aman

blessed, free from evil

aman adj. "blessed, free from evil". Adopted and adapted from Valarin (WJ:399), though in other versions Tolkien cited an Elvish etymology (cf. VT49:26-27). Place-name Aman the Blessed Realm, from the stem mān- "good, blessed, unmarred" (SA:mān), translated "Unmarred State" (VT49:26). Allative Amanna (VT49:26). Adj. amanya "of Aman, Amanian" (WJ:411), nominal pl. Amanyar "those of Aman", Elves dwelling there (with negations Úamanyar, Alamanyar "those not of Aman"). Also fuller Amaneldi noun "Aman-elves" (WJ:373).Masc. name Amandil *"Aman-friend" (Appendix A, SA:mān), the father of Elendil; also name of the Númenorean king Tar-Amandil (UT:210).

aman

place name. Blessed Realm

The continent in the Uttermost West where the Valar dwelled after the first wars with Morgoth destroyed the world as it was initially created (S/37). Its name is derived from the same root √MAN “blessed, unmarred” as the name of Manwë (PE17/162). The most common translation of this name was the “Blessed Realm” (S/62), though more precisely it describes the “unmarred” state of this land, free from the influence of Morgoth (PE17/162).

Tolkien elsewhere said that Aman was adapted from an (unknown) word from Valarin, meaning “at peace, in accord (with Eru)”, much as Manwë was an adaptation of Val. Mānawenūz (WJ/399). This is not incompatible with its derivation from the root √MAN, which itself may have been adopted into Primitive Elvish from Valarin.

Conceptual Development: According to Christopher Tolkien, the idea for this name first emerged from Ad. Amân, the Adûnaic name for Manwë (SD/376). In Tolkien’s earliest writings, the name for the Land of the Valar was simply ᴱQ. Valinor (LT1/70), but in later writings this became the Elvish name for this land, whereas Aman was its “proper” name (PE17/106).

Cognates

• S. Avon “Unmarred State” ✧ PE17/162

Derivations

• ✶Ámān “Unmarred State” ✧ PE17/162
  • √MAN “good (morally), blessed, holy, unmarred, free from evil, good (morally), blessed, holy, unmarred, free from evil; [ᴹ√] holy spirit” ✧ PE17/162
• √MAN “good (morally), blessed, holy, unmarred, free from evil, good (morally), blessed, holy, unmarred, free from evil; [ᴹ√] holy spirit” ✧ SA/mān

Element in

• Q. Amandil “Lover of Aman” ✧ SA/mān
• Q. Amaneldi “*Elves of Aman”
• Q. Amanyar “Those of Aman”
• Q. Araman “Outside Aman, *Beside Aman” ✧ SA/mān
• Q. ar cé mo formenna tentanes Amanna “and if northwards, it pointed towards Aman” ✧ VT49/26
• Q. Úmanyar “Those not of Aman” ✧ SA/mān

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶Ámān > Aman	[amān] > [aman]	✧ PE17/162
√mān- > Aman	[amān] > [aman]	✧ SA/mān

Variations

• aman ✧ WJ/399

amanya

blessed

amanya adj. "blessed" (VT49:39, 41)

amal

mother

amal noun "mother"; also emel (VT48:22, 49:22); the form amil (emil) seems more usual.

manna

blessed

manna adj. "blessed" (also mána, q.v.) (VT43:30, VT45:32, VT49:41)

mána

blessed

mána 1) adj. "blessed" (FS); also manna, q.v. 2) noun "any good thing or fortunate thing; a boon or blessing, a grace, being esp. used of some thing/person/event that helps or amends an evil or difficulty. (Cf. frequent ejaculation on receiving aid in trouble: yé mána (ma) = what a blessing, what a good thing!)" (VT49:41)

Amarië

good

Amarië fem. name; perhaps derived from mára "good" with prefixing of the stem-vowel and the feminine ending -ië (Silm)

ainima

blessed, holy (of things)

ainima adj. "blessed, holy (of things)" (PE17:149)

manquë

blessed

manquë, manquenta adj. "blessed" (VT44:10-11; it cannot be ruled out that manquë spelt manque in the source is simply an uncompleted form of manquenta. Whatever the case, Tolkien decided to use the form manaquenta instead, q.v.)

ana

to

ana (1) prep. "to" (VT49:35), "as preposition _ana _is used when purely _dative formula is required" (PE17:147), perhaps meaning that the preposition ana can be used instead of the dative ending -n (#1, q.v.) Also as prefix: ana- "to, towards" (NĀ1); an (q.v.) is used with this meaning in one source (PE17:127)_

manaitë

blessed

manaitë adj. "blessed" (VT49:41, 42)

ala-

good

ala- (3), also al-, a prefix expressing "good" or "well" (PE17:146), as in alaquenta (q.v.) Whether Tolkien imagined this ending to coexist with the negative prefix of the same form (#2 above) is unclear and perhaps dubious.

almárëa

blessed

almárëa adj. "blessed". In a deleted entry in Etym, the gloss provided was "bless", but this would seem to be a mistake, since the word does not look like a verb. Another deleted entry agrees with the retained entry GALA that almárëa means "blessed" (GALA, VT45:5, 14)

amil

mother

amil noun "mother" (AM1), also emil (q.v.) Longer variant amillë (VT44:18-19), compounded Eruamillë "Mother of God" in Tolkien's translation of the Hail Mary (VT43:32). If amil is a shortened form of amillë, it should probably have the stem-form amill-. Also compare amilyë, amya, emya. Compounded amil- in amilessë noun "mothername" (cf. essë "name"), name given to a child by its mother, sometimes with prophetic implications (amilessi tercenyë "mother-names of insight"). (MR:217).

