meles

love

meles, melessë noun "love" (LT1:262; rather melmë in Tolkien's later Quenya)

melmë

love

melmë noun "love" (MEL)

melmë

 noun. love, love (a particular case [between two people])

Derivations

• √MEL “love, love, [ᴹ√] love (as friend)” ✧ NM/016

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√mel > melmë	[melme]	✧ NM/016

mel-

verb. to love

Derivations

• ✶melā- “to love”
  • √MEL “love, love, [ᴹ√] love (as friend)”

Element in

• Q. mélamar “(emotional) home”
• Q. melima “loving, very affectionate, [ᴹQ.] loveable, fair; [Q.] loving, very affectionate”
• ᴺQ. melinólë “philosophy”
• Q. melin sé apa lanyë hé “I love him but not him (the other)” ✧ VT49/15
• Q. melinyes apa la hé “I love him but not him (the other)” ✧ VT49/15
• ᴺQ. mellaman “pet, (lit.) love-animal”

mélië

noun. *love, loving

Element in

• Q. mélima yondion, lenna antanyes mélio cenwa “*dear [one] of sons I give it to be read with love” ✧ Minor-Doc/1955-CT

meldo

friend, lover

meldo noun "friend, lover". _(VT45:34, quoting a deleted entry in the Etymologies, but cf. the pl. #_meldor in Eldameldor "Elf-lovers", WJ:412) **Meldonya *"my friend" (VT49:38, 40). It may be that meldo is the distinctly masculine form, corresponding to feminine #meldë** (q.v.)

málo

noun. friend

friend, comrade

málo

friend

málo noun "friend" (MEL, VT49:22)

nildo

friend

nildo noun "friend" (apparently masc.; contrast nildë) (NIL/NDIL)

nildë

friend

nildë noun "friend" (fem.) (NIL/NDIL)

nilmo

friend

nilmo noun "friend" (apparently masc.) (NIL/NDIL)

nilmë

noun. love, concern for things other than self for their own sakes

Derivations

• √N(D)IL “to love (as a friend or equal), be devoted to, to love (as a friend or equal), be devoted to; [ᴹ√] love, devotion; friend” ✧ NM/016

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√ndil > nilmë	[ndilme] > [nilme]	✧ NM/016

mel-

love (as friend)

mel- vb. "love (as friend)" (MEL). Melinyes or melin sé "I love him" (VT49:21). LR:70 has melánë"I love", a doubtful form in Tolkien's later Quenya (melin occurs in later material).

-më

suffix. abstract noun

-më (2) abstract suffix, as in melmë "love" (cf. the verb mel-), #cilmë "choice" (possibly implying a verb *cil- "to choose"). According to PE17:68, primitive -mē (and -wē) were endings used to derive nouns denoting "a single action", which may fit the meaning of cilmë (but melmë "love" would normally be something lasting rather than "a single action").

-ser

friend

-ser noun "friend" (SER)

-ndil

friend

-ndil (also -dil) ending occurring in many names, like Amandil, Eärendil; it implies devotion or disinterested love and may be translated "friend" (SA:(noun)dil); this ending is "describing the attitude of one to a person, thing, course or occupation to which one is devoted for its own sake" (Letters:386). Compare -ndur. It is unclear whether the names derived with the ending -ndil are necessarily masculine, though we have no certain example of a woman's name in -ndil; the name Vardilmë (q.v.) may suggest that the corresponding feminine ending is -(n)dilmë.

heldo

friend

[heldo, also helmo, fem. heldë, noun "friend" (VT46:3)]

meldë

friend

#meldë noun "friend", feminine (meldenya "my friend" in the Elaine inscription [VT49:40], Tolkien referring to Elaine Griffiths). Compare meldo.

sermo

friend

sermo noun "friend" (evidently masc., since sermë is stated to be fem.) (SER)

sermë

friend

sermë noun "friend" (fem.) (SER)

seron

friend

seron noun "friend" (SER)

sondo

friend

[sondo noun "friend" (VT46:15)]

-ndur

friend

-ndur (also -dur), ending in some names, like Eärendur; as noted by Christopher Tolkien in the Silmarillion Appendix it has much the same meaning as -ndil "friend"; yet -ndur properly means "servant of" (SA:(noun)dil), "as one serves a legitimate master: cf. Q. arandil king's friend, royalist, beside arandur 'king's servant, minister'. But these often coincide: e.g. Sam's relation to Frodo can be viewed either as in status -ndur, in spirit -ndil." (Letters:286)

nil-

verb. to love, have special concern/care/interest for

@@@ from Discord 2022-03-05

Derivations

• √N(D)IL “to love (as a friend or equal), be devoted to, to love (as a friend or equal), be devoted to; [ᴹ√] love, devotion; friend”

mel-

verb. to love

Derivations

• √MEL “love, love, [ᴹ√] love (as friend)”

