun for “the heaven” or “sky”, cognate of Q. menel but not a direct loan word from Quenya (SD/241). It was borrowed from Primitive Elvish, probably from an Avari dialect, and therefore underwent different phonetic development (SD/414). In one place Tolkien changed it minil (SD/414), but the form minal appears in various compounds and is probably to be preferred.