Quenya 

eärrámë

proper name. Sea-wing

The ship of Tuor and Idril on which they sailed West to Valinor (S/245). Its name is a compound of ëar “sea” and ráma “wing”.

Conceptual Development: This name dates back to the earliest Lost Tales, where it first appeared as ᴱQ. Alqaráme “Swanwing”, revised to ᴱQ. Earáme with one “r”, translated “Eaglepinion” (LT2/254). The latter name was derived from ᴱQ. ea(r) “eagle” (GL/51), much like the contemporaneous name ᴱQ. Earendel.

The name remained Earáme “Eagle’s Pinion” or “Eagle’s Wing” through Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (SM/149, 308; LR/143), but was sometimes changed to ᴹQ. Earráme “Sea-wing” (SM/155). It also appeared as Earrámë “Sea-wing” in The Etymologies (Ety/AY, RAM), as well as in the versions of The Silmarillion after that point.

Elements

WordGloss
ëar“sea, great sea, sea, great sea, [ᴹQ.] open sea; water”
ráma“wing, wing; [ᴱQ.] arm”

Variations

  • Eärámë ✧ WJI/Eärámë
Quenya [LT2I/Eärrámë; S/245; SA/ëar; SI/Eärrámë; WJI/Eärámë] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ráma

wing

ráma noun "wing", pl. rámar (RAM, Nam, RGEO:66, LT2:335); Markirya has both nominative pl. rámar "wings" and instrumental pl. rámainen *"with wings" (translated "on wings" by Tolkien); rámali "wings" in MC:213 would be a partitive pl. in LotR-style Quenya. Variant rámë in the names Eärrámë, Alquarámë, q.v.

ráma

noun. wing, wing; [ᴱQ.] arm

The Quenya word for “wing”, derived from the root ᴹ√RAM (PE17/63; Ety/RAM).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where ᴱQ. ráma “wing” was derived from the early root ᴱ√RAHA “stretch forward” (QL/78). The word appeared regularly in Tolkien’s writings with the gloss “wing”, though at one point in the 1920s it was glossed both “arm, wing” (PE16/137), and in the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s it was given as the Qenya word meaning “arm”, but this was revised to ᴱQ. ranko (PE15/79). The use of ráma for “arm” was a brief and rejected idea, and in The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. ráma “wing” was transferred to a new root ᴹ√RAM, while ᴹQ. ranko “arm” remained under ᴹ√RAK “stretch out” (Ety/RAK, RAM).

Cognates

  • S. raw “wing” ✧ PE17/063

Element in

Variations

  • rāma ✧ PE17/063
Quenya [LotR/0377; MC/222; PE17/063; RGEO/58] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ëar

sea

ëar noun "sea" (AYAR/AIR [gives also dat. sg. ëaren],WJ:413; see Letters:386 for etymology). Not to be confused with the pl. form of the verb ëa "be, exist". Pl. ëari "seas" (FS, LR:47); Eär "the Great Sea" (cf. ëaron "ocean"), ablative Eärello "from the Great Sea", et Eärello "out of the Great Sea" (EO). Eärë noun "the open sea" (SD:305). Compound ëaruilë noun "seaweed" (UY). Found in proper names like Eärendil "Sea-friend", Eärendur masc. name, *"Sea-servant"; in effect a variant of Eärendil(Appendix A). Eärendur was also used ="(professional) mariner" (Letters:386).Fem. name Eärwen "Sea-maiden" (Silm); Eärrámë "Sea-wing", "Wings of the Sea", name of Tuor's ship (RAM, AYAR/AIR, SA)

airë

sea

airë (2) noun "sea" (the form airen is given, intended as a genitive singular when Tolkien wrote this; in LotR-style Quenya it would rather be a dative sg.) (AYAR/AIR; cf. airon)

airë

noun. sea

An archaic word for “sea” which fell out of use to due conflict with “holy” words like aira or airë; it was a noun form of primitive ✶gaı̯ră (PE17/27). The more common modern word for “sea” is ëar.

Conceptual Development: ᴹQ. aire “sea” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of ᴹ√AYAR (Ety/AY); it appeared beside a form ᴹQ. airen that might be a genitive form, or might be a longer form; see the entry on ᴹQ. airon for discussion.

Cognates

  • S. gaear “sea” ✧ PE17/027

Derivations

  • gayār “sea, the terrifier” ✧ PE17/027
    • GAY(AR) “awe, dread; astound, make aghast; sea” ✧ PE17/027; PM/363; WJ/400

Element in

  • Q. airon “ocean” ✧ PE17/027

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
gaı̯ră > aire[gaira] > [ɣaira] > [aira]✧ PE17/027

Variations

  • aire ✧ PE17/027 (aire)

airen

noun. sea

Quenya [PE 22:23n] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

váya

sea

váya noun "sea" (considered as "waters, motion"). The wording of the source indicates that Tolkien only tentatively considered such a word (PE17:33)

vëa

sea

vëa (3) noun "sea" (MC:213, 214, 216; possibly obsoleted by #1 and #2 above, though some argue that the initial element of the late names Vëantur and Vëandur [q.v.] could be vëa #3 rather than #2 (it can hardly be #1) . In any case, the normal word for "sea" in LotR-style Quenya seems to be ëar.) Inflected vëan "sea" (MC:220), vëar "in sea" (a "Qenya" locative in -r, MC:213), vëassë "on sea" (MC:220). Cf. also vëaciryo.