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
ílë
star
elen
star
elen
noun. star
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).
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
él
star
†él noun "star", pl. éli given (WJ:362, EL)
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
lís
noun. honey, honey, *sugar, sweetener
A word for “honey” in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 given as lîs and derived from the root √(G)LIS (PE17/154); the usual representation of a long vowel in Quenya would be ✱lís. In DLN Tolkien said that it sometimes appeared as līr- in inflections with the usual change of intervocalic s to r, but that its usual stem form was liss-. Indeed, in The Etymologies of the 1930s this word was ᴹQ. lis “honey” under the root ᴹ√LIS of the same meaning, and its stem form was also liss- as indicated by its [ᴹQ.] genitive lissen (Ety/LIS). Tolkien originally gave the base noun as lisse in The Etymologies, but this was deleted and replaced by lis (EtyAC/LIS). In The Etymologies its Noldorin cognate was N. glî.
Conceptual Development: A likely precursor to this word was ᴱQ. ile “honey” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, cognate to ᴱN. glí “honey” (GL/59).
Neo-Quenya: Since there are other honey-words in Quenya like Q. nehtë, I would use lís (liss-) for sweeteners in general, including both honey and sugar.
Derivations
- √LIS “*sweet, [ᴱ√] sweetness, [ᴹ√] honey” ✧ PE17/154
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √(G)LIS > lîs [līs] ✧ PE17/154 Variations
- lîs ✧ PE17/154
melu
honey
#melu noun "honey", isolated from melumatya, q.v. (PE17:68)
melu
noun. honey
A word for “honey” appearing only in the compound Q. melumatya “honey-eating” in notes from 1967 (PE17/68).
Element in
- Q. melumatya “honey-eating” ✧ PE17/068
- ᴺQ. meluquetya “sweet-speaking person, flatterer”
nectë
honey
nectë noun "honey" (LT1:262; Tolkien's later Quenya has lis; otherwise, nectë would have had to become nehtë_, a form appearing in the Etymologies with the meaning "honeycomb" [VT45:38]. However, this word clashes with _nehtë "angle" or "spearhead, gore, wedge, narrow promontory" from later sources [PE17:55, UT:282].)
nehte
noun. honey
honey
nehtë
noun. honey, honey; [ᴹQ.] honeycomb
A noun for “honey” appearing in 1970 green-ink revisions to the Outline of Phonology (OP2) derived from ✶negdē “exudation” based on the root √NEG “ooze, drip” (PE19/91). It was a later iteration of ᴹQ. nehte “honeycomb” in The Etymologies of the 1930s which had essentially the same derivation (EtyAC/NEG). This in turn was a later form of ᴱQ. nekte “honey” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s derived from the early root ᴱ√NEHE having to do with bees and honey (QL/65).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d use this word only for “honey”. For “honeycomb” I’d use ᴺQ. nehtelë inspired by ᴱQ. nektele “honeycomb” (QL/65)
Cognates
Derivations
Element in
- ᴺQ. nehtelë “honeycomb”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶negdē > nehte [negdē] > [nektē] > [nextē] > [nexte] ✧ PE19/091 Variations
- nehte ✧ PE19/091
ílë noun "star" (LT1:269; rather elen, él in LotR-style Quenya.)