Quenya 

Ainu

holy one, angelic spirit

Ainu noun "holy one, angelic spirit"; fem. Aini (AYAN, LT1:248); "one of the 'order' of the Valar and Maiar, made before Eä"; pl. Ainur is attested. Adopted and adapted from Valarin ayanūz(WJ:399). In the early "Qenya Lexicon", ainu was glossed "a pagan god", and aini was similarly "a pagan goddess", but as Christopher Tolkien notes, "Of course no one within the context of the mythology can call the Ainur 'pagan' " (LT1:248). Ainulindalë noun "Music of the Ainur" (SA:lin #2), the First History (WJ:406), the Song of Creation (AYAN)

ainu

noun. holy one, spirit, holy one, angelic spirit (m.); [ᴱQ.] (pagan) god

Cognates

  • ᴺS. Aenu “(male) angel”

Derivations

  • AYA(N) “blessed; treat with awe/reverence, blessed; treat with awe/reverence; [ᴱ√] honour, revere” ✧ PE17/146; PE17/149
  • Q. aina “holy, revered, numinous, holy, revered, numinous, *divine, [ᴱQ.] worshipful” ✧ PE17/149
    • AYA(N) “blessed; treat with awe/reverence, blessed; treat with awe/reverence; [ᴱ√] honour, revere” ✧ PE17/149; PE17/149; VT43/14
  • Val. ayanūz “Ainu” ✧ WJ/399

Element in

Elements

WordGloss
aina“holy, revered, numinous, holy, revered, numinous, *divine, [ᴱQ.] worshipful”

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
AYA > ainu[ajnū] > [ainū] > [ainu]✧ PE17/146
AYA-N > ainur[ajnū] > [ainū] > [ainu]✧ PE17/149
Q. aina > ainu[ajnū] > [ainū] > [ainu]✧ PE17/149
Val. ayanūz > Ainu[ájanū] > [ajnū] > [ainū] > [ainu]✧ WJ/399

Variations

  • ainu ✧ PE17/146; PE17/149
Quenya [Let/284; MRI/Ainur; PE17/146; PE17/149; PMI/Ainur; S/015; SA/aina; SI/Ainur; WJ/399; WJI/Ainur] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Aini

aini

Aini noun feminine form of Ainu(AYAN, LT1:248); see Ainu.

Aino

god

Aino noun "god", within Tolkien's mythos a synonym of Ainu (but since Aino is basically only a personalized form of aina "holy", hence "holy one", it could be used as a general word for "god") (PE15:72)

aina

holy

aina (2) adj "holy" (AYAN), derived from Ainu. Adopted and adapted from Valarin. According to VT43:32, the word is "obsolete, except in Ainur", apparently suggesting that airë or airëa (q.v.) was the normal term for "holy" in later Quenya. However, Tolkien repeatedly used aina in his translation of the Litany of Loreto: Aina Fairë "Holy Spirit", Aina Neldië "Holy Trinity", Aina Maria "Holy Mary", Aina Wendë "Holy Virgin". He also used Aina Eruontari for "holy Mother" in his rendering of the Sub Tuum Praesidium(WJ:399, FS, SA, VT43:32, VT44:5, 12, 17-18)

aira

holy

aira (2) adj. "holy"; see airë #1

airë

holy

airë (1) adj. "holy", #Airefëa "the Holy Spirit" (VT43:37, dative airefëan on the previous page), airetári or Airë Tári "holy queen" (a title of Varda, PM:363), genitive aire-tário "holy-queen's" (Nam, RGEO:67). However, according to PM:363, airë is the noun "sanctity", while aira is the adjective "holy". VT43:14 refers to an etymological note of "Sept.-Oct. 1957" where airë is said to be a noun "sanctity, holiness", and the adjective "holy" is given as airëa. However, the verb #airita- "hallow" seems to be formed from an adjective airë, airi- "holy". Evidently airë can function as both adjective ("holy") and noun ("holiness"); if so airë as adj. could represent a primitive adjective gaisi, whereas airë as noun may descend from gaisē. The former but not the latter would have the stem airi- (as observed in the derived verb #airita-), and compounds like airetári (rather than *airitári) would seem to contain properly the noun "holiness".

airëa

holy

airëa adj. "holy"; see airë.

aista

holy

aista (1) adj. "holy" (VT43:37)

aino

noun. god

Cognates

Derivations

  • AYA(N) “blessed; treat with awe/reverence, blessed; treat with awe/reverence; [ᴱ√] honour, revere”

Element in

Elements

WordGloss
aina“holy, revered, numinous, holy, revered, numinous, *divine, [ᴱQ.] worshipful”
Quenya Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

Sindarin 

aer

adjective. holy

Sindarin [VT/44:21,24] Group: SINDICT. Published by

iaun

holy place

(fane, sanctuary), pl. ioen, coll. pl. ionath

aenor

noun. god

A neologism for “a god” opposed to “God” (Eru), based on Gnomish ain. A direct adaptation of the Gnomish form would be aen, but that conflicts with aen “should be”; Fiona Jallings suggested the extended form aenor in a Discord chat in August 2019.

