Quenya 

Varda

the sublime

Varda fem. name "the Sublime", name of a Valië, spouse of Manwë, the Queen of the Valar, called Elbereth in Sindarin (BARATH, BARÁD, WJ:402; in Letters:282 Varda is translated the "Lofty"). As a general adjective "sublime", †varda could still occur as a poetic word in verse (PE17:23), but normal prose would apparently rather use the related word varanda (q.v.) Genitive Vardo (for Vardao). (Nam, RGEO:66). Vardamir masc. name, "Varda-jewel" (Appendix A, UT:210); vardarianna ?"Varda-gift", name of a tree (but the ri element is obscure) (UT:167)

Vardo Meoita

prince of cats

Vardo Meoita noun "Prince of Cats" (LT2:348; vardo "prince" is hardly a valid word in Tolkien's later Quenya; cf. vard-, vardar. Later Quenya has cundu for "prince".)

varda

feminine name. Exalted, Lofty, Sublime

Valië of the stars, spouse of Manwë (S/26). Her name is variously translated “Exalted” (RGEO/61), “Lofty” (Let/282) or “Sublime” (WJ/402). It is derived from the primitive name ✶Baradā from the root √BARAD “lofty, high” (PE17/22).

Conceptual Development: The name ᴱQ. Varda dates back to the earliest Lost Tales (LT1/58), though at this early stage it was a derivative of the root ᴱ√VṚÐṚ along with ᴱQ. varni “queen” and the verb ᴱQ. vard- “rule, govern” (QL/102, LT1A/Varda). In The Etymologies from the 1930s, Tolkien changed the derivation of ᴹQ. Varda to the one given above (Ety/BARAD), and this etymology reappeared in writings from the 1950s (PE17/22).

Quenya [Let/282; LotR/0377; LotRI/Elbereth; LotRI/Varda; MRI/Varda; PE17/022; PE17/023; PE17/065; PE17/067; PE17/069; PE21/82; PE21/85; PE22/161; PMI/Varda; RGEO/58; RGEO/59; RGEO/61; RGEO/66; SI/Varda; UTI/Varda; WJ/369; WJ/402; WJI/Varda] Group: Eldamo. Published by

andúnë pella vardo nu luini tellumar

West beyond [the borders of] Varda’s under blue domes

The 5th phrase of the prose Namárië. Tolkien altered the text from the poetic version as follows:

> Andúnë pella Vardo tellumar nu luini >> Andúnë pella Vardo nu luini tellumar

Tolkien moved the preposition and adjective nu luini “under blue” to be in front of the plural noun tellumar “domes” that it modifies. However, this separates the genitive modifier Vardo “Varda’s” from its noun, which is hard to explain. It might make more sense to place Vardo after the preposition nu “under” to give the complete noun phrase Vardo luini tellumar “Varda’s blue domes”, or perhaps moving it to the end as in luini tellumar Vardo “blue vaults of Varda” (which is the poetic translation):

> Andúnë pella Vardo nu luini tellumar »»» ✱Andúnë pella nu luini tellumar Vardo

The preposition pella “beyond” also presents some problems of interpretion, given that it follows the noun that it modifies. See the entry for Q. pella for further discussion.

andúnë pella vardo tellumar nu luini

beyond the West, beneath the blue vaults of Varda

Fifth and the beginning of the sixth lines @@@

Quenya [LotR/0377; RGEO/58] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-o

of goodness

-o (1) genitive ending, as in Altariello, Oromëo, Elenna-nórëo, Rithil-Anamo, Rúmilo, Lestanórëo, neldëo, omentielvo, sindiëo, Valinórëo, veryanwesto, q.v. In words ending in -a, the genitive ending replaces this final vowel, hence atto, Ráno, Vardo, vorondo as the genitive forms of atta, Rána, Varda, voronda (q.v.) Following a noun in -, the ending can have the longer form -no, e.g. *máriéno "of goodness" (PE17:59, but contrast sindiëo "of greyness" in PE17:72). Where the word ends in -o already, the genitive is not distinct in form, e.g. ciryamo (q.v.) = "mariner" or "mariners". Pl. -ion and -ron, q.v.; dual -to (but possibly -uo in the case of nouns that have nominative dual forms in -u rather than -t). The Quenya genitive describes source, origin or former ownership rather than current ownership (which is rather covered by the possessive-adjectival case in -va). The ending -o may also take on an ablativic sense, "from", as in Oiolossëo "from (Mount) Oiolossë" (Nam), sio "hence" (VT49:18). In some of Tolkiens earlier material, the genitive ending was -n rather than -o, cf. such a revision as Yénië Valinóren "Annals of Valinor" becoming Yénië Valinórëo (MR:200).

