Isil

noun. moon

moon

Isil

moon

Isil (þ) place-name "Moon" (FS; SA:sil, Appendix E, SD:302, SIL; also defined as "the Sheen" under THIL); Isildur masc. name., *"Moon-servant" (SA:sil, Appendix A, NDŪ)

ceuran-

new moon

ceuran- ("k") noun "new moon" (compare Rána "moon"). The word is cited with a final hyphen, as if some final element is missing, but Rána could very well be reduced to -ran at the end of a compound. (VT48:7)

isil

noun. Moon, (lit.) Sheen

The usual name for the Moon in Quenya, also translated as “Sheen” (LR/240; MR/130), from an augmented form of the root √THIL (Let/425; Ety/THIL). This word is most likely the proper name of the Moon, analogous to English “Luna”. Compare this to Q. Rána “Wayward”, which is more descriptive of the nature of the body and hence closer to “Moon” (and “moon”).

Conceptual Development: The precursor to this name seems to be ᴱQ. Sil (Sill-) “moon” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, derived from the early root ᴱ√SILI (QL/83). The root had various derivatives having to do with “gleam(ing)”, but in the contemporaneous narratives ᴱQ. Sil was translated “(silver) rose” (LT1/192 and 197 note #17). There was also ᴱQ. Silmo as a masculinized name for “moon” (QL/83), which seems to be the ordinary word for “moon” in the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s (PE15/75).

The name ᴹQ. Isil first appeared in early versions of the tales of Númenor from the 1930s (LR/41). The derivation given above appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/THIL) and again in a 1972 letter to Richard Jeffery (Let/425).

Cognates

• S. Ithil “Moon” ✧ Let/425; LotR/1114; PE17/039; PE17/121; SA/sil

Derivations

• √THIL “shine silver; white light” ✧ Let/425
• √SIL “shine (white or silver)” ✧ SA/sil

Element in

• Q. Isildur “*Servant of the Moon” ✧ SA/sil
• Q. isilmë “moonlight”
• Q. Isilmo
• Q. Isilya “*Monday, Moon-day”
• Q. Narsil “Red and White Flame” ✧ SA/sil

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√THIL > Isil	[itʰil] > [iθil] > [isil]	✧ Let/425

Variations

• Ithil ✧ NM/280

rána

noun. Moon, (lit.) Wayward

Another name of the Moon (usually Q. Isil), translated as “Wayward” (S/99). This name is a derivative of the root √RAN “wander” (UT/242), with a primitive form ✶rānā (VT48/7).

Conceptual Development: The name ᴱQ. Rána appears as a name of the moon in the earliest Lost Tales (LT1/192), though at this early stage its precise meaning and etymology were unclear. In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, ᴹQ. Rana appeared with a short a, with the translation “Wayward” (LR/240). The name also appeared with a short a in The Etymologies as a derivative of ᴹ√RAN “wander, stray” from primitive ᴹ✶Ranā (Ety/RAN). The long á was restored in Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (MR/130).

In some later notes, Tolkien said that Rána was the name of the spirit of the Moon rather than the Moon itself (VT42/13). Elsewhere this spirit was named Tirion, so this was probably a transient idea. In the indexes of The Silmarillion and The Unfinished Tales, Christopher Tolkien translated Rána as “Wanderer”, but the source of that translation is unclear.

Cognates

• S. Raun “Moon”

Derivations

• ✶rānā “moon”
  • √RAN “wander, stray, meander, go on an uncertain course, go aside from a course (commanded or self-chosen); err”
• √RAN “wander, stray, meander, go on an uncertain course, go aside from a course (commanded or self-chosen); err” ✧ SA/ran; UT/242; VT42/13

Element in

• Q. ceuran “new-moon”
• Q. imbi Menel Cemenyë menë Ráno tië “between Heaven and Earth goes the path of the Moon” ✧ VT47/11
• Q. Ranalinquë “*Moon-grass”
• Q. ránasta “lunar month”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√ran- > Rána	[rāna]	✧ SA/ran
√ran- > Rána	[rāna]	✧ UT/242
√RAN > Rána	[rāna]	✧ VT42/13

Variations

• Rana ✧ MR/376; MRI/Rána

Anar

sun

Anar noun "Sun" (ANÁR, NAR1, SA:nár; UT:22 cf. 51); anar "a sun" (Markirya); Anarinya "my Sun" (FS). See also ceuranar, Úr-anar. (According to VT45:6, Tolkien in the Etymologies mentioned anar "sun" as the name of the short vowel carrier of the Tengwar writing system; it would be the first letter if anar is written in Quenya mode Tengwar.) Compounded in the masc. name Anárion "Sun-son" (Isildur's brother, also the Númenorean king Tar-Anárion, UT:210); also in Anardil "Sun-friend" (Appendix A), a name also occurring in the form Anardilya with a suffix of endearment (UT:174, 418). Anarya noun second day of the Eldarin six-day week, dedicated to the Sun (Appendix D). Anarríma name of a constellation: *"Sun-border"??? (Silm; cf. ríma)

