Quenya 

nillë

silver glint

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

nillë

noun. small [woman]

A diminutive form of nís “woman” given as nill- “small [woman]” in notes from 1968 (VT47/33).

Conceptual Development: An analogous diminutive form ᴱQ. qimelle “little woman” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s based on earlier ᴱQ. qin (qim-) “woman” (QL/77); this early word was also mentioned in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/45).

Derivations

  • √NIS “woman” ✧ VT47/33

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
√nis > nill-[nisle] > [nizle] > [nille]✧ VT47/33

Variations

  • nill- ✧ VT47/33

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.

Changes

  • ille → ñille ✧ PE17/022

Cognates

  • S. gil “star; (bright) spark, silver glint, twinkle of light” ✧ MR/470; PE17/022; MR/388; MR/471

Derivations

  • ✶ñgillē “silver glint”
    • √(Ñ)GIL “shine (white); silver glint; white or silver light” ✧ PE17/023; PE17/023
  • √(Ñ)GIL “shine (white); silver glint; white or silver light” ✧ MR/388; PE17/022; PE17/022

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
√ngil > ñille[ŋgille] > [ŋille] > [nille]✧ MR/388
√NGIL > ñille[ŋgille] > [ŋille] > [nille]✧ PE17/022
√GIL > ille[ŋille] > [ɣille] > [ille]✧ PE17/022

Variations

  • ñille ✧ MR/388; PE17/022
  • ñillë ✧ MR/470; MR/471
  • ille ✧ PE17/022 (ille)
Quenya [MR/388; MR/470; MR/471; PE17/022] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tinwë

spark

tinwë noun "spark" (gloss misquoted as "sparkle" in the Etymologies as printed in LR, see VT46:19), also "star"; pl. tinwi "sparks", properly used of the star-imagines on Nur-menel (q.v.). Cf. nillë. (TIN, MR:388) In early "Qenya", tinwë was simply glossed "star" (LT1:269, cf. MC:214). In one late source, the meaning of tinwë is given as "spark", and it is said that this word (like Sindarin gil) was used of the stars of heaven "in place of the older and more elevated el, elen- stem" (VT42:11).

Nur-menel

nur-menel

Nur-menel noun the lesser firmament, a great dome covering Valinor, made by Varda and full of star-imagines (see tinwë, nillë). It was a simulacrum of Tar-menel, the true firmament (MR:388)