mëoi

cat

mëoi noun "cat", a somewhat strange word by the standards of Tolkien's later Quenya (there are no other instances of final -oi in the singular). Some would read *mëo, if the word is to be used in LotR-style Quenya. Vardo Mëoita "Prince of Cats"; mëoita here seems to be a kind of adjective rather than a genitive (LT2:348). Tolkiens later, less problematic word yaulë may be preferred by writers (PE16:132)

arta

exalted, lofty

arta (1) adj. "exalted, lofty" (PM:354), "high, noble" (PE17:118, 147); cf. names like Artaher, Artanis.

condo

prince, leader; lord

condo ("k")noun "prince, leader; lord" (PE17:113,117); possibly replaces cundu, q.v.

cundu

prince

cundu ("k")noun "prince" (KUNDŪ; the "†_" indicating that this word is poetic or archaic was omitted in the Etymologies as printed in LR; see VT45:24)._ Cf. condo.

yaulë

cat

yaulë noun "cat" (PE16:132). Compare mëoi.

miura

noun. cat

Quenya Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

miuro

noun. cat

Quenya Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

miurë

noun. cat

Quenya Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

Noldorin 

cunn

noun. prince

Noldorin [Ety/366, VT/45:24, X/ND1] Group: SINDICT. Published by

cunn

noun. prince

Noldorin [Ety/KUNDŪ; EtyAC/KUNDŪ] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ernil

noun. prince

hall

adjective. exalted, high

Noldorin [Ety/363] Group: SINDICT. Published by

Sindarin 

caun

noun. prince, ruler

Sindarin [LotR/VI:IV, Letters/308] MS *kaun, Q. cáno. Group: SINDICT. Published by

caun

prince

pl1. cónin {ō} n. prince, chief, head.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:102] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

cund

noun. prince

Sindarin [Ety/366, VT/45:24, X/ND1] Group: SINDICT. Published by

ernil

noun. prince

Sindarin [LotR/VI:IV, Letters/308, UT/428, RGEO/75] Group: SINDICT. Published by

ernil

noun. prince

A noun for “prince” appearing in phrases like Ernil i Pheriannath “Prince of the Halflings” (LotR/768) and Dor-en-Ernil “Land of the Prince” (UT/245). Its initial element is likely a reduced form of aran “king, noble person”; compare to ar(a)- “noble” of similar origin. If so, the a became e due to i-affection. The final -il is harder to explain, because normally -il is a feminine suffix. Perhaps it is a reduction of hîl “heir”, so that the literal meaning is “✱king’s heir, royal heir”.

Conceptual Development: N. ernil also appeared in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (WR/287).

Sindarin [Let/425; LotR/0768; LotR/0807; UT/245] Group: Eldamo. Published by

arth

exalted

  1. arth (lofty, noble), pl. erth;

arth

exalted

(lofty, noble), pl. erth

conin

prince

(i chonin), occurring in the Cormallen Praise, is translated "princes" (Conin en Annûn = "princes of the west", Letters:308), but it is unclear what the singular would be. (David Salo suggests caun, though this word has two different meanings already; see

cund

prince

(i gund, o chund, construct cun), pl. cynd (i chynd) (VT45:24).

ernil

prince

  1. ernil (no distinct pl. form), 2) †cund (i gund, o chund, construct cun), pl. cynd (i chynd) (VT45:24). 3) The plural form conin (i chonin), occurring in the Cormallen Praise, is translated "princes" (Conin en Annûn = "princes of the west", Letters:308), but it is unclear what the singular would be. (David Salo suggests caun, though this word has two different meanings already; see SHOUT, VALOUR)

ernil

prince

(no distinct pl. form)

hall

exalted

hall (high); lenited chall; pl. hail. Note: a homophone means ”veiled, hidden, shadowed, shady”.

