nillë

noun. silver glint; Valinorian imagines [images of real stars]

A rather obscure term given as {ille >>} ñille for the “Valinorian imagines”, false stars made in imitation of the real ones created by Varda along with the dome over Valinor (Nur-menel) which protected that land from the spies of Melkor (PE17/22; MR/388). Whether this idea survived as part of the Legendarium is unclear, but this word also happens to be the closest equivalent to S. gil or gail, the usual Sindarin word for “star”, both derived from the root √(Ñ)GIL.

nillë

silver glint

nillë ("ñ") a star-imagine on Nur-menel (q.v.), from a stem ngil- noun "silver glint" (MR:388)