lissë

sweet

lissë adj. "sweet" (Nam, RGEO:66); also noun "sweetness", used metaphorically for "grace" (VT43:29, VT44:18); in this sense the word may be compounded as #Erulissë, q.v. Genitive lissëo in VT44:18. - In the entry LIS in the Etymologies, Tolkien originally gave lissë as the noun "honey", but then changed it to lis with stem liss- (VT45:28)

lissë

adjective. sweet

lissë miruvóreva mí oromardi

of sweet nectar in the high-halls

The 4th phrase of the prose Namárië. Tolkien altered the text from the poetic version as follows:

> mi oromardi lissë miruvóreva >> lissë miruvóreva mí oromardi

Tolkien moved the possessive element lissë miruvóreva “of sweet nectar” forward in the prose version so that it immediately follows the noun it modifies, namely the lintë yuldar “swift draughts” of the previous line. Thus “swift draughts of sweet mead” as in the English translation of the poem.

miruvórë

noun. mead, nectar, special wine or cordial, drink of the Elves, (lit.) precious juice, mead, nectar, special wine or cordial, drink of the Elves, (lit.) precious juice, [ᴱQ.] sweet drink

The Quenya word for the special Elvish drink of Rivendell, more commonly known by its (Sindarin) name S. miruvor (LotR/290), itself a loan word from Quenya (PE17/37). The Quenya word dates all the way back to the earliest versions of the legendarium, with ᴱQ. miruvōre “nectar, drink of the Valar, sweet drink” appearing in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/61), and the shorter form miruvor appearing The Lost Tales from this same period (LT1/153).

Possible Etymology: In notes from 1967, Tolkien admitted this word was inspired by Germanic među + wōþi = “sweet mead”, which would have become miřuwoři in the English language branch (PE17/64). In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s it was a combination of ᴱQ. miru “wine” and ᴱQ. wóre “sweet” (QL/61, 104). In notes from the late 1950s, Tolkien redefined it as a combination of √MIR “precious” and ✶wōri “juice”, but then declared this was a false etymology (PE17/37-38). Indeed, in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 Tolkien said the Quenya word was based on Valarin mirubhōze (WJ/399), elsewhere glossed “a honey wine” (PE17/38), with the element Val. mirub being “wine”.

melda

beloved, dear, sweet

melda adj. "beloved, dear, sweet" (MEL, VT45:34), superlative arimelda *"dearest" (PE17:56, see ar- #2), meldielto "they are beloved" (sc. meld[a]-ië-lto "beloved-are-they" however, both the stative verb ending -ië "is/are" and the ending -lto "they" may be obsolete in LotR-style Quenya) (FS) PE17:55 gives the comparative form as arimelda or ammelda and the superlative as eremelda, anamelda or once again ammelda (PE17:55).

miquelis

soft, sweet kiss

miquelis (miquelis(s)-) noun "soft, sweet kiss" (PE16:96)

nes-

sweet smelling

nes- ?verb/?root "sweet smelling" (PE17:100); cf. Nísimaldar

raina

smiling, gracious, sweet-faced

raina (2) adj. "smiling, gracious, sweet-faced" (VT44:35, PE17:182). Cf. raita #3.

linda

adjective. beautiful (of sound), sweet, melodious; soft, gentle, light, beautiful (of sound), sweet, melodious; soft, gentle, light, [ᴱQ.] kind; [ᴹQ.] fair

mi oromardi lissë miruvóreva

of the sweet mead in lofty halls

Fourth line @@@

miquelis

noun. (soft, sweet) kiss

raina

adjective. smiling, gracious, sweet-faced

melda

adjective. dear, beloved, beloved, dear, [ᴹQ.] sweet

laptelis

noun. candy, (lit.) sweet licking up

A neologism for “candy” coined by Luinyelle posted on 2024-12-22 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a combination of laptë “licking up” and lissë “sweet”, so more literally “sweet licking up”.

liscemorva

noun. sweet potato

A neologism for “sweet potato” coined by Luinyelle posted on 2025-11-23 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS) as a combination of √LIS “sweet” with [ᴺQ.] cemorva “potato”

lissimat

noun. dessert, (lit.) sweet-meal

A neologism coined by Luinyelle posted on 2024-01-14 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a combination of lissë “sweet” and [ᴹQ.] mat (matt-) “meal”.

lissimatta

noun. sweet, piece of confectionary

A neologism coined by Valerie posted on 2024-01-14 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a combination of lissë “sweet” and matta “food”.