Element in

• S. Meldis “?Beloved Bride”
• ᴺS. mellavan “pet, (lit.) love-animal”
• S. melui “lovely, sweet”
• ᴺS. orvel- “to favour, *(lit.) love above”
• S. úvelui “not amiable, unloveable” ✧ PE17/145

mellon

noun. friend

mellon

noun. friend

_ n. _friend. Pedo mellon a minno! 'Say friend and enter'. 

mellon

noun. friend

Cognates

• Q. meldo “friend, lover” ✧ WJ/412

Derivations

• √MEL “love, love, [ᴹ√] love (as friend)” ✧ SA/mel

Element in

• S. ar e aníra ennas suilannad mhellyn în phain “and he desires to greet there all his friends” ✧ AotM/062; SD/129
• S. Elvellyn “Elf-friends, Elf-lovers” ✧ WJ/412
• S. mellyn enin Edhellion “*friends of the Elves” ✧ PE17/097
• S. pedo beth mellon “say the word mellon” ✧ VT44/26
• S. pedo mellon a minno “speak, friend, and enter; (alternately) say ‘friend’ and enter” ✧ LotR/0305; LotR/0305; PE17/041

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√mel- > mellon	[meldondo] > [melðondo] > [melðond] > [mellond] > [mellonn] > [mellon]	✧ SA/mel

Variations

• Mellon ✧ LotR/0308; LotRI/Mellon

mela

love

(vb.) mela- (i vela, i melar), pa.t. melant (VT45:34)

mela

love

(i vela, i melar), pa.t. melant (VT45:34)

meleth

love

(noun) meleth (i veleth), pl. melith (i melith)

meleth

love

(i veleth), pl. melith (i melith)

mîl

love

mîl (i vîl) (affection, kindness), no distinct form in pl. except with article (i mîl), coll. pl. míliath

mîl

love

(i vîl) (affection, kindness), no distinct form in pl. except with article (i mîl), coll. pl. míliath

uiveleth

hJrな$3F noun. eternal love, love that will last for ever

The prefix ‘ui-’ that means eternal plus lenited form of meleth (love) ‘veleth’.

cil-

verb. choose

mellon

friend

1) (masc.) mellon (i vellon) (lover), pl. mellyn (i mellyn), coll. pl. mellonnath. Also meldir (i veldir), no distinct pl. form except with article (i meldir). Also seron (i heron, o seron), pl. seryn (i seryn), coll. pl. seronnath. 2) (fem.) meldis (i veldis), no distinct pl. form except with article (i meldis), coll. pl. meldissath.

mellon

friend

(i vellon) (lover), pl. mellyn (i mellyn), coll. pl. mellonnath. Also meldir (i veldir), no distinct pl. form except with article (i meldir). Also seron (i heron, o seron), pl. seryn (i seryn), coll. pl. seronnath.

meldis

friend

(i veldis), no distinct pl. form except with article (i meldis), coll. pl. meldissath.

zîr-

verb. *to love, desire

An Adûnaic verb appearing as an element in various compounds as -zîr or zîr- (SD/389, 423). The verb was not translated, but its primitive root form ZIR is glossed “love, desire”, so this verb probably has a similar meaning.

Several authors have suggested (EotAL/ZIR, NBA/20) that the verb stem is zir- with a short vowel. However, the vowel is long in the participle form zîrân “beloved”, and there are tentative examples where a verb with a short vowel would retain that short vowel in the agental/participle form: magân “✱builder”. I therefore think that the verb stem is likelier to be zîr-.

Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/25) that it may be related to the Middle-Period Elvish root ᴹ√SER.

Derivations

• √Ad. ZIR “love, desire” ✧ SD/423

Element in

• Ad. Aphanuzîr “?Bliss-friend” ✧ SD/389
• Ad. Nimruzîr “*Elf-friend” ✧ SD/389
• Ad. nimruzîr “Elf-friend”
• Ad. zîrân “beloved”

Variations

• zīr/zîr ✧ SD/423

bêl-

verb. *to befriend, love

A verb stem bel- attested only in the explanations for the agental-formation -bêl in the name Azrubêl “Friend of the Sea, Sea-lover” (SD/305, PM/373). The form bel- violates Adûnaic phonetic rules given in Lowdham’s Report, which state that [ē] can only be a long vowel in Adûnaic (SD/423). See the discussion of its root form ✶Ad. √BEL for possible explanations. The Classical Adûnaic verb form might be bêl-, while bel- may instead be its most primitive (early Elvish?) form.

