A word glossed “ocean” in notes associated with drafts of the Oilima Markirya from around 1930 (PE16/77). This word did not appear in the final version of the poem. Its etymology is unclear, but Gilson, Welden and Hostetter suggest it might be connected to ᴱQ. laiqa “green”, a colour used to describe the ocean in some drafts of the poem (PE16/78).
Early Quenya
aire
adjective. old
aire
noun. saint (f.)
aire móre ala tinwi
the old darkness beyond the stars
laivar
noun. ocean
vea
noun. sea
vilisse
noun. spirit
The twenty seventh line of the Oilima Markirya poem (MC/214). The first word is the adjective aire “old” modifying the noun móre “darkness”. This is followed by the preposition ala “beyond” with the plural of tinwe “star”.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> aire móre ala tinw-i = “✱old darkness beyond star-(plural)”