nisquë

noun. incense, *(lit.) sweet smoke

A neologism for “incense” from Helge Fauskanger’s NQNT (NQNT), which seems to be a combination of nis- “sweet” + usquë “✱smoke”. In VQP (VQP), Tamas Ferencz instead coined ᴺQ. ussa based on the early root ᴱ√USU “✱burn” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, but the actual form of this root was likely ✱ᴱ√ƷUÐU (e.g. its Gnomish form was gudh-) rendering ᴺQ. ussa “incense” dubious.

liscornë

noun. any sweet fried bread, doughnut

A neologism for “doughnut” or any “sweet fried bread irrespective of shape” coined by Orondil posted on 2024-05-03 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a combination of lissë “sweet” and [ᴱQ.] cornë “loaf”. This word also could mean “cake”, but for that we have a different neologism lissimbas.

lissimbas

noun. (sweet) cake (eaten as dessert)

A neologism coined by Luinyelle posted on 2024-05-03 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a combination of lissë (lissi-) “sweet” and m(b)assa “bread”.

lista-

verb. to sweeten, make sweet

meluquetya

noun. sweet-speaking person, flatterer

máhis

noun. maize, either sweet corn or field corn

A neologism for a “maize [corn]” appearing in the VQP (VQP) as a loan word from native american “mahis”. If you prefer a native Quenya word, see the neologism [ᴺQ.] porisalquë instead.

linda

fair, beautiful

linda adj. "fair, beautiful" (of sound) (SLIN, LIND; VT45:27), "soft, gentle, light" (PE16:96), "beautiful, sweet, melodious of sound" (PE17:150); for Linda as a noun, see Lindar.

alima

fair, good

alima adj. "fair, good" (also alya) (PE17:146)

alya

fair, good

alya (1) adj. "fair, good" (PE17:146), "prosperous, rich, abundant, blessed" (GALA). In a deleted entry in Etym, the glosses provided were "rich, blessed"; another deleted entry defined alya as "rich, prosperous, blessed". (GALA, [ÁLAM], VT42:32, 45:5, 14)

corma

ring

#corma noun "ring", isolated from #cormacolindo "Ring-bearer", pl. cormacolindor (LotR3:VI ch. 4, translated in Letters:308); Cormarë "Ringday", a festival held on Yavannië 30 in honour of Frodo Baggins (Appendix D)

corma

noun. ring

A word for “ring” appearing as an element in Q. Cormacolindor “Ring-bearers” (LotR/953), clearly derived from the root √KOR “round”. It also appeared in a translation of the title of The Lord of the Rings that Tolkien included in a 1973 letter to Phillip Brown: i Túrin i Cormaron.

Conceptual Development: Another translation of “Lord of the Rings” is known from an exhibit of Tolkien manuscripts: Heru imillion, where presumably the element millë means “ring” (DTS/54). In a deleted entry from The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien had ᴹQ. kolma “ring ([?on] finger)” [or possibly “or finger”] derived from a deleted root ᴹ√KOL (EtyAC/KOL).

lir-

verb. to sing, to sing, [ᴹQ.] chant

liru-

verb. to sing, to sing (gaily)

melin

dear

melin adj. "dear" (MEL)

melwa

lovely

melwa adj. "lovely" (LT1:262); compare melda in Tolkiens later Quenya.

milya

soft, gentle, weak

milya (1) adj. "soft, gentle, weak" (VT45:34)

milyar

noun. soft

soft [sonants]

miruvor

mead

miruvor, full form miruvórë noun "mead", "a special wine or cordial"; possessive miruvóreva "of mead" (Nam, RGEO:66; WJ:399).In the "Qenya Lexicon", miruvórë was defined "nectar, drink of the Valar" (LT1:261).

mussë

soft

mussë adj. "soft" (VT:39:17), also used as a noun (perhaps primarily in the pl. form mussi) with the same meaning as mussë tengwi, see below. (VT39:17)

mussë

adjective. soft

risil

ring

*risil (þ) noun "ring" (on the ground) in Rithil-Anamo, q.v.

sonda

dear, fond

[sonda adj. "dear, fond" (VT46:15)]

vanya

fair

vanya (1) adj. "fair" (FS), "beautiful" (BAN), a word referring to beauty that is "due to lack of fault, or blemish" (PE17:150), hence Arda Vanya as an alternative to Arda Alahasta for "Arda Unmarred" (ibid., compare MR:254). Nominal pl. Vanyar "the Fair", the first clan of the Eldar; the original meaning of this stem was "pale, light-coloured, not brown or dark" (WJ:382, 383, stem given as WAN), "properly = white complexion and blonde hair" (PE17:154, stem given as GWAN); stems BAN vs. WAN discussed, see PE17:150.

