with syncope, Quenenya form would be *nelquë, as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (QQ/nelequë)
Quenya
ehtyar
noun. spearman
an-
prefix. intensitive prefix, intensive, intensive prefix, plu-, plus, intensive, superlative, intensive
fairë
noun. †radiance, phantom, disembodied spirit when seen as a pale shape, spirit (disembodied), phantom, spirit (in general), spirit as a kind of being [independent of a body], spirit; †radiance
aina eruontarië
Holy Mother of God
ala-²
verb. to deny
hosta
noun. large number
nillë
noun. silver glint, Valinorian imagines [images of real stars]
airë¹
noun/adjective. holy, sanctity, holiness
nel(e)quë
cardinal. thirteen
ranya
noun. erratic wandering
hanwa
noun. seat
sa
pronoun. inanimate, it, it, it (inanimate), that
alassë
noun. happiness, *[ᴹQ.] joy, *merriment
naina-
verb. to lament
noa
noun/adjective. former, yesterday, tomorrow
-ndë
suffix. feminine agent
aite[?] kestallen
now, suppose, you ask me
cúma
noun. arch, crescent
á
particle. imperative particle
airë maría eruo ontaril
Holy Mary, Mother of GodThe fifth line of Aia María, Tolkien’s translation of the Ave Maria prayer. The first word airë “holy” is either an adjective or a form of address applied to the second word, María: the Quenyarized form of “Mary”. The third word Eruo “of God” is the genitive form of Eru “God”. The last word ontaril “mother” seems to be a feminine form of ᴹQ. ontaro “begetter, parent” (as suggested by the Wynne, Smith and Hostetter, VT43/32). If so, Eruo ontaril more literally means “*genetrix (female begetter) of God”.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> Airë María Eru-o ontaril = “*holy Mary God-of genetrix”
Conceptual Development: In the second version of the prayer, Tolkien used {Aini >>} aina (II) for “holy” instead of aire (I, III-IV). In the first two versions of the prayer Tolkien used Eruamillë (I-II) for “Mother of God”, a compound of Eru “God” and amil(lë) “mother”.
| I | II |III|IV| |Aire|{Aini >>} Aina|Aire| |María| |Eruamille|Eruo| | |ontaril|
heren
noun. order
laica
adjective. green
parca
adjective. naked (of persons)
palla
preposition/adverb. far beyond
ava
adverb/adjective. outside, beyond, outer, exterior
a aina fairë, eru órava (o)messë
God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on usThe eighth line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is the vocative a “O” followed by aina fairë = “holy spirit”. The fourth word Eru is Tolkien’s usual Quenya name for God. The phrase órava (o)messe “have mercy on us” is essentially the same as in the first line; see that entry for discussion.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> a Aina Fairë, Eru órava (o)me-sse = “*o Holy Spirit, God have-mercy us-on”
Conceptual Development: As in the first line, Tolkien first used the dative ómen for “on us” before revising it to the locative (o)messe (VT44/12, notes on line 8).
a aina neldië eru er órava (o)messë
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on usThe ninth line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is the vocative a “O” followed by aina Neldië = “holy Trinity”. The fourth word Eru is Tolkien’s usual Quenya name for God. The fifth word is er “one”, emphasizing the one-ness of the Trinity. The phrase órava (o)messe “have mercy on us” was abbreviated o.o. in the original, but presumably was the same as in earlier lines of the prayer; see the entry for the first line for discussion.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> a Aina Neldië Eru Er órava (o)me-sse = “*o Holy Trinity, God one have-mercy us-on”
Conceptual Development: Tolkien first wrote an adjectival form Erea before changing it to Er as a way of emphasizing the one-ness of the Trinity (VT44/17).
a eruion mardorunando, eru órava (o)messë
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on usThe seventh line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is the vocative a “O” followed by Eruion, a name for Christ as the “Son of God”. The third word Mardorunando seems to be a translation of “Redeemer of the World”. The fourth word Eru is Tolkien’s usual Quenya name for God. The phrase órava (o)messe “have mercy on us” is essentially the same as in the first line; see that entry for discussion.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> a Eru-ion Mard-o-runando, Eru órava (o)me-sse = “*o God-son world-of-redeemer, God have-mercy us-on”
Conceptual Development: Tolkien began two incomplete forms Io >> Yón before settling on Eruion. As in the first line, Tolkien first used the dative ómen for “on us” before revising it to the locative (o)messe (VT44/12, notes on line 7).
