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