ammë

mother

ammë noun "mother" (AM1)

lára

blessed

[lára (3) adj. "blessed", also lárëa (VT45:26)]

mamil

mother, mummy

mamil noun *"mother, mummy" (UT:191)

mára

adjective. good

manaquenta

blessed

manaquenta adj. "blessed" (VT44:10; see manquë, manquenta)

amil(lë)

noun. mother

Tolkien used a number of similar forms for “mother” for most of his life. The earliest of these are ᴱQ. amis (amits-) “mother” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s along with variants ᴱQ. ambi, âmi, amaimi under the root ᴱ√AMA (QL/30). An additional variant ammi appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/30). In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s Tolkien had ᴱQ. ambe or mambe “mother” (PE16/135). This became ᴹQ. amil “mother” in The Etymologies under the root ᴹ√AM “mother” (Ety/AM¹).

This 1930s form amil appears to have survived for some time. It appeared in a longer form Amille in Quenya Prayers of the 1950s (VT43/26; VT44/12, 18), and as an element in the term amilessi “mother-names” in a late essay on Elvish naming (MR/217). In the initial drafts of Elvish Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s Tolkien used the form amilye or amye as an affectionate word for “mother”, and amaltil as the finger name for the second finger (VT47/26-27 note #34 and #35).

However, in those documents Tolkien seems to have revised the root for “mother” from √AM to √EM and the affectionate forms from amye to emya or emme (VT47/10; VT48/6, 19). The revised word for “mother” appears to be emil based on the 1st person possessive form emil(inya) (VT47/26).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I prefer to retain the root √AM for “mother”, since that is what Tolkien used for 50 years, and ignore the very late change to √EM. As such, I would recommend amil(le) for “mother” and affectionate forms amme “mommy” and amya. However, if you prefer to use Tolkien’s “final” forms, then emil(le), emme and emya seem to be what Tolkien adopted in the late 1960s.

Cognates

• S. emel “mother”

Derivations

• ✶amal “mother”
  • √AM “mother” ✧ VT48/19; VT48/19

Element in

• Q. amaltil “*mother finger”
• Q. amilessë “mother-name”
• Q. Amillë Eruva lissëo “Mother of divine grace” ✧ VT44/18
• Q. Amillë Hristo “Mother of Christ” ✧ VT44/18
• ᴺQ. amilosto “metropolis”
• Q. amya “mummy, (orig.) my mother”
• Q. Eruamillë “*Mother of God”

Variations

• Amille ✧ VT44/18

na

to, towards

na (2) prep. "to, towards", possibly obsoleted by #1 above; for clarity writers may use the synonym ana instead (NĀ1). Originally, Tolkien glossed na as "at, by, near"; the new meaning entered together with the synonyms an, ana (VT45:36).

-nna

to

-n (1) dative ending, originating as a reduced form of -nă "to", related to the allative ending -nna (VT49:14). Attested in nin, men, ten, enyalien, Erun, airefëan, tárin, yondon (q.v.) and also added to the English name Elaine (Elainen) in a book dedication to Elaine Griffiths (VT49:40). The longer dative ending -na is also attested in connection with some pronouns, such as sena, téna, véna (q.v.), also in the noun mariéna from márië "goodness" (PE17:59). Pl. -in (as in hínin, see hína), partitive pl. -lin, dual -nt (Plotz). The preposition ana (#1) is said to be used "when purely dative formula is required" (PE17:147), perhaps meaning that it can replace the dative ending, e.g. *ana Eru instead of Erun for "to God". In some of Tolkiens earlier material, the ending -n (or -en) expressed genitive rather than dative, but he later decided that the genitive ending was to be -o (cf. such a revision as Yénië Valinóren becoming Yénië Valinórëo, MR:200).

-nna

to, at, upon

-nna "to, at, upon", allative ending, originating from -na "to" with fortified n, VT49:14. Attested in cilyanna, coraryanna, Endorenna, Elendilenna, númenórenna, parma-restalyanna, rénna, senna, tielyanna, q.v. If a noun ends in -n already, the ending -nna merges with it, as in Amanna, formenna, Elenna, númenna, rómenna as the allative forms of Aman, formen, elen, númen, rómen (q.v.). Plural -nnar in mannar, valannar, q.v.

emel

mother

emel noun "mother"; also amal (VT48:22, 49:22); the form amil (emil) seems more usual.

emil

mother

emil noun "mother", emilinya "my mother" (also reduced to emya) the terms a child would use in addressing his or her mother (VT47:26). Emil would seem to be a variant of amil. Also compare emel.

emil

noun. mother

naxa

noun. bond

bond, fetter

nútë

bond, knot

nútë noun "bond, knot" (NUT)

ontari

mother

ontari noun "mother" or etymologically "begetter, parent" (fem.); clashing with the plural ontari "parents", this was apparently an emphemeral form (see ontarë, ontaril, ontarië for other feminine forms of "begetter, parent") (VT44:7)

ontaril

mother

ontaril noun "mother", female *"begetter" (cf. onta-). Variant of ontarë. (VT43:32)

vérë

bond, troth, compact, oath

vérë (1) noun "bond, troth, compact, oath" (WED)

aman

Aman

The Quenya name Aman is glossed as "Blessed Land", or "blessed, free from evil". The etymology of the name Aman changed over time in Tolkien's writings. In early linguistic writings, Aman was intended to be a "native Quenya form", derived from the root MAN ("good"). However, in later writings (such as Quendi and Eldar), the name is said to derive from a Valarin word.