a hrísto órava ómessë
Christ, have mercy on usThe second line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is the vocative a “O” followed by a Quenyarization of the name of Christ: Hrísto. The phrase órava ómessë “have mercy on us” is essentially the same as in the first line; see that entry for discussion.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> a Hrísto órava (o)me-sse = “*o Christ have-mercy us-on”
Conceptual Development: Tolkien first wrote Elpino as the translation of Christ (VT44/15-6). He revised this to an incomplete form Hiris before settling on Hrísto (VT44/16). As in the first line, Tolkien first used the dative ómen for “on us” before revising it to the locative ómesse (VT44/12, notes on line 2).
aicanáro
masculine name. Fell Fire, Sharp FlameThe mother-name of Aegnor, from which his Sindarin name was derived (PM/346-7). Tolkien gave two distinct interpretations of this name: “Sharp Flame” (MR/323) and “Fell Fire” (PM/347). In both cases, the second element of the name was nár “fire, flame”, but the interpretation of the initial element aica shifted between “sharp” and “fell”. It is hard to say which of these two interpretations was preferred by J.R.R. Tolkien himself and Christopher Tolkien included both translations in the published version of The Silmarillion. See the entry for S. Aegnor for one possible interpretation.
Conceptual Development: In some late notes (VT41/14), J.R.R. Tolkien wrote this name as Ekyanāro “sharp flame” (S. Eignor). As suggested by Carl Hostetter (VT41/19, note #19), Tolkien seems to have (temporarily) shifted aica “sharp” (from the root ᴹ√AYAK) to ekya “sharp” (from the root ᴹ√EK), from which ᴹQ. ehte “spear” was also derived. This was perhaps a reversion to the earlier name N. Egnor (also derived from ᴹ√EK). However, Tolkien apparently abandoned these changes.
ainu
noun. holy one, spirit, *angelic spirit (m.), *[ᴱQ.] (pagan) god
alahen
adjective. eyeless
alamen
noun. good omen on departure
ceníte
adjective. seeing
lemba
adjective. left behind
liantë
noun. spider
aite[?] kestuvallen, tuluvanye
now supposing you asked me, a thing unlikely {or ridiculous} to suppose...
voro
adverb. ever, continually
ailin
noun. a large lake, *(large) lake, *[ᴹQ.] pool
aina
adjective. holy, revered, numinous, **divine, *[ᴱQ.] worshipful
airefëa
proper name. Holy SpiritA Quenya name for the Holy Spirit in Alcar i Ataren, Tolkien’s unfinished Quenya version of the Gloria Patri prayer (VT43/36). It is a compound of airë “holy, holiness” and fëa “spirit”.
lepende
noun. middle finger
nassë
noun. nature, true-being, person, individual
-lte
suffix. [Plural] 3, 3rd person plural, they
[?it/itē] kestallen, tuluvanye
if you ask me, I shall come
aistana elyë imíca nísi
blessed art thou amongst womenThe third line of Aia María, Tolkien’s translation of the Ave Maria prayer. This is a declarative statement. The first word aistana “blessed” is the predicate. The second word elyë “thou” is the subject, the emphatic form of the pronoun lye “you (polite)”. The last two words are the prepositional phrase imíca nísi “among women”, the latter being the plural of nís “woman”. As in the second line, there is no Quenya equivalent of the English word “are (art)” in the final version of the prayer.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> aistana elyë imíca nís-i = “*blessed [art] thou among woman-(plural)”
Conceptual Development: The first two versions of the prayer used manna for “blessed” instead of aistana. Tolkien considered several different prepositional elements for English “among”: mil (I deleted), mi (I-II), mitta (III deleted), mika (III) before settling on imíca (IV).
