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

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).

Cognates

• Q. asëa aranion “kingsfoil, asëa of the Kings” ✧ LotR/0864; LotRI/Asëa aranion; PE17/100

Elements

Word	Gloss
athae	“*healing herb, healing”
lass	“leaf, leaf; [G.] petal”

Variations

• Athelas ✧ LotRI/Asëa aranion; LotRI/Athelas; LotRI/Kingsfoil
• ath(a)elas ✧ PE17/148

athelas

kingsfoil

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

athelas

kingsfoil

(pl. ethelais)

athelas

Athelas

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