alqua

noun. swan

The Quenya noun for “swan” derived from primitive ✶alkwā (NM/378; PE18/100; UT/265; Ety/ÁLAK).

Conceptual Development: The word ᴱQ. alqa dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where it was a derivative of the early root ᴱ√ḶKḶ (QL/30), though it had a variant form alqe in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/18). Other than this one exception, Tolkien stuck with alqua throughout his life. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. alqa “swan” appeared under the root ᴹ√ALAK “rushing” (Ety/ÁLAK).

alqua

swan

alqua noun "swan" _(ÁLAK [there spelt _alqa, as in LT1:249/LT2:335], SA:alqua, UT:265, VT42:7). The alternative form alquë ("q") mentioned in early material (LT1:249) may or may not be valid in LotR-style Quenya.

alqua

noun. swan

swan

alqualondë

place name. Haven of the Swans

The chief city of the Teleri in Valinor (S/61). It is a compound of alqua “swan” and londë “haven” (SA/alqua, londë).

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this city was called ᴱQ. Kópas Alqalunte(n) “Haven of the Swanships” (LT/164), but this was changed to ᴹQ. Alqalonde in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (SM/265), which remained the city’s name in all later versions of the tales.

Alqualondë

swan-road, swan-haven

Alqualondë place-name "Swan-road, Swan-haven", capital of the Teleri _(ÁLAK, LOD, KHOP[there spelt Alqalonde], Silm)._

Alquarámë

swan-wing

Alquarámë ("q")noun "Swan-wing" (LT2:335)

Alqualondë

Alqualondë

Alqualondë means "Swanhaven" in Quenya (from alqua = "swan", londë = "harbor, haven").

londë

land-locked haven

londë noun "land-locked haven" (cf. #lóndië "harbourage"), "gulf" (TI:423). In Alqualondë "Swan-haven" (SA), "Haven of Swan" (VT45:28), Hirilondë ship-name "Haven-finder" (UT:192). In the Etymologies, londë is glossed "road (in sea), entrance to harbour" (LOD) and also "fairway" (VT45:28), i.e. a navigable channel for ships. In VT42:10, where the stem is given as LON rather than LOD, the gloss is simply "haven".

ráma

wing

ráma noun "wing", pl. rámar (RAM, Nam, RGEO:66, LT2:335); Markirya has both nominative pl. rámar "wings" and instrumental pl. rámainen *"with wings" (translated "on wings" by Tolkien); rámali "wings" in MC:213 would be a partitive pl. in LotR-style Quenya. Variant rámë in the names Eärrámë, Alquarámë, q.v.

ráma

noun. wing, wing; [ᴱQ.] arm

The Quenya word for “wing”, derived from the root ᴹ√RAM (PE17/63; Ety/RAM).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where ᴱQ. ráma “wing” was derived from the early root ᴱ√RAHA “stretch forward” (QL/78). The word appeared regularly in Tolkien’s writings with the gloss “wing”, though at one point in the 1920s it was glossed both “arm, wing” (PE16/137), and in the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s it was given as the Qenya word meaning “arm”, but this was revised to ᴱQ. ranko (PE15/79). The use of ráma for “arm” was a brief and rejected idea, and in The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. ráma “wing” was transferred to a new root ᴹ√RAM, while ᴹQ. ranko “arm” remained under ᴹ√RAK “stretch out” (Ety/RAK, RAM).