vanë

fair

vanë adj. "fair" (LT1:272; in Tolkien's later Quenya rather vanya)

vanë

adjective. fair, fair, [ᴱQ.] lovely

írima

lovely, beautiful, desirable

írima adj. "lovely, beautiful, desirable" (ID, FS, PE17:155), in FS also pl. írimar; in the "Qenya" of Fíriel's Song, adjectives in -a form their plurals in -ar instead of -ë as in LotR-style Quenya.

ussa

noun. incense

lis

root. *sweet, [ᴱ√] sweetness, [ᴹ√] honey

This root was connected to sweet things throughout Tolkien’s life. It appeared as ᴱ√LISI “sweetness” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with some derivatives of similar meaning as well as others having to do with grace and blessing, such as ᴱQ. lis (list-) “grace, blessing”; Tolkien made it clear that “sweetness” was the root meaning (QL/54-55). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon the “sweetness” words all began with gl- and “grace” words with l-: G. glais “sweetness”, G. glist “sugar” (GL/39) vs. G. list “grace, favour, kindness”, G. lista- “bless” (GL/54). This connection between √LIS and “grace” survived in Tolkien’s later writing, since he used Q. lissë for “grace” in Quenya prayers of the 1950s (VT43/29; VT44/12).

This root appeared as ᴹ√LIS “honey” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, with Noldorin derivatives still beginning with gl-: ᴹQ. lis vs. N. glî “honey” (Ety/LIS). It appeared as √(G)LIS in “Definitive Linguistic Notes” (DLN) from 1959, still serving as the basis for words for honey and sweetness (PE17/154), though some of the Sindarin “sweet” words began with l- in this document, such as: S. laich “sweet” (PE17/148).

lisyā

adjective. sweet

glis

root. *sweet

ñyel

root. ring(ing), ring(ing), [ᴹ√] sing, give out a sweet sound

This root first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√NYEL “ring, sing, give out a sweet sound”, with derivatives like ᴹQ. nyelle/N. nell “bell”, ᴹQ. nyello “singer” and N. nella- “sound (of bells)” (Ety/NYEL, EtyAC/NYEL), though an earlier hint of it might be seen in the Gnomish verb G. nelu- “ring (tr. & intr.)” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/60). Tolkien also mentioned this root in the first version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa from the 1930s (TQ1) as having a variant √NYOL, also meaning “ring” but representing a deeper sound (PE18/45).

In the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa from the early 1930s (TQ2), he gave the variants as √ŊYEL/√ŊYOL “ring”, in keeping with his decision to remove initial palatalized dentals from Primitive Elvish. A similar set of variants √(Ñ)GYEL/√(Ñ)GYOL “ringing” appeared in a list of sound roots from around 1959-60 (PE17/138).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is best to ignore Tolkien’s decision to remove initial palatalized dentals from Primitive Elvish, and I recommend retaining √NYEL as the root for “bell” words.

lindā

adjective. *sweet sounding

nes-

adjective. sweet smelling

nith Reconstructed

root. smell sweet

A hypothetical root serving as the basis for the element nis- in late Quenya words like Q. nísima “fragrant” in Nísimaldar “Fragrant Trees” (UT/167); the root must be ✱√NITH rather than ✱✱√NIS because otherwise the Quenya forms would have nir-. It may be a later iteration of ᴱ√NṚŘṚ [NṚÐṚ] “smell sweet” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, given as nṛþ- in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/30). This early ð vs þ variation was reflected in words like ᴱQ. nar (nard-) vs. G. narth “odour” and ᴱQ. narda- “smell sweetly” vs. G. drith- “it smells, smacks of, savours of”.

Another possibly related form is ✶nes- “sweet smelling” < √NE “scent” serving as the basis for Q. alanessë and S. galanes > galenas “tobacco” = “✱sweet smelling growth” in notes on the words and phrases in The Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/100).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I’d recommend sticking with ✱√NITH for sweet smelling, as this form has been known for longer and produces clearer results in derived words.

melnā

noun. dear, beloved

bani

adjective. fair

wanyā

adjective. fair

ñyol

root. ring(ing)

laich

adjective. sweet

leich

adjective. sweet

imloth melui

place name. Lovely or Sweet Flower-valley

A rose-filled valley in Gondor (LotR/866) translated “Lovely Flowery Vale” (RC/582) or “Sweet Flower-valley” (VT42/18), a combination of †im “valley” and loth “flower” (VT42/18) with otherwise unattested melui “lovely”. In this position, an adjective like melui would ordinarily undergo soft mutation to velui, but in notes from around 1969 Tolkien indicated this was an example of the graduation loss of m-mutation in late Sindarin (PE23/138 note #12).

