oi

noun. bird, hen

The word ᴱQ. oi “bird, hen” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the unglossed early root ᴱ√OHO, but Tolkien considered transferring this and related words to ᴱ√OHO “cry” (QL/69). This word also seems to have appeared in an inflected form oïkta in the very early Narqelion poem.

Conceptual Development: In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s, Tolkien had ᴱQ. oi and oiwe “bird” (PE16/132), forms that later developed into Q. aiwë “bird”. However, many years later in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from the early 1950s Tolkien had the primitive word ✶kholjē “hen” derived from the root √KHOL “crow, cry aloud”, which seems to be a later iteration of the early oi “hen” word.

Neo-Quenya: Based on ✶kholjē, Gábor Lőrinczi proposed a neologism ᴺQ. holyë “hen” as recorded in the VQP (VQP). I would treat holyë “hen” as exclusively feminine, as opposed to ᴺQ. porocë which can be used both of hens and of chickens generally.

oilima markirya (first version)

Oilima Markirya (First Version)

The first version of the Oilima Markirya poem (MC/220-221). It was preceded by six drafts, discussed in PE16 (PE16/53-76), labeled OM1a to OM1f by the editors of the Early Qenya Poetry article (Gilson, Welden, and Hostetter). A seventh draft, labeled OM1g in the article (PE16/77-80), is sufficiently different that I treat it as a separate poem: Oilima Markirya (Intermediate Version).

The text and translation presented here is the one accompanying the publication of Tolkien’s “A Secret Vice” essay (MC/220-221), presumably the final draft before Tolkien rewrote the poem as discussed in the entry on Oilima Markirya.

The text is divided into phrases for each line of the poem, except for lines 15-16 (mandulómi anta móri Ambalar), 17-18 (telumen tollanta naiko lunganar), 19-20 (kaire laiqa’ondoisen kirya), and 20-22 (karnevaite úri kilde hísen níe nienaite) which are combined to make more complete phrases. The textual history is discussed in the entries for individual phrases.

My analysis of this poem is based almost entirely on the work of the editors of the Early Qenya Poetry article: Gilson, Welden, and Hostetter (PE16/53-76).

oilima markirya (intermediate version)

Oilima Markirya (Intermediate Version)

This is the seventh draft of the Oilima Markirya poem (OM1g). As noted in the entry for that poem, this draft seems to be a bridge between the first version of the poem and the version presented with Tolkien’s “A Secret Vice” essay. It is sufficiently different from the other versions that I am discussing it in its own entry.

The Qenya text presented here is from PE16/77, but most of the couplets have been combined to produce more complete phrases. The original poem used an unusual, Finnish-like orthography for the Qenya; I've normalized back to more ordinary Qenya spelling (the originals appear in the discussion of the individual phrases). The translations are my own, which I cherry-picked from the various English translations of the poem based on what seems to fit is best. My analysis largely follows that of the editors of the Early Qenya Poetry article: Gilson, Welden, and Hostetter (PE16/77-80).

oilimisse alkarasse

oilimisse alkarasse

oikeroi

masculine name. Oikeroi

Cat servant of Tevildo in the earliest Lost Tales (LT2/27), its meaning it unclear.

oinalis

noun. ointment

oilima ailinello lúte

leave the last shore

The second line of the Oilima Markirya poem (MC/213). The first word is oilima “last” followed by the ablative form of the noun ailin “shore”, a modifying-phrase of the verb lutu- “to sail” in the aorist tense, loosely translated “leave” in the poem.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> oilima ailin-ello lúte = “✱last shore-from sail [leave]”

oilima markirya

The Last Ark

A Quenya poem that Tolkien presented in conjugation with his talk on “A Secret Vice” in 1931 (MC/213-5). The poem itself was written somewhat earlier, and there are ten extant drafts, as discussed in the Early Qenya Poetry article in PE16 (PE16/53-87).

The Qenya text and translation presented here are from the version of the poem on MC/213-5, with each phrase corresponding to a line of the poem. My analysis follows closely after the editors of the Early Qenya Poetry article: Gilson, Welden, and Hostetter (PE16/81-87). Detailed analysis appears in the discussion of individual phrases.

Conceptual Development: As discussed in the Early Qenya Poetry article, there were a number of drafts leading up to the Early Qenya poem presented here. The editors of the article divided the drafts up into two groups, which they label OM1a-g leading up to OM1, and OM2a preceding OM2, the last of these being the version presented here.

