Quenya 

Aicanáro

sharp flame, fell fire

Aicanáro ("k") masc. name "Sharp Flame, Fell Fire"; Sindarized as Aegnor. (So in SA:nár and PM:345; MR:323 has Aicanár. VT41:14, 19 instead gives Ecyanáro_ as the Q form of Aegnor.)_

aicanáro

masculine name. Fell Fire; Sharp Flame

The mother-name of Aegnor, from which his Sindarin name was derived (PM/346-7). Tolkien gave two distinct interpretations of this name: “Sharp Flame” (MR/323) and “Fell Fire” (PM/347). In both cases, the second element of the name was nár “fire, flame”, but the interpretation of the initial element aica shifted between “sharp” and “fell”. It is hard to say which of these two interpretations was preferred by J.R.R. Tolkien himself and Christopher Tolkien included both translations in the published version of The Silmarillion. See the entry for S. Aegnor for one possible interpretation.

Conceptual Development: In some late notes (VT41/14), J.R.R. Tolkien wrote this name as Ekyanāro “sharp flame” (S. Eignor). As suggested by Carl Hostetter (VT41/19, note #19), Tolkien seems to have (temporarily) shifted aica “sharp” (from the root ᴹ√AYAK) to ekya “sharp” (from the root ᴹ√EK), from which ᴹQ. ehte “spear” was also derived. This was perhaps a reversion to the earlier name N. Egnor (also derived from ᴹ√EK). However, Tolkien apparently abandoned these changes.

Changes

  • EkynāroEkyanāro ✧ VT41/19

Cognates

  • S. Aegnor “Fell Fire, Sharp Flame” ✧ MR/323; MRI/Aikanár; PM/346; PM/347; PMI/Aegnor; SA/nár; WJI/Aikanáro; VT41/19
  • S. Goenor “Fell Fire” ✧ PM/347

Derivations

Elements

WordGloss
aica“fell, terrible, dire, fell, terrible, dire; [ᴹQ.] sharp”
nár“fire (as an element), fire (as an element); [ᴹQ.] flame”

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
Aika-nār- > Aikanáro[aikanāro]✧ PM/347

Variations

  • Aikanár ✧ MR/323; MRI/Aikanár
  • Aikanáro ✧ PM/346; PM/347; PMI/Aegnor; SA/nár; WJI/Aikanáro
  • Ekyanāro ✧ VT41/14; VT41/19
  • Ekynāro ✧ VT41/19 (Ekynāro)
Quenya [MR/323; MRI/Aikanár; PM/346; PM/347; PMI/Aegnor; SA/nár; VT41/14; VT41/19; WJI/Aikanáro] Group: Eldamo. Published by

aica

sharp

aica (1) ("k") adj. "sharp" _(AYAK) or "fell, terrible, dire" (PM:347; according to PM:363 seldom applied to evil things)_. In Aicanáro, q.v.

nár

flame

nár noun "flame", also nárë (NAR1).Translated "fire" in some names, see Aicanár(o), Fëanáro (where nár apparently has the masculine ending -o added to it). According to PE17:183, nár- is "fire as an element" (a concrete fire or blaze is rather called a ruinë).

maica

sharp, piercing

maica (1) ("k")adj. "sharp, piercing" (SA:maeg), cf. hendumaica and the noun maica below.

nárë

flame

nárë, also short nár, noun "flame" (NAR1, Narqelion). Translated "fire" in some names, see Aicanáro, Fëanáro (where nár apparently has the masculine ending -o, though in the latter name it may also be the genitive ending since Fëa-náro** is translated "Spirit of Fire"). At one point, Tolkien mentioned "nār-" as the word for "fire (as an element)" (PE17:183). Cf. ruinë** as the word for "a fire" (a concrete instance of fire) in the same source.

ecya

sharp

#ecya adj. "sharp" in Ecyanáro ("k") "Sharp Flame", masc. name, Sindarin Aegnor(VT41:14, 19). The Quenya form of Aegnor is elsewhere given as Aicanáro instead.

nexa

sharp, angular

nexa adj. "sharp, angular" (PE17:55; the editor indicates that the reading is uncertain, so the variant nerca may be preferred.)

nerca

sharp, angular

nerca adj. "sharp, angular" (PE17:55), variant nexa (reading uncertain).

velca

flame

velca ("k") noun "flame" (LT1:260; nár, nárë would be the normal word in Tolkien's later Quenya)