Cognates

  • ᴺQ. aino “god”

Derivations

  • AYA(N) “blessed; treat with awe/reverence, blessed; treat with awe/reverence; [ᴱ√] honour, revere”
Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

Eru

god

(the One) #Eru, isolated from Eruchín** **"children of the One" (= Elves and Men; sg. *Eruchen).

eru

noun. God

Cognates

  • Q. Eru “The One, God”
Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

eru

god

isolated from Eruchín "children of the One" (= Elves and Men; sg. ✱Eruchen).

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".


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!

Valarin 

ayanūz

noun. Ainu

Derivatives

  • Q. Ainu “holy one, spirit, holy one, angelic spirit (m.); [ᴱQ.] (pagan) god” ✧ WJ/399

Variations

  • ayanu- ✧ PM/364
Valarin [PM/364; WJ/399] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Qenya 

ainu

noun. holy one, angelic spirit

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶aı̯an- “holy” ✧ Ety/AYAN
    • ᴹ√(A)YAN “*holy” ✧ Ety/AYAN

Element in

  • ᴹQ. Aini “holy one, angelic spirit (f.), holy one, angelic spirit (f.); [ᴱQ.] (pagan) goddess”
  • ᴹQ. Ainulindale “Music of the Ainur” ✧ Ety/AYAN

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶aı̯an- > Ainu[ainu]✧ Ety/AYAN
Qenya [Ety/AYAN; LR/156; LRI/Ainur; SMI/Ainur] Group: Eldamo. Published by

aina

adjective. holy

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶aı̯an- “holy” ✧ Ety/AYAN
    • ᴹ√(A)YAN “*holy” ✧ Ety/AYAN

Element in

  • ᴹQ. talantie “they are holy, blessed, and beloved — save the dark one: he is fallen” ✧ LR/072

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶aı̯an- > aina[aina]✧ Ety/AYAN
Qenya [Ety/AYAN; LR/072] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

aı̯an-

adjective. holy

Derivations

  • ᴹ√(A)YAN “*holy” ✧ Ety/AYAN

Derivatives

  • ᴹQ. aina “holy” ✧ Ety/AYAN
  • ᴹQ. Aini “holy one, angelic spirit (f.), holy one, angelic spirit (f.); [ᴱQ.] (pagan) goddess” ✧ Ety/AYAN
  • ᴹQ. Ainu “holy one, angelic spirit” ✧ Ety/AYAN

Variations

  • ayan- ✧ EtyAC/AYAN
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/AYAN; EtyAC/AYAN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

ain

noun. god

Changes

  • GainonAinon ✧ PE13/103

Cognates

  • Eq. Ainu “a (pagan) God” ✧ PE15/20; PE15/27; LT1A/Ainur; PE13/103

Derivations

  • ᴱ√AYA “honour, revere” ✧ GL/18

Element in

  • G. ainil “(female) god” ✧ GL/18; LT1A/Ainur
  • G. ainos “(male) god” ✧ GL/18; LT1A/Ainur

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√aı̯¹ > Ain[ainu] > [ain]✧ GL/18

Variations

  • Ain ✧ GL/18; LT1A/Ainur
  • Gainon ✧ PE13/103 (Gainon)
Gnomish [GL/18; LT1A/Ainur; PE13/103; PE15/20; PE15/27] Group: Eldamo. Published by

eirin

adjective. holy

Early Quenya

ainu

noun. a (pagan) God

Changes

  • AinuAinur ✧ LT1/061

Cognates

  • G. ainos “(male) god” ✧ PE13/108
  • G. ain “god” ✧ PE15/20; PE15/27; LT1A/Ainur; PE13/103

Derivations

  • ᴱ√AYA “honour, revere” ✧ QL/034

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√AY̯A > ainu[ajnū] > [ajnu] > [ainu]✧ QL/034

Variations

  • ainu ✧ LT1A/Ainur; PME/034; QL/034
  • Aino ✧ PE15/72
Early Quenya [LT1/061; LT1A/Ainur; LT1I/Ainur; LT2I/Ainur; PE13/101; PE13/103; PE13/108; PE15/20; PE15/27; PE15/72; PME/034; QL/034] Group: Eldamo. Published by

vala

noun. God

Cognates

  • G. Ban “god, one of the Valar” ✧ GL/21; LT2A/Valar; PE15/21; GL/18; PE13/103
  • G. Gwala “one of the gods” ✧ PE15/08; PE15/08

Derivations

  • ᴱ√WALA “fortune, happiness; *power” ✧ QL/099

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√VALA > Valar[βalar] > [valar]✧ QL/099
Early Quenya [GL/18; GL/21; LBI/Valar; LT1/061; LT1A/Valar; LT1I/Valar; LT2A/Valar; LT2I/Valar; PE13/103; PE14/010; PE15/08; PE15/21; PE15/72; PME/099; QL/039; QL/099] Group: Eldamo. Published by