This verb seems to have a sense similar to that of zîr- “to love, desire”. Perhap it is distinct from zîr- in that it has more to do with friendship than desire, so that the verb means “✱to befriend” or “✱to love (as a friend)”.

Derivations

• √Ad. BEL “*befriend, love”

Element in

• Ad. Azrubêl “Sea-lover, Friend of the Sea” ✧ PM/373; SD/305

Variations

• bel- ✧ PM/373; SD/305

mel

root. love, love, [ᴹ√] love (as friend)

This root was the basis for Elvish “love” words for all of Tolkien’s life. The root first appeared as ᴱ√MELE “love” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. mel- “to love”, ᴱQ. meles(se) “love”, and ᴱQ. melin “dear, beloved” (QL/60). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon it had similar derivatives like G. mel- “love” and G. melon “dear, beloved” (GL/57).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien specified that ᴹ√MEL meant “love (as friend)”, and for the first time it included the derivative N. mellon “friend” (Ety/MEL); Gnomish “friend” words from the 1910s were mostly based on G. ged (GL/38). However, the same entry included ᴹQ. melindo/ᴹQ. melisse “lover” (male and female), so it seems even in the 1930s it could refer to romantic love (Ety/MEL). The root continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writings associated with “love” (PE18/46, 96; PE17/41; VT39/10).

In notes from 1959, Tolkien elaborated on the precise sense of √MEL and its role in romantic and non-romantic love:

> Love, which Men might call “friendship” (but for the greater strength and warmth and permanency with which it was felt by the Quendi) was represented by √mel. This was primarily a motion or inclination of the fëa [“spirit”], and therefore could occur between persons of the same sex or different sexes. It included no sexual or procreative desire, though naturally in Incarnates the difference of sex altered the emotion, since “sex” is held by the Eldar to belong also to the fëa and not solely to the hröa [“body”], and is therefore not wholly included in procreation ... The “desire” for marriage and bodily union was represented by √yer; but this never in the uncorrupted occurred without “love” √mel, nor without the desire for children. This element was therefore seldom used except to describe occasions of its dominance in the process of courting and marriage. The feelings of lovers desiring marriage, and of husband and wife, were usually described by √mel. This “love” remained, of course, permanent after the satisfaction of √yer in the “Time of the Children”; but was strengthened by this satisfaction and the memory of it to a normally unbreakable bond (NM/20).

Thus √MEL was close in sense to Greek “philia”, used of friendship, whereas √YER was used of “eros” or sexual desire. But in Elvish thinking, √MEL was essential for romantic love, and √YER only arose from that. Furthermore, √YER was not the most important element in the love between romantic partners, as the period of procreation and child-rearing took up a relatively small portion of Elvish lives. It was the more enduring feeling of friendship between lovers that really mattered, and thus √MEL was used of both non-romantic and romantic love, though it had not particular sexual connotation.

Derivatives

• ✶melā- “to love”
  • Q. mel- “to love”
• ✶melnā “dear, beloved” ✧ PE17/041
  • Q. melda “dear, beloved, beloved, dear, [ᴹQ.] sweet” ✧ PE17/041; PE17/056
  • S. mell “dear, beloved” ✧ PE17/041
• Q. emel “love [abstract]” ✧ NM/016
• Q. málo “friend, comrade” ✧ PE18/096
• Q. méla “loving, affectionate” ✧ VT39/10
• Q. meldë “*friend (f.)”
• Q. meldo “friend, lover”
• Q. melmë “love (a particular case [between two people])” ✧ NM/016
• ᴺQ. melta- “to enamour”
• ᴺQ. melu- “to fall in love”
• Q. melya- “[unglossed], *to be in love”
• S. mel- “to love”
• S. mellon “friend” ✧ SA/mel
• T. mála “loving, affectionate” ✧ VT39/10

Element in

• ✶Melyanna “Dear Gift” ✧ SA/mel
• Q. meletheldë “love-sister” ✧ NM/016
• Q. melotorno “love-brother” ✧ NM/016

Variations

• mel ✧ NM/016; NM/020
• mel- ✧ SA/mel

melā

verb. love

melā-

verb. to love

Derivations

• √MEL “love, love, [ᴹ√] love (as friend)”

Derivatives

• Q. mel- “to love”

Variations

• melā ✧ PE22/130; PE22/134; PE22/134

ndilā

verb. love, be devoted to

ndilā-

verb. to love, be devoted to

Derivations

• √N(D)IL “to love (as a friend or equal), be devoted to, to love (as a friend or equal), be devoted to; [ᴹ√] love, devotion; friend”