In version I-II, he used another word for “women”: nínaron, apparently genitive plural of an otherwise unattested word nína. In version I, he considered and deleted many variants before settling on nínaron. I’ve omitted them from this discussion because they appear nowhere else, and including them would obscure the development of the phrase. For further details, see VT43/27, 31.
| | I | II |III|IV| | |elye|manna|aistana| |{manna na >>}|na manna|nalye|elye| |{mil >>}|mi|{mitta >>} mika|imíca| |[various >>]|nínaron|nísi|
ala-¹
verb. to plant, grow, *grow (of plants), **to thrive, *flourish
cesta-
verb. to seek, search for
oio
noun/adverb. an endless period, ever, ever, everlastingly
a laita tárienna
bless (or praise) [them] to the height
aia maría quanta eruanno
Hail Mary, full of graceThe first line of Aia María, Tolkien’s translation of the Ave Maria prayer. The first word Aia is a variant of aiya “hail”, followed by a Quenyarized form of “Mary”: María. The third word quanta is attested elsewhere with the meaning “full, filled” (PE17/68). The last word Eruanno is a compound of Eru “God” and anna “gift”, in the genitive, so that quanta Eruanno literally means “*full of God’s gift”.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> Aia María quanta Eru-ann(a)-o = “*Hail Mary full God-gift-of”
Conceptual Development: This phrase was quite similar in earlier versions of this prayer, but the earlier versions used erulissenen instead of Eruanno. This word is a compound of Eru “God” and lissë “grace”, in the instrumental, so that quanta erulissenen literally means “*filled by God’s grace”.
| I |II|III|IV| |Aiya|Aia| |María| |quanta|erulissenen|quanta| |erulissenen|quanta|Eruanno|
acas
noun. neck (vertebrae), rock ridge, *neck [vertebrae], **spine
culuma
noun. orange (fruit)
hó
noun. spirit, shadow
niquis(së)
noun. frost-patterns, ice-flake, snowflake, petal (loose) of a white flower
airë²
noun. sea
ai²
adverb. supposing, suppose, maybe, **any@@@ The gloss “any” was suggested by Tamas Ferencz and Robert Reynolds based on aiquen “if anybody, whoever”. NQNT also uses aiquen in the sense “anybody”.
a laita te, laita te
bless them
á hyamë rámen úcarindor
pray for us sinnersThe sixth line of Aia María, Tolkien’s translation of the Ave Maria prayer. The first word á is the imperative particle, indicating that the verb form hyamë “pray” is an imperative. The third word rámen “for us” is combination of the preposition rá “for” (lit. “on behalf of”) and the dative men of the pronoun me “us”. The last word úcarindor “sinners” is the plural of úcarindo* “sinner”.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> á hyamë rá-me-n úcarindo-r = “*do pray for-us-(dative) sinner-(plural)”
Conceptual Development: In the first two versions of the prayer Tolkien suffixed the pronoun lye “you (polite)” to the imperative particle a: alye (I-II). He also used the verb arca (I-II) instead of hyamë (III-IV) for “pray”. He used several different words for the preposition “for”: atar (I), meter (II), hrá (III deleted) and rá, always followed by the pronoun me “us”, sometimes dative (men) and sometimes not (me).
Tolkien considered several words for “sinners”: ulcarindor (I deleted), naicandor (I), naicor (I replacement), naici (II deleted) and úcarindor (IV). In version II of the prayer, Tolkien replaced “sinners” with a subordinate clause: i naici nar “[those] who are sinners” (II deleted) >> i naiquear “[those] who sin” (II).
Wynne, Smith and Hostetter analyzed the word naiquear as an adjective used as a plural noun: “sinners” (VT43/34). However, since it replaced a verbal phrase, I think it is likelier to be the present tense of an otherwise unattested verb naiqua- “*to sin”.
| | I | II |III|IV| |{arca >>}|alye|á| |{alye >>}|arca|hyamë| |{atarmen >>}|atarme|meterme|{hrá >>} rá men|rámen| |{ulcarindor >>}| naicandor [>> naicor]|i {naici nar >>} naiquear|úcarindor|
ainas
noun. hallow, fane, **shrine, *holy place, *sanctuary
cuivië
noun. awakening
him-
verb. to adhere
laceníte
adjective. unseeing, blind
lindë
noun. air, tune, singing, song, singing, song, musical sound
macar
noun. swordsman, †forger
wenya
adjective. fair, beautiful
finë
noun. a hair, single hair, filament
aha
noun. rage
aian
noun. holy thing or object or place
aina wendë mi wenderon
Holy Virgin of virginsThe twelfth line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is aina “holy” followed by Wende mi Wenderon “Virgin of Virgins”. The word wendë means “virgin”, appearing in both the singular and genitive plural wenderon “of virgins”. This genitive plural form is unusual. The normal genitive plural of a noun ending in -ë is -ion, which would produce *wendion. See the entry on the plural nouns for further discussion.
