erulissë

proper name. [God’s] Grace

A term for God’s grace in early drafts of Aia María, Tolkien’s translation of the Ave Maria prayer (VT43/27-8). It is a compound of Eru “God” and lissë “grace”. In later drafts of Aia María, this name was replaced by the term Eruanna (VT43/27-28). It is attested only in the instrumental form erulissenen “✱[by means] of [God’s] grace”.

aia maría quanta eruanno

Hail Mary, full of grace

The first line of Aia María, Tolkien’s translation of the Ave Maria prayer. The first word Aia is a variant of aiya “hail”, followed by a Quenyarized form of “Mary”: María. The third word quanta is attested elsewhere with the meaning “full, filled” (PE17/68). The last word Eruanno is a compound of Eru “God” and anna “gift”, in the genitive, so that quanta Eruanno literally means “✱full of God’s gift”.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> Aia María quanta Eru-ann(a)-o = “✱Hail Mary full God-gift-of”

Conceptual Development: This phrase was quite similar in earlier versions of this prayer, but the earlier versions used erulissenen instead of Eruanno. This word is a compound of Eru “God” and lissë “grace”, in the instrumental, so that quanta erulissenen literally means “✱filled by God’s grace”.

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Eru

the one

Eru divine name "the One" = God (VT43:32, VT44:16-17), "the One God" (Letters:387), a name reserved for the most solemn occasions (WJ:402). Often in the combination Eru Ilúvatar, "Eru Allfather" (cf. MR:112). Genitive Eruo (MR:329, VT43:28/32), dative Erun (VT44:32, 34). The adjectival form Eruva "divine" (Eruva lissëo "of divine grace", VT44:18) would be identical to the form appearing in the possessive case. Compound nouns: Eruhantalë "Thanksgiving to Eru", a Númenórean festival (UT:166, 436), Eruhin pl. Eruhíni "Children of Eru", Elves and Men (WJ:403; SA:híni, cf. _Eruhîn _in Letters:345), Eruion *"son of God" (or "God the Son"?) (VT44:16), Erukyermë "Prayer to Eru", a Númenórean festival (UT:166, 436), Erulaitalë "Praise of Eru", a Númenórean festival (UT:166, 436), Eruamillë "Mother of God" (in Tolkien's translation of the Hail Mary, VT43:32, see also VT44:7), Eruontari, Eruontarië other translations of "Mother (Begetter) of God" (VT44:7, 18), Erusén "the children of God" (RGEO:74; this is a strange form with no plural ending; contrast the synonym Eruhíni.) #Eruanna and #erulissë, various terms for "grace", literally "God-gift" and "God-sweetness", respectively (VT43:29; these words are attested in the genitive and instrumental case, respectively: Eruanno, erulissenen).

eruanna

proper name. [God’s] Grace

A term for God’s grace in Aia María, Tolkien’s translation of the Ave Maria prayer (VT43/27-8). It is a compound of Eru “God” and anna “gift”, so a more literal translation would be “✱God’s gift”. It is attested only in the genitive form Eruanno “✱of [God’s] grace”.