ril

root. brilliant (light), brilliance, brilliant (light), brilliance, [ᴹ√] glitter

This root first appeared as ᴹ√RIL “glitter” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. rilma “glittering light” and ᴹQ. rilya “glittering” (Ety/RIL), along with an extended form ᴹ√MBIRIL “✱crystal” (Ety/MBIRIL). Its most notable derivative was ᴹQ. Silmaril = ᴹQ. silma + ᴹ√RIL, an etymology Tolkien more or less retained thereafter (with ᴹQ. silma >> Q. silima); in the period of the Lost Tales from the 1910s ᴱQ. Silmaril was connected instead to ᴱQ. marilla “pearl” (LT1A/Silmarilli; QL/59). The root √RIL was mentioned several times in Tolkien’s later writtings, mostly in connection to Q. Silmaril, but also Q. Andúril, S. Idril, and S. mithril, and the root was variously glossed “brilliance” (PE17/47), “brilliant” (PE17/112), and “brilliant light” (PM/363).

-iel

suffix. feminine suffix

-ye Reconstructed

suffix. feminine suffix

ril

brilliance

n. brilliance, esp. used of white radiation. >> mithril

Id(h)ril

noun. Id(h)ril

#inner brilliance; ind (“inner thought, mind, heart”) + rill (“brilliance”) S form of Q Itarillë (“Itarildë”), but neither of the Q stems that the word contains were found in S.

rill

brilliance

(construct ril) (flame, glittering reflected light), no distinct pl. form except with article (idh rill).

aglar

brilliance

n. brilliance, glory. Q. alkar. o menel aglar elenath ! lit. 'from Firmament glory of the stars !'. aglar an|i Pheriannath  'glory to all the Halflings'.

celair

adjective. brilliant

fael

noun. gleaming brilliance (of the sun)

-il

suffix. feminine suffix

A fairly common feminine suffix appearing as -il in Sindarin, either formed on its own or as a variant of the feminine suffix -iel. This suffix was also common Noldorin words in The Etymologies of the 1930s, along with an alternate form -ril that seems to be a feminine agental suffix, the equivalent of masculine -(r)on, seen in pairs like N. melethril/melethron “lover” and N. odhril/odhron “parent” (Ety/MEL, ONO). The -il suffix and its -ril variant are seen all the way back in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s in pairs like G. gwadhril/gwadhron “inhabitant” (GL/47) and G. ainil/ainos “god”, female and male respectively (GL/18). So it seems this feminine suffix was well established in Tolkien’s mind.

aglar

brilliance

1) aglar (glitter, glory), pl. eglair if there is a pl. 2) galad (i ngalad = i ñalad), (bright light, sunlight, brilliance, radiance, glittering reflection), pl. gelaid (in gelaid = i ñgelaid), 3) rill (construct ril) (flame, glittering reflected light), no distinct pl. form except with article (idh rill).

galad

brilliance

(i ngalad = i ñalad), (bright light, sunlight, brilliance, radiance, glittering reflection), pl. gelaid (in gelaid = i ñgelaid)

celair

brilliant

celair (lenited gelair; no distinct pl. form)

aglar

brilliance

(glitter, glory), pl. eglair if there is a pl.

celair

brilliant

(lenited gelair; no distinct pl. form)

fael

gleaming brilliance

. No distinct pl. form. Note: a homophone means "fair-minded, generous, just".

aglar

glitter

aglar (brilliance, glory), pl. eglair if there is a pl.

aglar

glitter

(brilliance, glory), pl. eglair if there is a pl.

ross

glitter

†ross (polished metal), pl. ryss (idh ryss). Note: homophones mean ”reddish, russet, copper-coloured, red-haired” and also ”spray, foam, rain, dew”.

ross

glitter

(polished metal), pl. ryss (idh ryss). Note: homophones mean ”reddish, russet, copper-coloured, red-haired” and also ”spray, foam, rain, dew”.

