elen noun "star" (SA:êl, elen, EL, VT49:39); pl. eleni (occasionally in verse: eldi) (WJ:362, PE17:127); partitive pl. elelli for elenli (PE17:127), gen. pl. elenion in the phrase Elenion Ancalima "brightest of stars" (LotR2:IV ch. 9; see Letters:385 for translation); elen atta "two stars" (VT49:44), genitive elen atto "of two stars" (VT49:45), eleni neldë "three stars", archaic elenion neldë = "of stars three". Genitive "of 3 stars" = elenion neldë (for archaic elenion neldëo) (VT49:45). Allative elenna "starwards" used as name of Númenor _(Silm; see Elenna)_; ablative pl. elenillor "from stars" in Markirya. **Nai elen siluva ***"may a star shine", VT49:38.
Quenya
elen
noun. star
Cognates
Derivations
Element in
- Q. aiya Eärendil elenion ancalima “hail Eärendil, brightest of stars” ✧ LotR/0720; LotR/0915; PE17/090; PE17/101
- Q. ancalima ep’ eleni “brighter than stars” ✧ PE17/056
- Q. ancalima imbi eleni “brightest among stars” ✧ PE17/091
- Q. arcalima ar eleni “A is brightest of all” ✧ PE17/056
- Q.
arcalima ep’ eleni“far and away brighter than stars” ✧ PE17/056 (arcalima ep’ eleni)- Q. elenion ancalima “brightest of stars” ✧ PE17/056; PE17/056; PE17/056; PE17/057; PE17/091
- Q. Elemmacil “*Star Sword”
- Q. Elemmírë “Elven-gem, Star-gem” ✧ PE19/096
- Q. elen atto “of 2 stars” ✧ VT49/45
- Q. Elendil “Elf-friend, Star-lover”
- Q. Elendur “*Star-servant”
- ᴺQ. elengolmë “astronomy”
- Q. elenillor pella talta-taltala “beyond the stars falling” ✧ MC/222
- Q. eleni neldë “*3 stars” ✧ VT49/45
- Q. elenion neldë “of 3 stars” ✧ VT49/45; VT49/45
- Q. Elenna “Starwards”
- Q. elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo “a star shines on the hour of our meeting” ✧ Let/265; LotR/0081; PE17/012; WJ/367
- Q. Elentári “Queen of the Stars, Star-queen”
- Q. Elentir “*Star-gazer”
- Q. Elentirmo “Star-watcher” ✧ UT/213
- Q. Elenwë
- Q. elenya “adjective referring to the stars, *of the stars, stellar” ✧ WJ/362
- Q. Elerondo “Elrond, (lit.) Star-dome”
- Q. Elerossë “Star Foam”
- Q. Elerrína “Crowned with Stars”
- Q. Elessar “Elfstone”
- Q. Elestirnë “Star-brow”
- Q. nai elen atta siluvat aurenna veryanwesto “*may two stars shine upon the day of your wedding” ✧ VT49/44; VT49/44
- Q. nai elen siluva lyenna “*may a star shine upon you” ✧ VT49/39
- Q. nai elen siluva parma-restalyanna meldonya “*may a star shine upon your book-fair, my friend” ✧ VT49/39
- Q. yassen tintilar i eleni “wherein the stars tremble” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
- Q. yassen tintilar i eleni “in which twinkle the stars” ✧ RGEO/59
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶elen > elen [elen] ✧ PE17/067 ✶elni > eldi [eleni] > [elni] > [eldi] ✧ PE17/151 Variations
- Elen ✧ LotR/0081; WJ/367
elen
star
Elenarda
star-kingdom
Elenarda place-name "Star-kingdom", upper sky (3AR). Deleted material in the Etymologies defined elenarda as "star-realm", "upper air or sky" (VT45:16). Compare elen, (h)arda.
Elendil
star-friend
Elendil masc. name"Star-friend", "Lover or student of stars", applied to those devoted to astronomical lore. However, when the Edain used this name they intended it to mean "Elf-friend", confusing elen "star" and elda "elf" (WJ:410). (This idea that the name was misapplied seems to be late; Tolken earlier interpreted the name as an ancient compound Eled + ndil so that the meaning really was "Elf-friend"; see Letters:386. See also NIL/NDIL in the Etymologies, where Elendil is equated with "Ælfwine", Elf-friend.) Allative Elendilenna "to Elendil" (PM:401); Elendil Vorondo genitive of Elendil Voronda "Elendil the Steadfast" _(CO) Pl. Elendili the Númenórean Elf-friends (Silm)_; the variant Elendilli in SD:403 would seem to presuppose a stem-form Elendill- not attested elsewhere. Tar-Elendil a Númenorean king, UT:210.
