Itaril

itaril

Itaril (*Itarill-), Itarillë, Itarildë fem. name, Sindarized as Idril(PM:346, 348; SA:ril). (In earlier sources, Tolkien used Irildë as the Quenya form of Idril, and the proper Noldorin/Sindarin form was then Idhril.)

itarillë

feminine name. *Sparkling Brilliance

The Quenya name of S. Idril, from which her Sindarin name was derived (SA/ril, PM/346). Her name is a combination of ita- “to sparkle” and the root √RIL “brilliance” (SA/ril, PM/363 note #42) with the feminine agental suffix -llë, perhaps meaning something like “✱Sparkling Brilliance”. This name also appeared as Itarildë, using the suffix -ldë instead (PM/348, PE17/112).

Conceptual Development: For a very long time, Idril’s Quenya name was Irildë (LT2/216, Ety/KYELEP, WJ/235), with its initial element derived from √ID (Ety/ID, PE17/112). After the publication of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien became dissatisfied with this etymology, as the initial ✶Id- would have developed in Sindarin into Idh-. Tolkien explored several possible solutions to the problem: changing Idril to Ídhril or changing her Quenya name to Itarillë (PE17/112). He eventually settled on the second option (PM/346).

When Tolkien first introduced this new Quenya name, its initial element was íta “very, extremely” from the root √IT “repeat, multiply”, so that her name meant “Very Bright” (PE17/112). Tolkien later changed the meaning of this root to √IT “glitter” with the verb form ita- “to sparkle” (PM/363 note #42), and this was the etymology used by Christopher Tolkien in The Silmarillion appendix (SA/ril).

See Q. Irildë for earlier developments of this name.

Changes

• Ítaril(le) → Írilde ✧ PE17/112

Cognates

• S. Idril ✧ PE17/112; PE17/112; PE17/112; PM/346; PM/348; PMI/Idril; SA/ril

Elements

Word	Gloss
ita-	“to sparkle”
RIL	“brilliant (light), brilliance, brilliant (light), brilliance, [ᴹ√] glitter”
-llë	“feminine agent”

Variations

• Ítaril(le) ✧ PE17/112 (Ítaril(le))
• íta-rille ✧ PE17/112 (íta-rille)
• itaril ✧ PE17/112 (itaril)
• Itarildë ✧ PE17/112; PM/348; PMI/Idril; SA/ril
• Itaril/Itarillë ✧ PM/346
• Itaril ✧ PMI/Idril

Irildë

idhril

Irildë fem. name "Idhril" (Idril) (LT2:343), #Írildë (J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator p. 193), Írildë also as name of a Númenorean woman (UT:210). Irildë Taltyelemna = (later) Sindarin Idril Celebrindal;replaced Irildë Taltelepsa (KYELEP/TELEP; Taltelemna in the Etymologies as printed in LR is an error for Taltyelemna, VT45:25). Tolkien seems to have replaced Irildë as the Quenya form of Idril with Itaril, Itarillë, Itarildë, q.v., in which case the Sindarin form is definitely Idril and not Idhril.

ita

very, extremely

ita, íta adv. 2) "very, extremely" (PE17:112). Like #1 above, this element emerged as part of Tolkiens efforts to explain the initial element of the name Idril (Q Itaril), so it is questionable if #1 and #2 were ever meant to coexist in the "same" version of Quenya.

an-

very

an- (2) intensive or superlative prefix carrying the idea of "very" or "most", seen in ancalima "most bright" (cf. calima "bright"), antara "very high, very lofty" and #anyára "very old" or "oldest" (the latter form occurring in the so-called Elaine inscription [VT49:40], there with the dative ending -n). Assimilated to am- before p-, as in amparca ("k") "very dry", and to al-, ar-, as- before words in l-, r-, s- (though Tolkien seems to indicate that before words in l- derived from earlier d, the original quality of the consonant would be preserved so that forms in and- rather than all- would result). See also un-. (Letters:279, VT45:5, 36) Regarding the form of the superlative prefix before certain consonants, another, partially discrepant system was also set down in the Etymologies and first published in VT45:36. The prefix was to appear as um- or un- before labialized consonants like p-, qu-, v- (the consonant v preserving its ancient pronunciation b- following the prefix, thus producing a word in umb-), as in- (technically iñ-) before c- and g- (the latter presumably referring to words that originally had initial g-, later lost in Quenya but evidently preserved following this prefix), and as an- otherwise. However, this system would contradict the canonical example ancalima, which would have been *incalima if Tolkien had maintained this idea. In a post-LotR source, the basic form of the prefix is given as am- instead (see am- #2). In this late conception, the prefix still appears as an- before most consonants, but as ama- before r, l, and the form an- is used even before s- (whether original or from þ), not the assimilated variant as- described above. General principles would suggest that the form am- should also appear before y- (so the form #anyára probably presupposes an- rather than am- as the basic form of the prefix, Tolkien revisiting the earlier concept in the _Elaine inscription). (PE17:92)_

lai

very

[lai adverbial particle "very" (VT45:8)]

lai

adverb. very

Derivations

• √DAY “*great”