rillë

brilliance

rillë noun "brilliance" (both the word and the gloss are uncertain, VT46:11)

silmaril

proper name. Great Jewel

The name of the great jewels crafted by Fëanor from which The Silmarillion legends gets their name (S/33). It sometimes appeared in the longer form Silmarillë (PE17/47, PM/363). Tolkien translated this name as “radiance of pure light” (Let/148) and said that it was a combination of silima, the crystaline substance from which the jewels were made (RGEO/65), and a derivative of the root √RIL “brilliant, brilliance” (PM/363), perhaps in the form [ᴹQ.] rille “brilliance”.

Conceptual Development: The name ᴱQ. Silmaril dates back to the earliest Lost Tales (LT1/128). Christopher Tolkien suggested that at this early stage it was a compound of ᴱQ. Sil “Moon” and ᴱQ. marilla “pearl” (LT1A/Silmaril), which is consistent with its Gnomish cognate G. Silubrilt. In The Etymologies, the name ᴹQ. Silmaril appears as a combination of silma “silver, shining white” and the root ᴹ√RIL (Ety/RIL, SIL), similar to its later etymology.

mirilya-

verb. glitter

mirilya- vb. "glitter" (MBIRIL)

-ldë

suffix. feminine agent

-llë

suffix. feminine agent

Some feminine agental suffixes were mentioned in Notes on Galadriel’s Song (NGS) from the late 1950s or early 1960s: -lle, -lde, and -nde, the first of which was an element in the name Tintallë (PE17/69). In NGS Tolkien said -lle was used less frequently as an agental suffix because -lle was also the 2nd person plural subject suffix “you (pl.)”. In fact, in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WP2) from this same period Tolkien considered changing Varda’s sobriquet to Tintalde (PE17/69).

However, in the late 1960s Tolkien decided the 2nd person plural suffix was actually -lde (VT49/16, 51), so presumably -lde would then be the less common agental suffix and -lle more common. Tolkien was considering -lde for 2nd plural as early as 1959, and in the 1959 page which specified -lde for 2nd plural, Tolkien also designated -lle for a feminine agent, the equivalent of masculine -ndo (PE17/190).

As for -nde, it was most notable as an element in Serindë “Broideress, Needlewoman” (S/63; MR/257; PM/333).

-ndë

suffix. feminine agent

alca-

verb. glitter

glitter

aglaur, aglor

adjective. brilliant

brilliant, glorious

aklōra

adjective. brilliant

ON. brilliant, glorious

klōra

adjective. brilliant

ON. brilliant

celeir

adjective. brilliant

celeir

adjective. brilliant

-(r)il

suffix. feminine agent

imladris(t)

place name. Rivendell

-dis

suffix. feminine agent

A feminine agental suffix appearing in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a suffix in N. meldis “friend (f.)”, the feminine equivalent of N. meldir which had the masculine agental suffix dîr (Ety/MEL).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s the suffix G. -(n)ir seems to be a feminine agent, probably based on (archaic) G. †nîr “woman”. For example: G. bridh(n)ir “queen” vs. G. bridhon “king” (GL/24) or G. gwar(e)dhir “f. companion” vs. G. gwar(e)dhon “m. companion” (GL/44). Sometimes -ir seems to be gender-neutral, however, as with G. faithir “savior” (GL/33) and G. hilmir “heir (m. or f.)” (GL/49). There are remnants of this feminine -ir suffix in The Etymologies, where in the first iteration of the entry for the root ᴹ√MEL Tolkien had meldir “friend (f.)” (EtyAC/MEL) before deciding meldir was masculine.

-il

suffix. feminine suffix

-êth

suffix. feminine suffix

A feminine suffix appearing in several names, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/11). On SD/427, Tolkien said that the affix -th was often found in feminine forms.

-î

suffix. feminine suffix

A suffix used to form feminine nouns from common or masculine nouns (SD/435). Another common variant was -ê (SD/438).