Illuin place-name, name of one of the Lamps of the Valar; apparently incorporating the element luin "blue" (Silm): hence *"all-blue"?
Quenya
helluin
proper name. ?Ice or Sky Blue
Elements
Word Gloss ? luinë “blue”
Illuin
blue
luinë
blue
luinë adj. "blue", pl. luini (PE17:66, VT48:23, 24, 28, Nam, RGEO:66). Common Eldarin luini- would also be the stem-form in Quenya (VT48:24). Compare luinincë. Apparently -luin in Illuin, the name of one of the Lamps of the Valar (q.v.), Helluin, name of the star Sirius, and Luinil, name of another blue-shining star (or planet). (SA; Luinil is tentatively identified with Neptune, MR:435). Cf. also menelluin "sky-blue", used as noun = "cornflower" (J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator p. 193).
luinë
adjective. blue
Cognates
Derivations
Element in
- Q. Andúnë pella Vardo tellumar nu luini “beyond the West, beneath the blue vaults of Varda” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
- Q. Andúnë pella Vardo nu luini tellumar “West beyond [the borders of] Varda’s under blue domes” ✧ RGEO/58
- Q. Helluin “?Ice or Sky Blue” ✧ SA/luin
- ᴺQ. luicarnë “purple”
- Q. Luinil “*Blue Star” ✧ SA/luin
- Q. luinincë “bluish”
- ᴺQ. luinion “lapis lazuli, (lit.) blue-rock”
- ᴺQ. luinyellë “bluebell”
- Q. menelluin “cornflower (colour), *(lit.) sky-blue”
- Q. sanomë tarnë Olórin, Aracorno, Eomer, Imrahil, mi mísë, mi telepta yo morna, mi laiqua yo ninquë, mi luinë, ta Gimli mi lossëa “There stood Gandalf, Aragorn, Eomer and Imrahil in grey, in silver and black, in green and white, and in blue, and also Gimli in white” ✧ PE17/071
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √LUY > luine [luini] > [luine] ✧ VT48/23 ✶luini > luine [luini] > [luine] ✧ VT48/24 Variations
- luine ✧ PE17/066; VT48/23; VT48/24; VT48/28
- luini ✧ PE17/071
- luin ✧ SA/luin
lúnë
blue
lúnë (stem *lúni-, given the primitive form ¤lugni) adj. "blue" (LUG2, LT1:262; later sources rather give luinë, with pl. form luini_ in Namárië)_. According to VT45:29, lúnë in the Etymologies was changed by Tolkien from lúna.
ninwa
blue
ninwa adj. "blue" (LT1:262)
The name of the blue star Sirius (S/64, SI/Helluin). Its final element is almost certainly luinë “blue” (SA/luin), but the meaning of its initial element is unclear. It may be a derivation of the root √KHEL “ice”. Alternately, it might be related to ᴹQ. helle “sky” as suggested by Elaran in a private Discord chat on 2019-02-19.
Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon from the 1910s, Sirius was named ᴱQ. Nierninwa Blue-bee” (QL/65), while in the earliest Lost Tales it was called ᴱQ. Nielluin “Bee of Azure” (LT1/182) or “Blue Bee” (LT1/200), a name that also appeared in the Qenya Lexicon (QL/65).