Otselen
seven stars
Otselen noun "Seven Stars" (otso + elen), a name of the Great Bear (constellation) (OT/OTOS/OTOK)
-li
the elves
-li partitive pl. ending (simply called a plural suffix in the Etymologies, stem LI). The ending is used to indicate a plural that is neither generic (e.g. Eldar "the Elves" as a race) nor definite (preceded by article); hence Eldali is used for "some Elves" (a particular group of Elves, when they are first mentioned in a narrative, VT49:8). Sometimes Tolkien also lets -li imply a great number; in PE17:129, the form falmalinnar from _Namárië _is broken down as falma-li-nnar "foam wave-many-towards-pl. ending", and falmali by itself Tolkien translated "many waves" (PE17:73). A distinct accusative in -lī seems to occur in the phrase an i falmalī (PE17:127, apparently meaning the same as i falmalinnar, but replacing the allative ending with a preposition). Genitive -lion in vanimálion, malinornélion (q.v. for reference), allative -linna and -linnar in falmalinnar, q.v. The endings for other cases are only known from the Plotz letter: possessive -líva, dative -lin, locative -lissë or -lissen, ablative -lillo or -lillon, instrumental -línen, "short locative" -lis. When the noun ends in a consonant, r and n is assimilated before l, e.g. Casalli as the partitive pl. of Casar "Dwarf" (WJ:402), or elelli as the partitive pl. of elen "star" (PE17:127). It is unclear whether the same happens in monosyllabic words, or whether a connecting vowel would be slipped in before -li (e.g. ?queneli or ?quelli as the partitive pl. of quén, quen- "person").
-nna
to, at, upon
-nna "to, at, upon", allative ending, originating from -na "to" with fortified n, VT49:14. Attested in cilyanna, coraryanna, Endorenna, Elendilenna, númenórenna, parma-restalyanna, rénna, senna, tielyanna, q.v. If a noun ends in -n already, the ending -nna merges with it, as in Amanna, formenna, Elenna, númenna, rómenna as the allative forms of Aman, formen, elen, númen, rómen (q.v.). Plural -nnar in mannar, valannar, q.v.
Elemmírë
star-jewel
Elemmírë noun *"Star-jewel" (elen + míre, notice assimilation nm > mm), name of a star/planet (possibly Mercury, MR:435, where the spelling used is Elemmirë); also name of an Elf. (SA:mîr)
Elerrína
crowned with stars
Elerrína adj. used as noun: "Crowned with Stars" (elen + rína), a name of Taniquetil (Silm); spelt Elerína in the Etymologies (EL, RIG).
Elessar
elf-stone
Elessar masc. name "Elf-stone" (Elen + sar, actually "Star-stone", cf. Elendil concerning elen "star" being used to mean "Elf") (LotR3:V ch. 8). Genitive Elesarno _(VT49:28, read _Elessarno?) indicates that the stem is -sarn-. As a common noun, elessar or "elf-stone" may signify "beryl" (in the chapter Flight to the Ford in the LotR, Aragorn finds "a single pale-green jewel" and declares: "It is a beryl, an elf-stone"). Elessar as a name may also be seen as a pun or variant of Elesser "Elf-friend".
él
noun. star
An archaic or poetic word for star (WJ/362), somewhat common in compounds but in ordinary speech typically appearing as elen. It was derived directly from the primitive root √EL “behold”, the basis for other star words (PM/340; WJ/360).
Conceptual Development: This word first appeared as poetical ᴹQ. él “star” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, already with the derivation given above, though in this document the root ᴹ√EL meant “star” (Ety/EL), a common gloss for the root in later writings as well.
Cognates
- T. él “star” ✧ WJ/362
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √el- > el [el] ✧ PM/340 ✶ēl > él [ēl] ✧ WJ/360 Variations
- el ✧ PM/340
ílë
star
ílë noun "star" (LT1:269; rather elen, él in LotR-style Quenya.)
-nna
to
-n (1) dative ending, originating as a reduced form of -nă "to", related to the allative ending -nna (VT49:14). Attested in nin, men, ten, enyalien, Erun, airefëan, tárin, yondon (q.v.) and also added to the English name Elaine (Elainen) in a book dedication to Elaine Griffiths (VT49:40). The longer dative ending -na is also attested in connection with some pronouns, such as sena, téna, véna (q.v.), also in the noun mariéna from márië "goodness" (PE17:59). Pl. -in (as in hínin, see hína), partitive pl. -lin, dual -nt (Plotz). The preposition ana (#1) is said to be used "when purely dative formula is required" (PE17:147), perhaps meaning that it can replace the dative ending, e.g. *ana Eru instead of Erun for "to God". In some of Tolkiens earlier material, the ending -n (or -en) expressed genitive rather than dative, but he later decided that the genitive ending was to be -o (cf. such a revision as Yénië Valinóren becoming Yénië Valinórëo, MR:200).
ana
to
ana (1) prep. "to" (VT49:35), "as preposition _ana _is used when purely _dative formula is required" (PE17:147), perhaps meaning that the preposition ana can be used instead of the dative ending -n (#1, q.v.) Also as prefix: ana- "to, towards" (NĀ1); an (q.v.) is used with this meaning in one source (PE17:127)_
na
to, towards
na (2) prep. "to, towards", possibly obsoleted by #1 above; for clarity writers may use the synonym ana instead (NĀ1). Originally, Tolkien glossed na as "at, by, near"; the new meaning entered together with the synonyms an, ana (VT45:36).
él
star
†él noun "star", pl. éli given (WJ:362, EL)
The most common Quenya word for “star”, mentioned very frequently, derived from an extended form ✶elen of the root √EL “behold” (PE17/67; WJ/360, 362). Its usual plural form is eleni, but it has an archaic plural †eldi sometimes used in verse, the result of the Ancient Quenya sound whereby [[aq|[ln] became [ld]]] after the ancient plural underwent the Quenya syncope, ✶elenī > AQ. elni; its normal modern plural form eleni was actually a reformation from the singular (PE17/57, 151; WJ/362).
Conceptual Development: This word first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, though in the original entry for the root ᴹ√EL Tolkien said it was poetical and gave variants ellen and elena (Ety/EL).