Variations

• ndilā ✧ PE22/134

(n)dur

root. love, feeling of special concern with, care for, or interest in things, to show special interest in things; [ᴹ√] bow down, bend (low), obey, serve; grow/be dark

Counterpart to the root √N(D)IL, this root first appeared in a marginal note from The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√NDUR or ᴹ√DUR “bow down, bend (down), obey, serve”, an elaboration of ᴹ√NDŪ “go down, sink, set (of Sun)” (Ety/NDŪ; EtyAC/NDŪ). In the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s, ᴹ√NDUR was glossed “grow, be dark”, no doubt in connection to N./S. dûr “dark” (PE22/103), but later this “dark” word was connected more directly to √NDU “under, down”. Indeed, in a 1955 letter to David Masson, Tolkien gave √(N)DUR an origin distinct from √N(D)U, basing it on an independent root √DUR “to show special interest in things” (PE17/152); there was also an unglossed and deleted root ᴹ√DUR in The Etymologies of the 1930s (EtyAC/DUR). However, in a 1967 letter to Mr. Rang, -(n)dur again meant “to serve” (Let/386).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is best to keep the connection between √NDUR “bow down = serve” and √NDU “descend”. As for the semantic distinctions between -(n)dil and -(n)dur, see the entry on the root √N(D)IL for details.

Derivatives

• ✶-ndūr “attend, tend”
  • Q. -(n)dur “servant; to serve”
• Q. -(n)dur “servant; to serve” ✧ PE17/152
• ᴺQ. nurmë “subordination”

Element in

• ᴺQ. nur- “to serve”
• Q. ornendur “tree-keep, forester, woodsman” ✧ NM/020

Variations

• ndur ✧ NM/020
• DUR ✧ PE17/151; PE17/151; PE17/152

meleth

noun. love

meleth

noun. love

Cognates

• ᴹQ. melme “love” ✧ Ety/MEL

Derivations

• ᴹ√MEL “love (as friend)” ✧ Ety/MEL

Element in

• ᴺS. melethel “darling, sweetheart”
• ᴺS. melethor “lover”
• N. melethril “lover (f.)” ✧ Ety/MEL
• N. melethron “lover (m.)” ✧ Ety/MEL

Elements

Word	Gloss
MEL	“love (as friend)”
-th	“abstract noun”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√MEL > meleth	[melette] > [melettʰe] > [meleθθe] > [meleθθ] > [meleθ]	✧ Ety/MEL

mel-

verb. to love

mela-

verb. to love

Derivations

• ᴹ√MEL “love (as friend)” ✧ EtyAC/MEL

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√MEL > melo	[mel-]	✧ EtyAC/MEL

mîl

noun. love, affection

mîl

noun. love, affection

Derivations

• ᴹ√MEL “love (as friend)” ✧ Ety/MEL; EtyAC/MEL

Element in

• N. milui “friendly, loving, kind” ✧ Ety/MEL

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√MEL > mîl	[mēl] > [mīl]	✧ Ety/MEL

mellon

noun. friend

mellon

noun. friend

Cognates

• ᴹQ. málo “friend” ✧ Ety/MEL
• ᴹQ. meldo “(friend), lover” ✧ EtyAC/MEL

Derivations

• ᴹ√MEL “love (as friend)” ✧ Ety/MEL; EtyAC/MEL

Element in

• N. pedo mellon a minno “speak, friend, and enter” ✧ TI/182

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√MEL > meldon > mellon	[meldondo] > [melðondo] > [melðond] > [mellond] > [mellonn] > [mellon]	✧ EtyAC/MEL

Variations

• Mellon ✧ TI/181

elf

noun. friend

Cognates

• ᴹQ. helmo “friend” ✧ EtyAC/ÑEL

Derivations

• ᴹ√ÑEL “friendship” ✧ EtyAC/ÑEL

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√ÑEL > elf	[ŋelmo] > [elmo] > [elm] > [elv]	✧ EtyAC/ÑEL

thond

noun. friend

Cognates

• ᴹQ. sondo “friend” ✧ EtyAC/SON

Derivations

• ᴹ√SON “love, befriend, cherish” ✧ EtyAC/SON

Element in

• N. Elethon “Ælfwine” ✧ EtyAC/SON (Elethon)
• N. Manathon “Bliss-friend” ✧ EtyAC/SON (Manathon*)

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√SON > thond	[tʰondo] > [θondo] > [θond]	✧ EtyAC/SON

meldir

noun. friend

meldis

noun. friend