giliath
noun. all the host of stars
dagor-nuin-giliath
proper name. Battle-under-Stars
osgiliath
place name. Citadel of the Stars
The old capital of Gondor, translated “Citadel of the Stars” (LotR/244) or “Fortress of the Stars” (RGEO/65, Let/426). This name is a combination of ost “fortress, city” and the class-plural of gil “star” (RC/232; SA/os(t), gil).
Conceptual Development: When this name first appeared in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, it was already N. Osgiliath “Fortress of the Stars” (TI/119).
Dagor-nuin-Giliath
noun. battle under the stars
dagor (“battle”) + nu (prep. “under”) + in (pl. article) + gîl (“star”) + ath (collective plural suffix)
giliath
giliath
The first element is gil ("star"), and the second element is likely the plural ending -ath.
gil
noun. star; (bright) spark, silver glint, twinkle of light
The usual word for “star” in Sindarin which replaced archaic/poetic êl; it originally meant “(bright) spark” (RGEO/65; VT42/11). It was derived from the root √(Ñ)GIL meaning “shine (white)” (PE17/152) or “silver glint” (MR/388; PE17/22).
Conceptual Development: This word first appeared as G. gail “a star” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/42), derived from the early root ᴱ√Gil- (GL/38). In the Early Noldorin Grammar Tolkien said ᴱN. gail meant “sign, token, heavenly body” (PE13/123); earlier in this document he gave it the gloss {“life” >>} “sign” (PE13/120 and note #6). In Early Noldorin Word-lists written somewhat later, gail again simply meant “star” (PE13/143), and it was used this way in the Nebrachar poem from around 1930 (MC/217).
In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave it as N. geil “star” from primitive ᴹ✶gilya under the root ᴹ√GIL “shine (white or pale)” (Ety/GIL; EtyAC/GIL). Christopher Tolkien incorrectly marked geil as a plural form in The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road (LR/358), but Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne corrected this in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies (VT45/15). Remnants of this 1930s derivation can be seen in the forms geil/gail in notes from the 1950s, derived from ancient ✶gilyā “silver spark” (PE17/30, 152). Mostly, however, Tolkien represented this word as gil in later writings, including in The Lord of the Rings Appendix E (LotR/1113).
Possible Etymology: The etymology of gil is complicated by Tolkien’s vacillation with the singular form gail (†geil) < ✶gilyā, where the diphthong ai is the result of *a*-affection of the base vowel from *i* to *e*, which after *i*-intrusion produced *ei* and this diphthong became *ai* as usual in final syllables and monosyllables: gilyā [ >✱geli(a)] > geil > gail. Signs of this etymology can be seen in the class plural giliath as in S. Dagor-nuin-Giliath “Battle-under-Stars” (S/106).
With this alternate derivation, the plural form would still be gîl, since the ancient plural -ī prevented a-affection, and the prefixal form likewise would have been gil- (PE17/152). However, this derivation conflicts with Tolkien’s usual presentation of the singular form as gil. In some places Tolkien gave a primitive form like ✶(ñ)gillē (PE17/23) or a Sindarin form gill (PE17/50), but I think it is best to assume primitive ✱gili- to explain singular gil and class-plural giliath. This is further supported by the Telerin name Gilitíro “Starwatcher”; hat-tip to Vyacheslav Stepanov for suggesting this (PE23/143).
gil
noun. star, bright spark
gîl
star
gîl (i ngîl = i ñîl, o n**gîl, construct gil) (bright spark, silver glint), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gîl = i ñgîl), coll. pl. giliath** (RGEO, MR:388). Poetic †êl (elen-, pl. elin, coll. pl. elenath) (RGEO, Letters:281, WJ:363).
gîl
bright spark
(i ngîl = i ñîl, construct gil) (star, silver glint), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gîl = i ñgîl), coll. pl. *giliath** (RGEO, MR:388)*
gîl
silver glint
(i ngîl = i ñîl, o n’gîl = o ñgîl, construct gil) (star, bright spark), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gîl = i ñgîl), coll. pl. *giliath (RGEO, MR:388)*
gîl
star
(i ngîl = i ñîl, o n’gîl, construct gil) (bright spark, silver glint), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gîl = i ñgîl), coll. pl. giliath **(RGEO, MR:388). Poetic †êl (elen-, pl. **elin, coll. pl. elenath) (RGEO, Letters:281, WJ:363).
el
star
n. star.
elen
star
pl1. elin, pl2. elenath _n._star. Its collective plural (pl2.) designates 'the (host of all the) stars, (all) the (visible) stars of the firmament'. Q. elen, pl1. eldi, eleni. o menel aglar elenath ! lit. 'from Firmament glory of the stars !'. >> êl
elen Archaic
noun. star
gil-
noun. star
gill
noun. star
êl
noun. star (little used except in verses)
êl
star
pl1. elin, pl2. elenath** ** n. star. Q. elen, pl1. eldi, eleni, pl2. elelli. >> elen
êl Archaic
noun. star
A Sindarin word for “star” that is largely archaic and poetic, and is mainly used as element in names like Elrond (Let/281; WJ/363; Ety/EL); the more usual word for “star” in ordinary speech was gil (RGEO/65). However, the collective form elenath is still used in common speech to refer to the entire host of stars (WJ/363). The plural of êl is elin, as this word was derived from ancient ✶elen, and the final n that was lost in the singular was preserved in the plural. In some cases Tolkien posited a restored analogical singular elen from the plural form (PE17/24, 67, 139), but this isn’t in keeping with the notion that the word was archaic, so I would ignore this for purposes of Neo-Sindarin.
Conceptual Development: This word and its root first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where N. el “star” was derived from the root ᴹ√EL of similar meaning, but was “only [used] in names” (Ety/EL). It seems Tolkien introduced the root to give a new etymology for names like N. Elrond and N. Elwing, which initially appeared under the root ᴹ√ƷEL “sky” (Ety/ƷEL).
gilion
of stars
(lenited ngilion; pl. gilioen). Archaic ✱giliaun.
Second great battle of the Wars of Beleriand, translated “Battle-under-Stars” (S/106), a combination of dagor “battle”, nu “under”, the plural in of the definite article i and finally the class plural giliath of gil “star”.
Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, this battle was first named N. Dagor-os-Giliath (SM/268, LR/117), revised to N. Dagor nuin Giliath later in these drafts (LR/119, 145). This later form was also used in the Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (WJ/17).
It occasionally appeared as Dagor-nui-Ngiliath in both the 1930s and 1950s (LR/249, WJ/113), with the plural article elided and the class-plural undergoing nasal mutation to ngiliath. This second formation is probably more typical Sindarin.