athelas

noun. kingsfoil, a healing herb

The Sindarin name of the “kingsfoil” (LotR/864), a combination athae and lass, hence literally “✱healing leaf”.

Conceptual Development: ᴱN. athelas appeared in the margins of The Lay of Leithian from the 1920s next to the phrase “of all the herbs of healing chief” (LB/269), and it already had the form N. athelas when it first appeared in Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s (RS/190).

athelas

noun. "kingsfoil", a healing herb brought to Middle-earth by the Númenóreans

athelas

'King's foil'

n.Bot.'King's foil'. Q. asea aranion. F athae, athe, lass

athelas

Athelas

Athelas is a Sindarin word, consisting of athae + lass. Kingsfoil has the Old French element foil, "leaf" as seen in cinquefoil.

athelas

kingsfoil

(a healing plant brought to Middle-earth by the Númenoreans) athelas (pl. ethelais)

athelas

kingsfoil

(pl. ethelais)

athelas

noun. a healing plant

asëa

noun. healing herb, athelas

An element in the Quenya name for “kingsfoil”: asëa aranion (LotR/864), which was itself sometimes translated as “asea of the Kings” (PE17/49, 100). In Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 Tolkien derived asea from √ATHA “as name of plant athelas” (PE17/148), and in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings around the same period it was derived from √ATH “ease, comfort, heal” (PE17/49). In notes from 1969 Tolkien describe it thus:

> Q asea (< aþāya) name (as = “beneficial”?) of a herb — not now known or at least identifiable, useful in healing both (as an infusion of its leaves) in easing the pain and hastening the healing of heavy blows or shocks, and as an invigorating odour in reviving the sick from depression, or even unconsciousness, after wounds or shock (PE22/165).

In these notes Tolkien first derived healing words from √AÞA, but he then introduced a new root √HATHA “treat kindly/make easy, (help to) cure” (PE22/166 note #109). In rough notes following this he gave {asea >>} aþea with the hard-to-read gloss “treating[?]. medically [?use], caring[?]” (PE22/166 note #110). This line of reasoning was left unfinished.

Neo-Quenya: Some of the above implies that asea was itself another name of the plant S. athelas, but for purposes of Neo-Quenya I think it is more useful to assume asea can refer to any kind of healing herb, and that “kingsfoil” is more specifically asëa aranion.