Quenya 

vilvarin

noun. butterfly

A word for “butterfly” appearing as wilwarin in the Markirya poem of the 1960s based on the adjective wilwa “fluttering to and fro” (MC/222, 223). It has a stem form of wilwarind- as implied by the adjective wilwarindëa “like a butterfly” from the version of the Nieninquë poem from the 1960s (PE16/96). The appearance of an initial w- in this word is somewhat unusual: see the entry on the sound [w] for further discussion. Its modern Quenya pronunciation would be vilwarin or vilvarin. Tolkien himself occasionally used vilvarin instead (PE16/72; MR/166).

Conceptual Development: The word ᴱQ. wilwarin (wilwarind-) “butterfly” appeared all the way back in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√GWILI (QL/104). That document also had an adjective form ᴱQ. wilwarinda, descriptive of the sycamore tree (QL/57). This word appeared in the versions of the Oilima Markirya poem written around 1930, and the adjective wilwarindea appeared in the version of the Nieninqe poem from this period. ᴹQ. wilwarin “butterfly” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√WIL “fly” with a plural form wilwarindi (Ety/WIL). Thus this word was quite stable in Tolkien’s mind, and usually appeared with an initial w.

Element in

Variations

  • wilwarin ✧ MC/222; MC/223; PE16/096
Quenya [MC/222; MC/223; PE16/096] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wilwarin

butterfly

wilwarin (wilwarind-, as in pl. wilwarindi) noun "butterfly" (Markirya, WIL, LT1:273); Wilwarin name of a constellation, tentatively identified as Cassiopeia (Silm). "Qenya" adjective wilwarindeën "like butterflies" (MC:216); see wilwarindëa for Quenya form. "Qenya" similative form wilwarindon "as a butterfly" (MC:213, 220); Tolkien later abandoned the ending -ndon (PE17:58)

wilwarin

proper name. Butterfly

Name of a constellation (S/48) which is simply the word wilwarin “butterfly” used as a name (MC/223). It is unusual in that it begins with the letter [w], which in Quenya usually became [v], indicating it is probably of ancient origin. In one place (MR/166), Tolkien wrote this name as Vilvarin before changing it to Wilwarin. See the entry for vilvarin for further discussion.

Changes

  • VilvarinWilwarin ✧ MR/166

Elements

WordGloss
vilvarin“butterfly”

Variations

  • Vilvarin ✧ MR/166; MRI/Wilwarin
Quenya [MR/166; MRI/Wilwarin; SI/Wilwarin] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wilwarin

noun. butterfly

wilwarin

Wilwarin

Wilwarin (wilwarind-, pl. wilwarindi) means "butterfly" in Quenya. Wilwarin comes from the same root (wil-, "fly, float in air") as the name for the Ring of Air, Vilya, and shares this common root with the Sindarin word gwilith, "air".

Quenya [Tolkien Gateway] Published by

Sindarin 

gwilwileth

butterfly

gwilwileth (i **wilwileth), pl. gwilwilith (in gwilwilith**)

gwilwileth

butterfly

(i ’wilwileth), pl. gwilwilith (in gwilwilith)

Noldorin 

gwilwileth

noun. butterfly

Noldorin [Ety/398] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwilwileth

noun. butterfly

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “butterfly” derived from the root ᴹ√WIL “fly” (Ety/WIL), apparently with duplication of the root and the addition of the abstract noun suffix N. -th.

Conceptual Development: The word G. gwilbrin or gwilvrin “a butterfly” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s along with an adjective form G. gwilbriniol “like a butterfly”, based on primitive ᴱ√gu̯il (GL/45).

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. wilwarin “butterfly” ✧ Ety/WIL

Derivations

  • ᴹ√WIL “fly, float in air” ✧ Ety/WIL

Elements

WordGloss
-th“abstract noun”

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√WIL > gwilwileth[wilwilitta] > [wilwilittʰa] > [wilwiliθθa] > [gwilwiliθθa] > [gwilwileθθa] > [gwilwileθθ] > [gwilwileθ]✧ Ety/WIL

Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Qenya 

wilwarin

noun. butterfly

Cognates

Doriathrin

gwilwering

noun. butterfly

A noun for “butterfly” derived from the root ᴹ√WIL (Ety/GWEN). Its Quenya cognate ᴹQ. wilwarind- suggests its primitive form was ✱✶wilwarinde. If so, it is an example of how [[ilk|[nd] sometimes became [ŋg]]] in Ilkorin. As suggested by Helge Fauskanger, this may be due to assimilation to the preceding [g] (AL-Ilkorin/gwilwering).

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. wilwarin “butterfly” ✧ Ety/WIL

Derivations

  • ᴹ√WIL “fly, float in air” ✧ Ety/WIL

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√WIL > gwilwering[wilwarinde] > [wilwarind] > [wilwerind] > [gwilwerind] > [gwilweriŋg]✧ Ety/WIL
Doriathrin [Ety/WIL] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Telerin

vilviren

noun. butterfly

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. wilwarin “butterfly” ✧ Ety/WIL
Middle Telerin [Ety/WIL] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

gwilbrin

noun. butterfly

Cognates

  • Eq. wilwarin “butterfly” ✧ LT1A/Vilna

Derivations

  • ᴱ√GWILI “*fly” ✧ GL/45; LT1A/Vilna

Element in

Variations

  • gwilvrin ✧ GL/45
Gnomish [GL/45; LT1A/Vilna] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gwilvrin

noun. butterfly

Early Quenya

wilwarin

noun. butterfly

Cognates

  • G. gwilbrin “butterfly” ✧ LT1A/Vilna

Derivations

  • ᴱ√GWILI “*fly” ✧ LT1A/Vilna; QL/104

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√GWILI > ’wilwarin[gʷilwarind] > [wilwarind] > [wilwarin]✧ QL/104

Variations

  • ’wilwarin ✧ QL/104
Early Quenya [LT1A/Vilna; MC/213; MC/220; PE16/062; PE16/072; PE16/074; PE16/077; PME/104; QL/104] Group: Eldamo. Published by