belegaer

noun. ocean

_ n. _ocean.

belegaer

noun. great sea

beleg (“great”) + (g)aer (“sea”)

belegaer

place name. Great Sea

Name of the “Great Sea” lying between Middle-earth and Valinor (S/37). This name is a compound of beleg “mighty” and gae(a)r “sea” (SA/beleg, gaer; PM/363).

Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, this name first appeared as N. Belegar (LR/14), soon revised to Belegaer (LR/19). In The Etymologies, it appeared as Belegoer (Ety/ÁLAT, AY, BEL), a reflection of Tolkien’s uncertainty on whether the diphthong [[n|[ai] became [oe] or [ae]]]. In the later Silmarillion revisions from the 1930s, he used Belegaer consistently following the [[n|revision of [oe] to [ae]]].

Elements

Word	Gloss
beleg	“great, mighty; large, big, great, mighty; large, big, [ᴱN.] huge”
gaear	“sea”

Variations

• belegaer ✧ PE17/149

gaer

ocean

_ n. _ocean.

gaeron

noun. ocean

_ n. _ocean.

gaearon

ocean

_n. _ocean. Augmentative form of _gaear _Sea. Q. earon, airon. >> gaear

aearon

ocean

_n. _ocean. Augmentative form of _aear _Sea. Q. earon, airon. nef aear, sí nef aearon lit. 'beyond the Sea, here beyond the Great Sea'. >> aear

belegaer

Belegaer

The name is Sindarin, and has the elements Beleg ("mighty") and aer, an element meaning "sea". The Quenya name of Belegaer, never used in primary writing, is Alatairë.

gaear

ocean

gaear (i **aear) (sea), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair** = i ñaeair).

gaear

ocean

(i ’aear) (sea), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair = i ñaeair).

gaearon

great ocean

(i ‘Aearon), pl. Gaearyn (i Ngaearyn = i Ñaearyn) if there is a pl.

aear

ocean

aear (sea), pl. aeair.

aear

ocean

(sea), pl. aeair.