ulo

noun. rain

ulo

noun. rain

A noun for “rain” in Late Notes on Verbs from 1969 given as {ulla >>} ulo in the phrase ulo úva “rain (unwelcome) is coming”, clearly related to the impersonal verb ul- “to rain” appearing in its future form on the same page: uluva “it will rain” (PE22/167).

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, the noun for “rain” was ᴱQ. úqil, likewise related to the contemporaneous verb ᴱQ. uqin “it rains” (QL/98).

Changes

• ulla → ulo “rain” ✧ PE22/167

Derivations

• √UL “pour (out), flow, pour (out), flow, [ᴱ√] flow fast”

Element in

• Q. ulo úva “rain (unwelcome) is coming/threatens” ✧ PE22/167
• ᴺQ. ulutelme “umbrella, rainshade”

Variations

• ulla ✧ PE22/167 (ulla)

Ilweran

rainbow

Ilweran, Ilweranta noun "rainbow" (GL:74) (The Etymologies gives helyanwë.)

helyanwë

rainbow

helyanwë noun "rainbow", lit. "sky-bridge" (3EL)

iluquinga

rainbow

iluquinga ("q") noun "rainbow" (LT2:348)

ross

noun. rain

eiliant

noun. rainbow

See ianu and iant for a discussion

ninniach

noun. rainbow

ninniach

noun. rainbow

A noun for “rainbow” in the name Cirith Ninniach “Rainbow Cleft” (S/238). Ninniach “rainbow” is perhaps a combination of the S. nîn “watery” and S. iach “ford”, perhaps a metaphorical ford of water across the sky. The long nn in the initial element ninn- is tricky to explain, but might be an example of an exchange of a long vowel īn with a long consonant inn; hat-tip to Elaran for this suggestion.

Conceptual Development: The name Cirith Ninniach (and hence the word for “rainbow”) went through quite a few changes. The earliest iteration of the name was G. Cris a Teld Quing Ilon “Gully of the Rainbow Roof” (PE15/21) so that quing ilon “✱bow of heaven” was “rainbow”, but this was quickly revised to G. Cris Ilbranteloth which was the form used in the early narratives (LT2/150, 202). G. ilbrant “rainbow” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s with variant ilvrant (GL/50). By popular etymology, this was connected to G. brant “bow”, but that was not correct (GL/24). The second element was actually G. rantha “bridge” (GL/65), and the b came from its initial element G. ilbar “heaven[s]” (GL/50), so it literally meant “✱heaven-bridge”.

In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, the name of the pass was changed to N. Cris-Ilfing >> Cirith Helvin “Rainbow Cleft” (SM/141, 146). Both ilfing and helvin have unclear etymologies, but they are probably early iterations of N. eilian(w) “rainbow, (lit.) sky-bridge” from The Etymologies of the 1930s, a combination of ᴹ√ƷEL “sky” with N. ianw “bridge” (Ety/ƷEL, YAT), with variant elianw (EtyAC/YAT). Cirith Ninniach “Rainbow Cleft” emerged in Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (WJ/256, 299).

Neo-Sindarin: Noldorin eilian(w) “sky-bridge” might be adapted into Neo-Sindarin as ᴺS. eiliant using later S. iant for “bridge”, as suggested in HSD (HSD), but I see no reason not to just use attested S. ninniach for “rainbow”.

Element in

• S. Cirith Ninniach “Rainbow Cleft” ✧ S/238

Elements

Word	Gloss
nîn	“wet, *watery”
iach	“ford”

Variations

• Ninniach ✧ S/238

eilia

rain

(vb.) eilia-, impersonal 3rd singular uil "it rains". (In ”Noldorin”, the impersonal form was "oeil" = öil, later eil.)

eilia

rain

impersonal 3rd singular uil "it rains". (In ”Noldorin”, the impersonal form was "oeil" = öil, later eil.)

ross

rain

ross (construct ros) (foam, dew, spray [of fall or fountain]), pl. ryss (idh ryss). (Letters:282) Note: homophones mean ”reddish, russet, copper-coloured, red-haired” and also ”polished metal, glitter”.

ross

rain

(construct ros) (foam, dew, spray [of fall or fountain]), pl. ryss (idh ryss). (Letters:282) Note: homophones mean ”reddish, russet, copper-coloured, red-haired” and also ”polished metal, glitter”.

eilian

rainbow

eilian (pl. eiliain). Archaic elianw (so the coll. pl. may be eilianwath).

eilian

rainbow

1) eilian (pl. eiliain). Archaic elianw, hence maybe coll. pl. eilianwath. 2) ninniach (pl. ninniaich). The word appears to mean *”slender-crossing”.

ninniach

rainbow

(pl. ninniaich). The word appears to mean ✱”slender-crossing”.

rhoss

noun. rain

rhoss

noun. rain

Cognates

• ᴹQ. rosse “fine rain, dew” ✧ Ety/ROS¹

Derivations

• ᴹ√ROS “distil, drip” ✧ Ety/ROS¹

Element in

• N. Cair Andros
• N. Cairros “*Ship-foam”
• N. Men Falros “*Place of Splashing Foam”
• N. Celebros “Silver Foam, Silver Rain” ✧ Ety/ROS¹
• N. Elros “Star-foam”
• N. Rauros “Rush-rain, Roar-rain”
• N. Rhosfein “*White Rain”
• N. Silivros “Glimmering Rain” ✧ Ety/ROS¹

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√ROS¹ > rhoss	[rosse] > [ross] > [r̥oss]	✧ Ety/ROS¹

Variations

• rhoss ✧ Ety/ROS¹

eilian

noun. rainbow

See ianu and iant for a discussion

eilianw

noun. rainbow

See ianu and iant for a discussion