hall

exalted

(high); lenited chall; pl. hail. Note: a homophone means ”veiled, hidden, shadowed, shady”.

muig

noun. cat


Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Early Quenya

vardo

noun. prince

Early Quenya [LT2A/Tevildo] Group: Eldamo. Published by

vardo meoita

masculine name. Prince of Cats

A title of ᴱQ. Tevildo in the earliest Lost Tales (LT2/15), a combination of vardo “prince” and some form of meoi “cat”, as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT2A/Tevildo). The element meoita may be a genitive or partitive form.

Early Quenya [LT2/015; LT2A/Tevildo] Group: Eldamo. Published by

meoi

noun. cat

Early Quenya [LT2A/Tevildo; LT2I/Meoita; PME/061; QL/061] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tevildo

masculine name. Prince of Cats

First precursor to Sauron in the earliest Lost Tales (LT1/47; LT2/15), this name was derived from the root ᴱ√TEFE having to do with hatred (QL/90).

Early Quenya [GL/70; LBI/Tevildo; LT1A/Tevildo; LT1I/Tevildo; LT2/015; LT2/045; LT2A/Tevildo; LT2I/Tevildo; LT2I/Tiberth; QL/061; QL/090] Group: Eldamo. Published by

turanion

noun. prince

turillo

noun. prince

Early Quenya [PME/096; QL/096] Group: Eldamo. Published by

túrion

noun. prince

yaule

noun. cat

Early Quenya [PE16/132] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Qenya 

miue

noun. cat

A word for “cat” in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, from primitive {mauı̯ǝ >>} miuı̯ǝ (PE21/12-13), and so probably related to the root ᴹ√MIW “whine” from The Etymologies which had the derivative ᴹQ. miule “whining, mewing” (Ety/MIW). The stem form of this “cat” word is the rather unusual miuy-.

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon and Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa of the 1910s, the word for “cat” was ᴱQ. meoi (QL/61; PME/61), as in ᴱQ. Vardo Meoita “Prince of Cats” (LT2/15), a sobriquet of ᴱQ. Tevildo. In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s, Tolkien instead gave ᴱQ. yaule “cat”, probably an onomatopoeic word as suggested by Patrick Wynne and Christopher Gilson (PE16/132).

Neo-Quenya: In PPQ (PPQ) from the early 2000s, Terry Dock suggested the neuter, feminine and masculine neologisms for “cat”: ᴺQ. miura, ᴺQ. miurë, and ᴺQ. miuro. However, this predates the publication of ᴹQ. miue “cat”, and I would recommend just sticking with the attested form.

Qenya [PE21/12; PE21/13] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kundu

noun. prince

Qenya [Ety/KUNDŪ; EtyAC/KUNDŪ] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

bridhon miaugion

masculine name. Prince of Cats

Gnomish [LT2/015; LT2A/Tevildo; LT2I/Miaugion] Group: Eldamo. Published by

miog

noun. cat

Gnomish [GL/27; GL/57; LT2A/Tevildo] Group: Eldamo. Published by

mui

noun. cat

tifil miaugion

masculine name. Prince of Cats

Gnomish [GL/70; LT2A/Tevildo] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Noldorin

muig

noun. cat

The word ᴱN. muig “cat” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/150). In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, Tolkien instead had G. {mio >>} miog “cat”, along with masculine and feminine variants miaug or miog “tom cat” and {miauli >>} miaulin “she-cat”. The derivation of these early forms isn’t clear.

Neo-Sindarin: I would retain ᴺS. muig “cat” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, derived from ᴹ√MIW “whine” via an abnormal vocalization: m(i)wikē > mu̯ike > muig. Elaran pointed out that a more normal development would be ✱mŷg < miukē.

Early Noldorin [PE13/150] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thing

noun. prince

Early Noldorin [PE13/154] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

kundu

root. prince

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/KUNDŪ; Ety/PHÉLEG; EtyAC/KUNDŪ] Group: Eldamo. Published by