Sindarin
aer
adjective. *hallowed, holy
aer
adjective. holy
aer
noun. sea
aear
Sea
aear
noun. sea
Tolkien changed this word several times, see gaear
aear
noun. sea
gaear
noun. sea
A word for “sea” variously attested as gaear (PE17/027; PM/363; WJ/400), gaer (PE17/27; PE17/149), and aear (Let/386; RGEO/65) in later writings. Of these, I prefer gaear for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, reduced to gaer in compounds.
Possible Etymology: The presence or absence of the initial g- depends on whether the word’s root is √AY(AR) (as it appears in The Etymologies and some later writings) or √GAY(AR) (as it appears in other later writings). See the entry of the root √GAY(AR) for a discussion of this vacillation. Similarly, the form gaer appears primarily as an element in compounds, and can be explained as a reduced form of gaear in that context. For these reasons, this entry uses gaear as the ordinary Sindarin word for “sea”. This has the additional advantage of disambiguating it from the adjective gaer “dreadful”.
Conceptual Development: This word appeared as N. oer or oear “sea” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, reflecting the Noldorin sound change of ai to oe (Ety/AY). However name for the “Great Sea” was N. {Belegar >>} Belegaer in the narratives of this period (LR/19), and the name N. Rhûnaer “Eastern Sea” appeared in draft Lord of the Rings maps from 1943 (TI/307). The element N. oer did appear in the day-of-the-week name N. Aroeren “✱Sea-day” in drafts of The Lord of the Rings appendices, but this was revised to S. Oraeron (PM/130, 138).
gaear
Sea
gaear
noun. sea
no aer i eneth lín
hallowed be thy name
The second line of Ae Adar Nín, Tolkien’s Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer (VT44/21). The first word no is the imperative form of the verb na- “to be” followed by aer “✱hallowed, holy”; see that word’s entry for further discussion.
The third word is the definite article i “the”, followed by eneth “name” and the possessive pronoun lín “your”, with the adjectival element following the noun as is usual in Sindarin. As pointed out by Bill Welden (VT44/24), the formation i eneth lín seems to be modeled after Welsh, with the possessive pronoun following the noun, which itself is preceded (at least sometimes) by the definite article. A rough English equivalent might be “✱the name yours”. A similar construction appears in the Moria gate inscription: i thiw hin = “the signs these”.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> no aer i eneth lín = “✱be holy the name yours”
Athrad D(h)aer
noun. great ford
athrad (“river-crossing, ford, way”) + daer (“great”) #The variation of the second element might reflect Tolkien's reluctance to use the “uncouth” digraph dh.
Duin D(h)aer
noun. great river (Gelion)
duin (“river”) + daer (“great”); #The variation of the second element might reflect Tolkien's reluctance to use the “uncouth” digraph dh.
gaer
noun. sea
gaer
Sea
gaer
noun. sea
gaeron
noun. great sea, ocean
aear
sea
aear (ocean); pl. aeair. The shorter form aer (for N oer) is maybe best avoided since it can be confused with aer "holy", unless the latter is actually a lenited form of gaer. Forms with g-, representing an alternative concept of the word for ”sea”: gaear (i **aear) (ocean), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair = i ñaeair) (PM:363), also gaer (i **aer, no distinct pl. form except with article: i ngaer = i ñaer), but homophones of the latter mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "dreadful, awful, fearful; holy".
aear
sea
(ocean); pl. aeair. The shorter form aer (for N oer) is maybe best avoided since it can be confused with aer "holy", unless the latter is actually a lenited form of gaer. Forms with g-, representing an alternative concept of the word for ”sea”: gaear (i ’aear) (ocean), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair = i ñaeair) (PM:363), also gaer (i ’aer, no distinct pl. form except with article: i ngaer = i ñaer), but homophones of the latter mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "dreadful, awful, fearful; holy".
gaer
holy
gaer (awful, fearful); lenited aear; no distinct pl. form. Note: homophones mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "sea".
gaer
holy
(awful, fearful); lenited ’aear; no distinct pl. form. Note: homophones mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "sea".
aearon
noun. great sea, ocean
Tolkien changed this word several times, see gaearon
gaearon
noun. great sea, ocean
iaun
holy place
(fane, sanctuary), pl. ioen, coll. pl. ionath
This word appears in the phrase no aer i eneth lín “hallowed by thy name”, the second line of Ae Adar Nín, Tolkien’s Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer. It is untranslated, but in context clearly means “✱hallowed, holy”. It is apparently the Sindarin cognate of Q. airë of similar meaning, which appears in the Quenya translation of the same prayer: Q. Átaremma.
Possible Etymology: David Salo suggested that aer may be a lenited form of the Sindarin adjective gaer (GS/231). Although N. gaer was glossed “dreadful” in The Etymologies (Ety/GÁYAS), in later writings Tolkien derived Q. airë “holy” from a similar root √GAY(AR) “awe, dread” (PM/363). The sense “dread” did not necessarily connote terribleness, but could also imply awe and respect. It was from this meaning of the root that words with the connotation “holy” arose, at least in Quenya (PM/363).
Bill Welden instead connected S. aer “holy” with the word aerlinn in the phrase Aerlinn in Edhil o Imladris (RGEO/62). This phrase is untranslated, but it is widely believed that aerlinn means “✱holy song” (VT44/24). Since aer cannot be lenited in aerlinn, this indicates that aer is the normal form of the word. In other writings, Tolkien derived Q. airë from primitive ✶airē “holiness, sanctity” (PE17/149), which could also be the origin of S. aer. That is the theory used here.
It is possible that this word appears in the name Aerandir, but that is rather speculative.
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, there was a word G. air(in) “holy, sacred” (GL/18) marked archaic (†); this is probably the earliest precursor to S. aer. The form air reappeared in the Gnomish Lexicon slips, besides a new form eirin “holy” (PE13/113), reflecting Tolkien’s ongoing vacillation on the development of the diphthong ai.