tinwë noun "spark" (gloss misquoted as "sparkle" in the Etymologies as printed in LR, see VT46:19), also "star"; pl. tinwi "sparks", properly used of the star-imagines on Nur-menel (q.v.). Cf. nillë. (TIN, MR:388) In early "Qenya", tinwë was simply glossed "star" (LT1:269, cf. MC:214). In one late source, the meaning of tinwë is given as "spark", and it is said that this word (like Sindarin gil) was used of the stars of heaven "in place of the older and more elevated el, elen- stem" (VT42:11).
Quenya
tinwë
noun. spark, [apparent] star
Cognates
Derivations
- √TIN “sparkle, spark, sparkle, spark, [ᴱ√] twinkle, [ᴹ√] emit slender (silver pale) beams” ✧ MR/388; PE17/022; PE17/066; RGEO/61; SA/tin
Element in
- ᴺQ. letinwessë “constellation”
- Q. tindómë “(starry) twilight, (usually) time near dawn, (starry) twilight, time near dawn, [ᴹQ.] starlit dusk”
- ᴺQ. tinwerúmë “starling, (lit.) abundance of stars”
- ᴺQ. titinwë “small star, sparkle of dew, *small sparkling thing”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √tin > tinwë [tinwe] ✧ MR/388 √TIN > tinwe [tinwe] ✧ PE17/022 √TIN > tinwe [tinwe] ✧ PE17/066 √tin- > tinwë [tinwe] ✧ RGEO/61 √tin- > tinwë [tinwe] ✧ SA/tin Variations
- tinwe ✧ PE17/022; PE17/066
tinwë
spark
Nur-menel
nur-menel
Nur-menel noun the lesser firmament, a great dome covering Valinor, made by Varda and full of star-imagines (see tinwë, nillë). It was a simulacrum of Tar-menel, the true firmament (MR:388)
elen
star
elen noun "star" (SA:êl, elen, EL, VT49:39); pl. eleni (occasionally in verse: eldi) (WJ:362, PE17:127); partitive pl. elelli for elenli (PE17:127), gen. pl. elenion in the phrase Elenion Ancalima "brightest of stars" (LotR2:IV ch. 9; see Letters:385 for translation); elen atta "two stars" (VT49:44), genitive elen atto "of two stars" (VT49:45), eleni neldë "three stars", archaic elenion neldë = "of stars three". Genitive "of 3 stars" = elenion neldë (for archaic elenion neldëo) (VT49:45). Allative elenna "starwards" used as name of Númenor _(Silm; see Elenna)_; ablative pl. elenillor "from stars" in Markirya. **Nai elen siluva ***"may a star shine", VT49:38.
elen
noun. star
The most common Quenya word for “star”, mentioned very frequently, derived from an extended form ✶elen of the root √EL “behold” (PE17/67; WJ/360, 362). Its usual plural form is eleni, but it has an archaic plural †eldi sometimes used in verse, the result of the Ancient Quenya sound whereby [[aq|[ln] became [ld]]] after the ancient plural underwent the Quenya syncope, ✶elenī > AQ. elni; its normal modern plural form eleni was actually a reformation from the singular (PE17/57, 151; WJ/362).
Conceptual Development: This word first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, though in the original entry for the root ᴹ√EL Tolkien said it was poetical and gave variants ellen and elena (Ety/EL).
Cognates
Derivations
Element in
- Q. aiya Eärendil elenion ancalima “hail Eärendil, brightest of stars” ✧ LotR/0720; LotR/0915; PE17/090; PE17/101
- Q. ancalima ep’ eleni “brighter than stars” ✧ PE17/056
- Q. ancalima imbi eleni “brightest among stars” ✧ PE17/091
- Q. arcalima ar eleni “A is brightest of all” ✧ PE17/056
- Q.
arcalima ep’ eleni“far and away brighter than stars” ✧ PE17/056 (arcalima ep’ eleni)- Q. elenion ancalima “brightest of stars” ✧ PE17/056; PE17/056; PE17/056; PE17/057; PE17/091
- Q. Elemmacil “*Star Sword”
- Q. Elemmírë “Elven-gem, Star-gem” ✧ PE19/096
- Q. elen atto “of 2 stars” ✧ VT49/45
- Q. Elendil “Elf-friend, Star-lover”
- Q. Elendur “*Star-servant”
- ᴺQ. elengolmë “astronomy”
- Q. elenillor pella talta-taltala “beyond the stars falling” ✧ MC/222
- Q. eleni neldë “*3 stars” ✧ VT49/45
- Q. elenion neldë “of 3 stars” ✧ VT49/45; VT49/45
- Q. Elenna “Starwards”
- Q. elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo “a star shines on the hour of our meeting” ✧ Let/265; LotR/0081; PE17/012; WJ/367
- Q. Elentári “Queen of the Stars, Star-queen”
- Q. Elentir “*Star-gazer”
- Q. Elentirmo “Star-watcher” ✧ UT/213
- Q. Elenwë
- Q. elenya “adjective referring to the stars, *of the stars, stellar” ✧ WJ/362
- Q. Elerondo “Elrond, (lit.) Star-dome”
- Q. Elerossë “Star Foam”
- Q. Elerrína “Crowned with Stars”
- Q. Elessar “Elfstone”
- Q. Elestirnë “Star-brow”
- Q. nai elen atta siluvat aurenna veryanwesto “*may two stars shine upon the day of your wedding” ✧ VT49/44; VT49/44
- Q. nai elen siluva lyenna “*may a star shine upon you” ✧ VT49/39
- Q. nai elen siluva parma-restalyanna meldonya “*may a star shine upon your book-fair, my friend” ✧ VT49/39
- Q. yassen tintilar i eleni “wherein the stars tremble” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
- Q. yassen tintilar i eleni “in which twinkle the stars” ✧ RGEO/59
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶elen > elen [elen] ✧ PE17/067 ✶elni > eldi [eleni] > [elni] > [eldi] ✧ PE17/151 Variations
- Elen ✧ LotR/0081; WJ/367
él
star
†él noun "star", pl. éli given (WJ:362, EL)
él
noun. star
An archaic or poetic word for star (WJ/362), somewhat common in compounds but in ordinary speech typically appearing as elen. It was derived directly from the primitive root √EL “behold”, the basis for other star words (PM/340; WJ/360).
Conceptual Development: This word first appeared as poetical ᴹQ. él “star” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, already with the derivation given above, though in this document the root ᴹ√EL meant “star” (Ety/EL), a common gloss for the root in later writings as well.
Cognates
- T. él “star” ✧ WJ/362
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √el- > el [el] ✧ PM/340 ✶ēl > él [ēl] ✧ WJ/360 Variations
- el ✧ PM/340
ílë
star
ílë noun "star" (LT1:269; rather elen, él in LotR-style Quenya.)
A word that technically means “spark”, but was often applied to stars as well (PE17/66, RGEO/61), derived from the root √TIN “spark(le)” (MR/388; PE17/22).
Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. tinwe was used for “star” all the way back in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where it was also derived from the root ᴱ√TINI “twinkle” (QL/92). In The Etymologies of the 1930s it appeared as ᴹQ. tinwe “spark (star)” with the primitive form ᴹ✶tinmē under the root ᴹ√TIN “sparkle, emit slender (silver pale) beams” (Ety/TIN); the gloss was corrected from “sparkle (star)” to “spark (star)” by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies (EtyAC/TIN). The word and its derivation appeared numerous times in Tolkien’s later writings, making it exceptionally stable in his mind.