aia

hail

aia interjection "hail", variant of aiya (VT43:28)

aia

interjection. hail

aia maría

Aia María

Tolkien’s translation of the Ave Maria prayer into Quenya, composed sometime in the 1950s (VT43/7), first published in the “Words of Joy (Part One)” article in Vinyar Tengwar #43. There are four versions of the prayer, labeled by Tolkien I-IV (VT43/26-8). These revisions were apparently in two phases: I-II and III-IV (VT43/5-6).

The version presented here is based on version IV (VT43/28) with a one minor change: the word for fruit is written yávë (as it is in version III) instead of yave (version IV), since this is the more common form of this word elsewhere in Tolkien’s writing. Tolkien did not provide an English translation of the prayer; following the editors of the “Words of Joy” article, I used the modern English translation of the prayer used by Catholics (VT43/35).

Further discussion of the textual history can be found in the analysis of the individual phrases. My analysis largely follows that of the “Aia María” section (VT43/26-36) of the “Words of Joy” article, though I also consulted Helge Fauskanger’s analysis of the prayer in his “Lord’s Prayer and Ave Maria” article.

aiya

interjection. hail; behold, lo

The best known Quenya greeting, appearing in the phrase aiya Eärendil elenion ancalima “hail Eärendil, brightest of stars” from The Lord of the Rings (LotR/720, 915).

Conceptual Development: The earliest appearance of this interjection is ᴱQ. áye “hail!, o!” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s where it was derived from the early root ᴱ√AYA “honour, revere” (QL/34). In Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959, Tolkien derived its later form aiya “hail” from √AYA “blessed” or “revere” (PE17/146, 149). In these same notes, Tolkien said it was “only addressed to great or holy persons as the Valar, or to Earendil” (PE17/149).

At times, however, Tolkien used aiya as a more general interjection. In Words, Phrases and Passages in the Lord of the Rings from the later 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien said it was “a cry, to call for help or attention” (PE17/89). It was used as a call for attention “behold!, lo!” in The Silmarillion and its drafts in the phrase aiya Eldalië ar Atanatári, utúlie’n aurë “Behold [or Lo!], people of the Eldar and Fathers of Men, the day has come!” (S/190; WJ/166).

At times Tolkien gave this interjection in a reduced form aia, most notably in the phrase Aia María quanta Eruanno “Hail Mary, full of grace” from Quenya prayers from the 1950s (VT43/27-28). This variant is comparable to the Maiya vs. Maia variation in spelling for the servants of the Valar, with māja becoming maija, sometimes spelled maia (PE19/62). The interjection aiya is more common in Tolkien’s writings, however.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I treat aiya as a more formal greeting, in keeping with the notion that it was “only addressed to great or holy persons” (PE17/149). For a more casual greeting, see alla “hail, welcome”.

aiya

hail

aiya interjection "hail", as greeting (LotR2:IV ch. 9, see Letters:385 for translation), or a call "for help and attention" (PE17:89), "only addressed to great or holy persons as the Valar, or to Earendil" (PE17:149). Variant aia (VT43:28)

aia maría quanta eruanno

Hail Mary, full of grace

The first line of Aia María, Tolkien’s translation of the Ave Maria prayer. The first word Aia is a variant of aiya “hail”, followed by a Quenyarized form of “Mary”: María. The third word quanta is attested elsewhere with the meaning “full, filled” (PE17/68). The last word Eruanno is a compound of Eru “God” and anna “gift”, in the genitive, so that quanta Eruanno literally means “✱full of God’s gift”.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> Aia María quanta Eru-ann(a)-o = “✱Hail Mary full God-gift-of”

Conceptual Development: This phrase was quite similar in earlier versions of this prayer, but the earlier versions used erulissenen instead of Eruanno. This word is a compound of Eru “God” and lissë “grace”, in the instrumental, so that quanta erulissenen literally means “✱filled by God’s grace”.

|  I  |II|III|IV| |Aiya|Aia| |María| |quanta|erulissenen|quanta| |erulissenen|quanta|Eruanno|

aia

adjective. strange, unusual

ala

hail, blessed be (thou)

[ala (6) (also alar! or alla!) interjection "hail, blessed be (thou)". (VT45:5,14)]

alar!

hail, blessed be (thou)

[alar! (also ala and alla!) interjection "hail, blessed be (thou)". (VT45:5,14, 26)]

alassë

hail

[alassë (2) interjection "hail" or "bless", evidently a synonym of the greeting alar!, q.v. (VT45:26)]

alla!

hail, blessed be (thou)

[alla! (also alar! or ala) interjection "hail, blessed be (thou)". (VT45:5, 14)] PE17:146 cites alla "hail, welcome" as a variant (occurring within the imaginary world) of aiya.

helexë

noun. hail

A neologism for “hail” coined by Helge Fauskanger for his NQNT (NQNT) derived from the root √KHELEK, likely modeled after caraxë < √KARAK.