Early Quenya
nielíqi
feminine name. little Niéle, little Nielikki, little Niele
Derivations
Element in
- Eq. elle tande Nielikkilis “thither came little Niéle” ✧ MC/215; PE16/090; PE16/092
Variations
- Nielíqui ✧ LT1A/Nielíqui; LT1I/Nielíqui
- Nieliqi ✧ LT1A/Nielíqui; PE14/015; PME/069; QL/069
- Nielikki ✧ LT1A/Nielíqui; QL/069
- Nyelikki ✧ LT1A/Nielíqui; PME/069; QL/069
A daughter of Orome and Vána in the earliest Lost Tales (LT1/93), her name seems to be a combination of the roots ᴱ√NYEHE “weep” and ᴱ√LIQI “water”, as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Nielíqui). Her name also appeared as Nielikki or Nyelikki (QL/69).
Conceptual Development: In the Nieninqe poem from the late 1920s, Tolkien glossed the form Nielikkilis as {“little Nielikki” >>} “little Niéle” (MC/215; PE16/90, 92), an indication that the name had become Niele plus some sort of diminutive, perhaps ✶-ikki + ᴱ√LISI, as suggested by Lokyt (c.f. ᴱQ. miqilis “soft kisses” from the same poem). The form Nielikkilis reappeared in a later version of the poem from the mid-1950s, but it seems unlikely that this character was a part of Tolkien’s later conception of his legendarium.