Calaventë

sun

Calaventë _("k")_noun "Sun" (LT1:254)

Calavénë

sun

Calavénë _("k")_noun "Sun" (lit. "light-vessel", "light-dish") (LT1:254)

Narsil

sun

Narsil (Þ) noun the sword of Elendil, compound of the stems seen in Anar "Sun" and Isil "Moon"; see Letters:425 for etymology

úri

sun

úri noun "sun" (MC:214, 221; this is "Qenya"); genitive úrio "sun's" (MC:216)

cúnë

crescent, bow

cúnë _("k")_noun "crescent, bow" (LT1:271). Cf. cú.

ithil

noun. Moon

_n. Astron._Moon. Q. Isil. >> Anor, ithildin

ithil

noun. Moon

The usual name for the Moon in Sindarin, from an augmented form of the root √THIL (Let/425; Ety/THIL). This word is most likely the proper name of the Moon, analogous to English “Luna”: in The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien indicated Ithil was a “poetic name”. Compare this to S. Raun “Wanderer”, which is more descriptive of the nature of the body and hence closer to “Moon” (and “moon”).

Conceptual Development: The first precursor to this name seems to be G. Thilim “Moon” in an early list of names (PE14/13). This became G. {Thil >>} Sil “Rose of Silpion, Moon” (GL/67, 72) and G. {Thilmos >>} Silma in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/33, 67), both derivatives of the early root ᴱ√SILI as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Sil). The name Ithil first appeared in early versions of the tales of Númenor from the 1930s (LR/41).

Cognates

• Q. Isil “Moon, (lit.) Sheen” ✧ Let/425; LotR/1114; PE17/039; PE17/121; SA/sil

Derivations

• √THIL “shine silver; white light” ✧ Let/425; SA/sil

Element in

• S. ir Ithil ammen Eruchín “*when the Moon, for us, the Children of God” ✧ LB/354
• S. Ithilbor “*Moon-fist”
• S. ithildin “magical alloy that glows in moonlight, (lit.) moon-star” ✧ PE17/039; PE17/039
• S. Ithilien “Land of the Moon” ✧ SA/sil
• S. Minas Ithil “Tower of the (Rising) Moon” ✧ SA/sil
• S. Orithil “*Moon-day, Monday”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√THIL > Ithil	[itʰil] > [iθil]	✧ Let/425
√thil- > Ithil	[itʰil] > [iθil]	✧ SA/sil

raun

noun. Moon

A word for “moon”, equivalent of Q. Rána, attested in later writings only as the element -rawn in the archaic form S. †cýrawn “new-moon”, in modern speech cýron (VT48/7). Based on its use in this word, as well as in N. cúran “crescent moon” [ᴺS. cúron], it seems this is the ordinary word for “Moon” (or “moon”) as a celestial body, as opposed to S. Ithil which is the proper name of the moon, equivalent to English “Luna”. Raun is derived from primitive ✶rānā from the root √RAN “wander”, and hence originally meant something like “Wanderer”, though its Quenya equivalent is usually translated “Wayward”.

Conceptual Development: A very similar form G. Rân “the moon” appeared in Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/64), as well as ᴱN. rán “moon” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/152), though in this period its etymology is unclear. It appeared as N. Rhân “Moon” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, derived from the root ᴹ√RAN “wander, stray” (Ety/RAN), but in this period its Quenya equivalent was ᴹQ. Rana with short a. In later writings the Quenya form became Q. Rána, requiring a change to S. Raun since ancient ā became au in Sindarin.

Cognates

• Q. Rána “Moon, (lit.) Wayward”

Derivations

• ✶rānā “moon” ✧ VT48/07
  • √RAN “wander, stray, meander, go on an uncertain course, go aside from a course (commanded or self-chosen); err”

Element in

• ᴺS. cúron “crescent moon”
• S. cýron “new-moon” ✧ VT48/07

Variations

• rawn ✧ VT48/07 (rawn)

cýrawn

noun. new moon

cýron

noun. new moon

cúron

noun. the crescent Moon

Anor

noun. sun

Anor

noun. Sun

_n. Astron._Sun. Q. anār/anăr. >> Ithil

ithil

noun. the (full) Moon, lit. 'The Sheen'

ithil

moon

1) Ithil (= ”the sheen”); 2) (apparently also used = ”month”) raun (pl. roen, idh roen), coll. pl. ronath. Cf. the ending -ron at the end of month-names. Raun is basically the adj. ”straying, wandering” used as a noun, hence identifying the Moon as ”the Wanderer”. The ”Noldorin” form rhân presupposes a different primitive form and may not correspond to S *rân as would normally be supposed.