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this name was already N. Imloth Melui.

melui

adjective. lovely, sweet

raen

adjective. smiling, gracious, sweet-faced

Imloth Melui

noun. sweet flower valley

im (“between, within”) + loth (“a head of small flowers”), mel (“dear”) + ui (adjective suffix) #M sometimes resists lenition when otherwise may cause confusion.

lend

adjective. tuneful, sweet

melui

adjective. lovely, sweet

This word only occurs in the place name Imloth Melui, a vale where roses grew

lend

sweet

(tuneful), pl. lind. Note: a homophone means ”way, journey”. No Sindarin adjective describing sweet taste occurs in published material.

melui

sweet

1. (= lovely) melui (lenited velui; no distinct pl. form) (VT42:18). 2) lend (tuneful), pl. lind. Note: a homophone means ”way, journey”. No Sindarin adjective describing sweet taste occurs in published material.

melui

sweet

(lenited velui; no distinct pl. form) (VT42:18).

liss Speculative

adjective. fragrant, sweet

lend

adjective. tuneful, sweet

raen

adjective. smiling

adj. smiling, gracious, sweet-faced. Q. raina. >> Gilraen

Imloth Melui

Imloth Melui

The name Imloth Melui is translated as "sweet flower-valley".

lend

tuneful

lend (sweet), pl. lind. Note: a homophone means ”way, journey”.

lend

tuneful

(sweet), pl. lind. Note: a homophone means ”way, journey”.

mell

adjective. dear, beloved

bain

fair

_ adj. _fair, good, blessed, wholesome, favourable, without evil/bad element, not dangerous, evil or hostile. bân or bain << bân pl. bain. >> bân

bân

adjective. fair

_ adj. _fair, good, wholesome, favourable, not dangerous, evil or hostile. bân or bain << bân pl. bain. >> bain

dail

adjective. lovely

_ adj. _lovely, beautiful. Q. lelya. >> deil

deil

lovely

_ adj. _lovely, beautiful. Q. lelya. >> dail

fael

adjective. fair minded, just, generous

gwain

adjective. fair

adj. fair. . This gloss was rejected.

gwana

noun/adjective. fair

gwân

adjective. fair

_ adj. _fair, pale.

lind

adjective. fair

mell

adjective. dear

_ adj. _dear, beloved. Q. melda.

bain

fair

bain (beautiful). Lenited vain. No distinct pl. form.

bain

fair

(beautiful). Lenited vain. No distinct pl. form.

echor

ring

(outer ring or circle) echor (pl. echyr). It is unclear what the Sindarin word for an ornamental ring is; the cognate of Quenya corma would be *corf (i gorf, o chorf; pl. cyrf, i chyrf, coll. pl. corvath).

echor

ring

(pl. echyr). It is unclear what the Sindarin word for an ornamental ring is; the cognate of Quenya corma would be ✱corf (i gorf, o chorf; pl. cyrf, i chyrf, coll. pl. corvath).

mae

soft

mae (lenited vae; no distinct pl. form). Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” moe. Note: a homophone is the adverb mae = ”well”.

mae

soft

(lenited vae; no distinct pl. form). Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” moe. Note: a homophone is the adverb mae = ”well”.

mail

dear

mail (lenited vail, pl. mîl), also mell (lenited vell; pl. mill), also muin (lenited vuin; no distinct pl. form)

mail

dear

(lenited vail, pl. mîl), also mell (lenited vell; pl. mill), also muin (lenited vuin; no distinct pl. form)

lhend

adjective. tuneful, sweet

lhend

adjective. tuneful, sweet

mell

adjective. dear

glin-

verb. to sing

liss

noun. soft

mell

adjective. dear

moe

adjective. soft

muin

adjective. dear

muin

adjective. dear

nazg

noun. ring

nazg

noun. (finger-)ring

>> Nazgûl 'Ringwraiths'

zîrân

adjective. beloved

An adjective translated “(the) beloved” (SD/247), apparently formed from the verb zîr- “to love, desire” with the participle suffix -ân. Its placement in the sentence Anadûnê zîrân hikalba “Númenor beloved fell (down)” is unusual, since according to Tolkien adjectives normally precede the nouns they modify (SD/428). It is possible that the adjective here is being used as a noun “the beloved”, an idea supported by the translation of this sentence in the final manuscript: “Anadune the beloved she fell” (VT24/12). See the entry for the Adûnaic participle for further discussion.