The function of the third word mi is unclear. Normally this word means “in”, but Wynne, Smith and Hostetter suggested that it is used here with the sense “among” (elsewhere usually Q. imbë) as a way of emphasizing the superlative nature of Mary’s virginity: “*virgin among all virgins” (VT44/18).
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> Aina Wende mi Wende-r-on = “*holy virgin among virgin-(plural)-of”
aira
adjective. holy, sanctified, *[ᴱQ.] worshipful
aira
adjective. hallowed, holy, holy, sanctified
anto
noun. mouth
arma
noun. a ray of sunlight, ray of sunlight
arya
adjective. excelling, excelling, *better
au-
prefix. away, away (from), away from the speaker or the place of his thought
enta
adjective. another, one more
nië
noun. tear
sapta
noun. delved hole, pit
lehta-
verb. to loose, slacken
ríma
noun. edge, hem, border
a aina maria arca atarmë
Holy Mary, pray for usThe tenth line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is the vocative a “O” followed by aina Maria = “holy Mary”. The fourth word is the aorist form of the verb arca- “to pray”. The fifth word atarme is the preposition atar “for” combined with the pronoun me “us”. A similar construction was used in version I of the sixth line of the Aia María prayer (VT43/26).
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> a Aina Maria arca atar-me = “*o Holy Mary pray for-us”
alalvinórë
place name. Land of Many ElmsA name appearing only on PE17/153, probably a later version of ᴱQ. Alalminóre, though this place had not appeared in Tolkien’s stories for many years. The status of this location in later stages of the Legendarium is unknown. It is a compound of alalvëa “having many elms” and nórë “land”.
Conceptual Development: In these late notes, this name was first written as alalmi-nóre, identical in form to the Early Quenya name. This form was deleted and replaced by alalbinóre. Later still, the form alalvinore was written nearby in ballpoint (the omission of the accent over the ó probably an oversight).
linquë
noun. (leaf of a) hyacinth, grass, reed@@@ per Helge Fauskanger, reference on PE17/62 may refer to plant or to the kind of reedy leaf that a hyacinth has
ló
preposition. (away) from, by agent [of]
nill[ë]
noun. small [woman]
ungwë
noun. spider’s web
-nta
suffix. 3rd person plural neuter, 3rd person plural possessive, theirs
ahtar-
verb. to do back, react, to requite, avenge
ahto
noun. wright, maker
airon
noun. ocean
airëa
adjective. holy (applied to persons)
lairë
noun. summer
raina
adjective. netted, caught in a net
runya
adjective. fiery red
ta⁴
adverb. there
tenca
noun. letter (epistola)
yanta
noun. bridge
álamë tulya úsahtienna
[and] lead us not into temptationThe ninth line of Átaremma, Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Lord’s Prayer. The first word Álamë is a combination of the negative imperative particle ála “not” and the pronoun me “us”. It is followed by the aorist form of the verb tulya “lead” and the allative form úsahtienna “into temptation” of the noun úsahtië “temptation”. Thus, Álamë tulya úsahtienna is more literally “*imperative-not-us lead temptation-into”. In the final version of the phrase, there is no Quenya element representing the English word “and”.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> á-la-më tulya úsahtie-nna = “*do-not-us lead temptation-into”
Conceptual Development: The word ar “and” appears only in version I of the prayer. It was omitted from all later versions for unknown reasons.
The earliest version used a different negative imperative particle úa (I-IIa). Versions IIa-IV also suffixed the pronominal element lye “you (polite)” to the imperative element, as was also the case in line 6 of the prayer. In all early versions of the prayer (I-IV), the object pronoun me appeared after the verb.