ithil

moon

(= ”the sheen”)

raun

moon

(pl. roen, idh roen), coll. pl. ronath. Cf. the ending -ron at the end of month-names. Raun is basically the adj. ”straying, wandering” used as a noun, hence identifying the Moon as ”the Wanderer”. – The ”Noldorin” form rhân presupposes a different primitive form and may not correspond to S ✱rân as would normally be supposed.

cýron

new moon

cýron (i gýron), pl. cýroen (i chýroen). Archaic *cýraun, spelt cýrawn in the source (VT48:7).

cúron

crescent moon

(i gúron, o chúron), pl. cúroen (i churoen). Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” cúran; compare the Sindarin month-names in -ron.

Anor

sun

1) Anor (pl. Anoer if there is a pl.) Archaic Anaur (SD:306). 2) naur (mainly in compounds as nar-, -nor) (flame, fire), pl. noer, coll. pl. norath.

cû

crescent

cû (i gû, o chû) (arch, bow), pl. cui (i chui);

cû

crescent

(i gû, o chû) (arch, bow), pl. cui (i chui);

nîlu

noun. moon

A noun translated as “moon” and fully declined as an example of a Strong II noun (SD/431). It appears with both a short and long final -u, but Tolkien indicated that the form with long û is actually the personified form Nîlû “Man in the Moon” (SD/426), perhaps the Adûnaic name of Tilion. Tolkien also listed the “later forms Nil, Njūl” (SD/306), one of which may be the Westron word for “moon”, most likely Wes. nil. Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/NUL) that this noun may be related to nûlo/nûlu/nâlu, but given the evil connotations of these words (SD/306) and the different stem vowels, this seems unlikely to me.

Cognates

• ᴹQ. Isil “Moon, (lit.) Sheen” ✧ SD/241; SD/306

Derivatives

• Wes. nil “moon” ✧ SD/306

Element in

• Ad. Nîlû “(Man in the) Moon” ✧ SD/426
• Ad. Ûrinîluwat “Sun and Moon” ✧ SD/428
• Ad. ûriyat nîlô “sun and moon” ✧ SD/428

Variations

• Nīlū ✧ SD/241
• Nīlu ✧ SD/306
• nīlu ✧ SD/431
• Nil ✧ SDI2/Nîlû
• Njūl ✧ SDI2/Nîlû

nîlû

masculine name. (Man in the) Moon

The masculine personification of nîlu “the moon” (SD/426), perhaps the Adûnaic name for Q. Tilion.

Variations

• Nīlū ✧ SD/426

rānā

noun. moon

Derivations

• √RAN “wander, stray, meander, go on an uncertain course, go aside from a course (commanded or self-chosen); err”

Derivatives

• Q. Rána “Moon, (lit.) Wayward”
• S. Raun “Moon” ✧ VT48/07

Element in

• ✶keu̯rānā “new-moon” ✧ VT48/07

ithil

noun. Moon

Cognates

• ᴹQ. Isil “Moon, (lit.) Sheen” ✧ Ety/I²; Ety/SIL; Ety/THIL; LR/041; SD/302; SD/306

Derivations

• ᴹ✶Ithil “moon” ✧ Ety/I²; SD/306
• ᴹ√THIL ✧ Ety/SIL; Ety/THIL

Element in

• N. ithildin “*moon-star”
• N. Ithilien “*Moon Lands”
• N. Minas Ithil “Tower of the Moon”
• N. Ithilduin
• N. Arithil “*Moon-day”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶ITHIL > Ithil	[itʰil] > [iθil]	✧ Ety/I²
ᴹ√THIL > Ithil	[itʰil] > [iθil]	✧ Ety/SIL
ᴹ√THIL > Ithil	[itʰil] > [iθil]	✧ Ety/THIL
ᴹ✶Ithīl > Ithil	[itʰīl] > [iθīl] > [iθil]	✧ SD/306

rhân

noun. Moon

Cognates

• ᴹQ. Rana “Moon, (lit.) Wayward” ✧ Ety/RAN

Derivations

• ᴹ√RAN “wander, stray” ✧ Ety/KUƷ
• ᴹ✶Ranā “Moon” ✧ Ety/RAN
  • ᴹ√RAN “wander, stray” ✧ Ety/RAN

Element in

• N. cúran “crescent moon” ✧ Ety/KUƷ

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶Ranā > Rhân	[ranā] > [rana] > [ran] > [r̥an] > [r̥ān]	✧ Ety/RAN

cúran

noun. the crescent Moon

Anor

noun. sun

ithil

noun. the (full) Moon, lit. 'The Sheen'