The first six drafts, OM1a-f, are clearly incremental developments of the same poem. For the most part, they are additions and refinements on the same text without major modifications. Accompanying the fourth draft (OM1d) is an English translation, which the editors labeled LA1a (PE16/68), which closely matches that iteration of the poem. At this point is seems that Tolkien began to work seperately on the Qenya and English versions of the poem. The next two Qenya drafts, OM1e and OM1f built on OM1d, but the following three English translations, labeled LA2a-c by the editors of the Early Qenya Poetry article (PE16/69-71) diverged into what was essentially an entirely new poem, albeit addressing the same subject matter.

At this point Tolkien produced one final draft based on the original Qenya development, labeled OM1 by the editors, along with a new English translation of that version. The final draft of this version of the poem was published by Christopher Tolkien as the “first version of Oilima Markirya” in an addendum to the “A Secret Vice” essay (MC/220-221).

Tolkien then cleaned up the divergent English poem and translated it back into Qenya, thereby producing a “second version” which he presented in his 1931 talk. There is also one draft of this second version, label OM2a by the editors of the Early Qenya Poetry article (PE16/81), but it is nearly identical to the version appearing with the essay.

I discuss the structure and development of the first version of the poem in a separate entry: Oilima Markirya (First Version), including a discussion of the first six drafts leading up to it: OM1a-f. Note that the seventh draft of the original Qenya poem, labeled OM1g by the editors of the Early Qenya Poetry article (PE16/77), does not match either the first or second versions of the poem, or any of the English translations, and seems to be an experimental bridge between the first and second versions. I labeled that draft as Oilima Markirya (Intermediate Version) and discuss it in its own, seperate entry.

Four decades later, Tolkien produced yet another version of this poem based on his conceptions of the Quenya language towards the end of his life, and this version is discussed in the entry for the Q. Markirya poem.

oive

noun. bird

oika

adjective. poor

oilima

adjective. last

oilimaite

adjective. final, ultimate, last

oilim’ ambar ien oilin

it was the morning

oine

noun. unguent

oise

noun. poverty

oista-

verb. to bereave

oito-

verb. to lack

oiwa

adjective. glossy

oi(we)

noun. bird

oilin

adjective. *last

oiqa

adjective. glossy

oiswa

adjective. poor

oite

noun. poverty

oiwie

noun. gloss, glossiness

oïkta rámavoite karneambarai

*of red-breasted birds on the wing

oïkta rámavoite malinai

*of yellow birds on the wing

ilqa

adjective. oily, smooth, glossy

A word appearing as ᴱQ. ilqa “oily, smooth, glossy” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√ILI “shine oily” (QL/42).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I would update this word to ᴺQ. milla “oily” from ✱mil’gā for better compatibility with ᴺQ. millo “oil”.

millo

noun. oil

The word ᴱQ. millo “oil” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s as a cognate of ᴱN. bliw, both derived from primitive ᴱ✶mḷgo (PE13/139). In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s the word for “oil” was ᴱQ. ilma derived from the early root ᴱ√ILI “shine oily” (QL/42).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I’d retain ᴺQ. millo for “oil” from a Neo-Root ᴺ√MILIG, where lg became ll (PE19/93). However, I would assume a stem form of millu- and a primitive form ✱mil’gu to better explain the final w in ᴺS. blîw “oil”.

ilma

noun. oil

ailinisse alkarain

upon the shining shore

The twenty-second and final phrase (line 27) of the first version of the Oilima Markirya poem (MC/221). The first word is the locative plural of ailin “shore” followed by the plural form of the adjective alkara “shining”.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> ailin-i-sse alkara-in = “✱beach-(plural)-upon shining-(plural)”

Conceptual Development: This phrase initially appeared in the sixth draft, where Tolkien briefly considered making the first word the locative form of oilima “last” (OM1f: PE16/74).

ónen

feminine name. Ónen

oswe

noun. terror, horror; (evil) phantom, ghost

-víke

suffix. as

aiwe

noun. bird

avesta

noun. summer

saiwali

noun. summer

silwa

adjective. glossy

vorima

adjective. everlasting

wilin

noun. bird

A noun in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “bird”, derived from the early root ᴱ√GWILI that was the basis for words having to do with flight (QL/104).