The early versions (I-IV) used a different verb mittanya- for “lead”. Tolkien considered several words for “temptation”: terfantië (I deleted) and terpellië (I-IIa), insangarë and sahtië (V deleted), before settling on úsahtië (V-VI). All appear with the allative suffix -nna: “(in)to temptation”.
| | I |IIa|IIb|III|IV|V|VI| |ar| | |{úna >>}|úa|úalye|alalye|Álalye|Álame| |mittanya|tulya| |{men >>}|me| | |{terfantie >>}|terpellienna|insangarenna|{sahtienna >>} úsahtienna|
(ai)que kestanellan, (ai) tullenye
if you had asked me, I should have come
aiya eärendil elenion ancalima
hail Eärendil, brightest of stars
inga
noun. top, top, highest pointA word have the same root (√ING) as the name Ingwë, giving a clue to the original meaning of that name. In a few places, the plural Ingar of this word was used as another name for the Vanyar (MR/230, 265), but Tolkien more frequently used the plural Ingwë for this purpose: see Ingwi.
In later writings, this word was generally presented as a noun meaning “top, highest point” (PM/340, VT47/28), but in the Etymologies, ᴹQ. inga was an adjective glossed “first”, as in “foremost” (Ety/ING).
Tolkien stated that “inga ... applied to shapes pointing upward” but also that it “referred primarily to position and could be used of tops relatively broad” (VT47/28). Therefore, inga referred to the highest level whether it was a single point or a plateau.
toa
noun. wood (as material)
ai! laurië lantar lassi súrinen
ah! like gold fall the leaves in the windFirst line @@@
aiwë
noun. (small) birdA noun meaning “(small) bird” (SA/lin¹, Ety/AIWĒ), appearing in Radagast’s Quenya name Aiwendil “Lover of Birds” (UT/401). It was derived from primitive ᴹ✶aiwē like its Sindarin cognate aew (Ety/AIWĒ).
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, ᴱQ. aiwe appeared as the cognate of G. aigli “bird” (GL/17), but in Early Noldorin notes from the 1920s, the cognate of ᴱN. aiw “bird” was given as ᴱQ. oive (PE13/136, 158) or oi(we) (PE13/132). A similar form oio (stem oiw-) appeared in notes on the declension of the noun from the early 1930s (PE21/12). In The Etymologies from the mid-1930s, the form ᴹQ. aiwe was restored (Ety/AIWĒ), and this is the source of the derivation given above.
-n
suffix. dative
a carnë ta yallë b (carnë)
A did that as / like B (did)
aiquen
pronoun. if anybody, whoever, *[ᴺQ.] anybody
alalbë
noun. inflorescence
alalmë
noun. inflorescence
alalmë
noun. inflorescence
almarë
noun. blessedness, blessings, good fortune, bliss
cantëa
ordinal. fourth
lango
noun. a passage (physical), neck, neck, neck, (physical) passage
lár
noun. a league, league
peltas
noun. fence of fixed stakes, a ‘pale’
rista-
verb. to cut
verya-
verb. to marry (of husband and wife), be joined to
ála
particle. do not
írë
noun. desire
caita-
verb. to lie (down)
talda
adverb. to the bottom
forya
adjective. right (hand), dexter
a²
article. accusative definite article
talta
adjective. tottering, unsteady, sloping, tilted, leaning, inclined
aica
adjective. fell, terrible, dire, *[ᴹQ.] sharp
aistana
adjective. *blessed
alalvëa
adjective. having many elms
atalta-
verb. to collapse, fall in, fall down, slip down in ruin
ta⁵
conjunction. and also, then
yé
interjection. lo!, what a ..., what is more, lo, now see!, what a ...
vëa
adjective. adult, manly, vigorous
ilqua
noun. everything, all
vëo
noun. living creature
alahasta
adjective. unmarred
alanessë
noun. nicotiana, pipeweed
ham-
verb. to judge
landa
noun. a boundary, boundary
ostirion
noun. fort
quár(e)
noun. fist, (tightly closed) hand
nixë
noun. frost, ice-flake or snow-flake
aiya eldalië ar atanatári, utúlie’n aurë
Behold, people of the Eldar and Fathers of Men, the day has come!
hyar-
prefix. left-hand, south
isildurioni
collective name. Heirs of Isildur
runda
adjective. smooth, polished
ráva
adjective. free, unfettered, uncontrolled, lawless
alalyë nattira arcandemmar sangiessemman
despise not our petitions in our necessitiesThe second line of Ortírielyanna, Tolkien’s translation of the Sub Tuum Praesidium prayer. The first word alalyë is 2nd-person-polite form of the negative imperative ála “[do] not”. The second word nattira is the aorist/infinitive form of the verb nattira- “to despise”.
