epë prep. "before" ("in all relations but time", VT49:32), though the word was glossed "after" when first published (VT42:32; Bill Welden, the writer of the article in question, later presented this correction in VT44:38). The preposition can indeed express "after" when used of time, since the Eldar imagined future time (time that comes after the present) as being "before" them (VT49:12, 32); epë is in this respect a variant of apa, q.v. (Cf. VT49:22.) Compare epessë, q.v. Epë "before" may also be used in comparison (PE17:56, 57), apparently in much the same way as lá #2 (q.v.) (VT42:32)
Quenya
epessë
after-name
epessë
noun. after-name
Elements
Word Gloss epë “after (of time), following; before (in all relations but time)” essë “name”
epe
after
epë
before
nó
before
nó (3) prep. "before" (of time, compare nóvo), "at back" (of spatial relationships). In other conceptual phases, Tolkien also let the word have the opposite meaning "after" (of time) or "in front" (of space). (VT49:32).
Russandol
copper-top
Russandol masc. name "Copper-top", a nickname (epessë) of Maitimo/Nelyafinwë (= Maedhros) (PM:354)
po
before, in front of
po, pó prep. "before, in front of" (of spatial relationships) "after" (of time), also opo or pono, poto- (VT49:12, 32, VT44:36; evidently a variant of apa)
apa
after
apa (1) prep. "after" (VT44:36), attested as a prefix in apacenyë and Apanónar, q.v. Variant ep- in epessë, q.v.; see epë for futher discussion. (According to VT44:36, apa was glossed "after" and also "before" in one late manuscript, but both meanings were rejected.) See also apa # 2 below. For Neo-Quenya purposes, apa should probably be ascribed the meaning "after", as in our most widely-published sources (compare Apanónar, "the After-born", as a name of Men in the Silmarillion). Variants pa, pá (VT44:36), but like apa these are also ascribed other meanings elsewhere; see separate entry. Apo (VT44:36) may be yet another variant of the word for "after".
apo
after
apo prep. ?"after" (see apa #1) (VT44:36)
opo
before, in front of
opo prep. "before, in front of" (of spatial relationships); "after" (of time), also pó, po or pono, poto (VT49:12, VT44:36, evidently a variant of apa).
opo
before, ahead, in front of
ala
after, beyond
ala (5) prep. "after, beyond" (MC:221, 214; however, LotR-style Quenya has han and pella "beyond" and apa "after")
cata
after
epessë noun "after-name", nickname, mostly given as a title of admiration or honour (PM:339, UT:266, VT49:12). Cf. essë "name" and epë above.