The third word arcandemmar “our petitions” is the 2nd-plural-exclusive-possessive (-mma “our”) plural form of arcandë “petition”. The last word sangiessemman “in our necessities” is the 2nd-plural-exclusive-possessive (-mma “our”) locative (-ssë “in”) plural form of sangië “necessity”. In these two words, the final -r and -n mark the nouns as plural: “petitions” and “necessities”, respectively.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> a-la-lye nattira arcande-mma-r sangie-sse-mma-n = “*do-not-thou despise petition-our-(plural) necessity-in-our-(plural)”
Conceptual Development: The word arca·ndemmar was first written anarcandemman, ending with a plural marker -n instead of -r and with a prefix, possibly the intensive prefix an- (VT44/8). The order of the first three words was changed: anarcandemman alalye nattira >> alalye nattira arca·ndemmar (VT44/5). A seperator “·” appeared in the word arca·ndemmar, dividing the word arca·nde into is constituent elements: arca- “pray” and an abstract noun ending -ndë (VT44/8).
The form sangie-sse-mma-n is unusual in that it places the locative suffix -ssë (“in”) before the possessive suffix -mma (“our”). Elsewhere the possessive suffix usually preceded the case suffix. A similar construction appears in some rejected forms in Tolkien’s Átaremma prayer from the same time period (VT43/20): see the entry possessive pronouns on for discussion. This construction may explain the use of the plural marker -n instead of the more typical -r, since the plural of the locative suffix -ssë was -ssen (Plotz).
lamba
noun. physical tongue, tongue (physical)
lenda-
verb. to go free
nildë
noun. friend (f.)
orta-
verb. to raise, cause to rise, lift (up), to rise
alasaila ná lá carë tai mo nave mára
it is unwise not to do what one judges good
kelu-
verb. to (begin to) flow, spring forth (of water)
úmëa
adjective. abundant, swarming, teeming
hala
noun. a cast shadow, cast shadow
al(a)-¹
prefix. in-, un-, not, †-less, without
má
noun. hand
tar
affix. high, king or queen (in compounds)
turo
noun. master, victor, lord
nan-
prefix. back (again), back or again, backwards
ai! lassi lantar laurië súrinen
ah! leaves fall golden in [by means of] the windThe 1st phrase of the prose Namárië. Tolkien altered the text from the poetic version as follows:
> ai! laurië lantar lassi súrinen >> ai! lassi lantar laurië súrinen
Tolkien moved the subject lassi “leaves” to be before the verb lantar “fall (pl.)”, consistent with the usual subject-verb word order of Quenya. However, for reasons unclear, he also moved the adjective laurië “golden (pl.)” after the verb, keeping it separate from the noun it modifies. Ordinally, adjectives in Quenya preceed the noun they modify (PE17/93, PM/346). It seems to me to be more natural to keep the adjective back in its original position.
> ai! lassi lantar laurië súrinen »»» ai! laurië* lassi lantar súrinen
One possible explanation for this unusual placement is that Tolkien may have considered laurië to be an adverb (“like gold”) instead of an adjective (“golden”). This is consistent with English transalation of this phrase in the poetic Namárië: “like gold fall the leaves in the wind”.
There are several places in the corpus where Tolkien designated the word laurië as an adverb (PE17/58, 61, 62). However, in the commentary on the Namárië poem (RGEO/62), Tolkien explicitly states that the word laurië is the plural form of the adjective laurëa. Since laurië is the form of both the plural adjective and the adverb derived from the noun laurë “gold (light or colour)”, perhaps Tolkien was playing with this ambiguity in his choice of word order.
aina-
verb. to hallow, bless, treat as holy
aiya
interjection. hail, behold, lo
ai¹
interjection. ah, alas
alma
noun. flower
cas
noun. head
maxë
noun. handiness
nel-
prefix. tri-
sac-
verb. to close
taxë
noun. nail
yá
conjunction. when
úra
adjective. torrid, sultry, unpleasantly hot
aista
adjective. *holy
caia-
verb. [unglossed]
coron
noun. mound
hahta
noun. fence, hedge
lala-
verb. to laugh
lanwa
noun. within bounds, limited, finite, (well-)defined
manna
adjective. *blessed
nírë
noun. force
nótë
noun. number
ramba
noun. wall
ringë
noun. cold
russë
noun. head or pelt of red hair
silma
noun. crystal (white)
tambë
preposition. as, so
thar-
verb. [unglossed]
vinya
adjective. young, young, new
linga-
verb. to hang, dangle
(a)lá
interjection. yes
al(a)-²
prefix. well, happily
alasaila
adjective. unwise
cesta-
verb. to ask
hróva
adjective. dark, dark brown (of hair)
luhta-
verb. to bow
norima
adjective. running swiftly course
telima
adjective. final
tinga-
verb. go (for a long while), to go (for a long while)
yána
adjective. wide, vast, huge
quesso
noun. minstrel, reciterWhat AQ. quenso would have developed into if it survived in later Quenya speech. Tolkien describe quenso as archaic (PE19/83) and it is likely it fell out of ordinary use.
lav-
verb. lick, to lick
ní
preposition. beneath, not touching, under
ungo
noun. cloud, dark shadow
yulmë
noun. drinking, carousal
tulca
adjective. firm, strong, immovable, steadfast
a¹
interjection. O, Oh
-(i)nquë
suffix. thou-and-I (dual)
si
adjective. this
ye
pronoun. who
axo
noun. bone
onna
noun. child
yú-
prefix. both
hwindë
noun. birch
lumba
adjective. gloomy
lumbë
noun. gloom, shadow
mundo
noun. bull
cúvima
adjective. concealable
* larma
noun. raiment
* quaista
fraction. one tenth@@@ as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (QQ/quaista)
* aimo
noun. saint
* il-
prefix. all, every, every
* aipio
noun. cherry
* airimo
noun. priest
* phanto
noun. whaleThis word only appears in the name of the Númenórean ship Turuphanto “Wooden-whale” (UT/191). The language of the name is unclear, but Carl Hostetter suggested (Tolklang/5.31) that the name is likely to be Quenya, since ᴱQ. turu meant “wood”. If so, the second element phanto might be Quenya for “whale”. This spelling is unusual, however. In Quenya, [f] was normally spelled “f”, while the spelling “ph” appeared only in languages like Sindarin or Adûnaic.
Conceptual Development: The only other attested words for “whale” are the very early G. uin and G. uimoth in the Gnomish Lexicon (GL/74).
* aitalë
noun. reverence, worship, religion
* aiwestë
noun. bird’s nest
* otsolë
noun. (seven-day) week
* ser-
verb. to sew
* úlima
adjective. pourable, liquid
* nac-
verb. to hew, cut, to hate, kill
* ahtar-
verb. to do back, react, to requite, avenge
* ahto
noun. wright, maker
* carya
adjective. doing
* sanda
noun. shield
* ruc-
verb. to feel fear or horror, to flee (to)
* alas
noun. marble
* ettul-
verb. to come out, issue
* airita-
verb. to hallow
* tel-
verb. to end, finish, to cease
* accal-
verb. to blaze, shine (suddenly and) brilliantly
* ahya-
verb. to change
* aita-
verb. to revere, worship
* a-
prefix. infinitive prefix
* cuv-
verb. to conceal
* rillë
noun. brilliance
* tyer-
verb. to worship
* pec
noun. nut
* aino
noun. god
* lónë
noun. ilse
* rindë
adjective. swift
* -a
suffix. adjectival suffixThis suffix is frequently used to create the adjective form of a noun, especially in the form -ëa for nouns ending in -ë. This function dates back to CE. ✶-ā.
The eleventh line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is aina “holy” followed by Eruontarië, a name of Mary as the genetrix (female begetter) of God. As pointed out by Wynne, Smith and Hostetter, this word is used to translate Latin “genetrix”, where as Latin “mater” is translated by amil(lë) (VT44/8).
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> Aina Eruontarië = “*Holy God-genetrix”