ócama- vb. "have mercy" (VT44:12-14; Tolkien may have abandoned this form in favour of órava-)
Quenya
órava-
verb. have mercy
órava-
verb. *to have mercy
ócama-
verb. have mercy
ócama-
verb. *to have mercy
heru órava omessë
Lord, have mercy on us
The first line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is the noun heru “lord” followed by the aorist form of the verb órava- “to have mercy”. The last word omessë “on us” is the locative form (-ssë “on”) of the pronoun me “us”. The significance of the prefix o- is unclear, but Wynne, Smith and Hostetter suggested that it might be the preposition ó (VT44/15), though its translation elsewhere as “with” (VT43/29) does not seem appropriate. It could instead be the prefix o- “together”, though this does not fit well either. In later lines, Tolkien wrote (o)messë indicating the prefix was optional.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> Heru órava (o)me-ssë = “✱Lord have-mercy us-on”
Conceptual Development: Tolkien explored several ways of expressing “have mercy”. He first wrote a le·ana ocama, apparently meaning “(imperative) you give mercy”, with ocama a noun meaning “mercy” (VT44/12-13). He revised this to simply ocama >> ócama, apparently changing ocama to a verb meaning “to have mercy” (VT44/13). He then changed this verb to órava (VT44/14).
Tolkien also used several forms to express “on us”: dative men >> ómen >> (locative) ómesse.
herunauco
9V7J5.DaH noun. dwarf-lord, dwarven lord
Aino
god
Aino noun "god", within Tolkien's mythos a synonym of Ainu (but since Aino is basically only a personalized form of aina "holy", hence "holy one", it could be used as a general word for "god") (PE15:72)
Malantur
lord, ruler
Malantur, masc. name. Apparently includes -(n)tur "lord, ruler". The initial element is unlikely to connect with the early "Qenya" element mala- "hurt, pain", and may rather reflect the root MALAT "gold" (PM:366): Malat-ntur > Malantur "Gold-ruler"? (UT:210)
a aina fairë, eru órava (o)messë
God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us
The eighth line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is the vocative a “O” followed by aina fairë = “holy spirit”. The fourth word Eru is Tolkien’s usual Quenya name for God. The phrase órava (o)messe “have mercy on us” is essentially the same as in the first line; see that entry for discussion.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> a Aina Fairë, Eru órava (o)me-sse = “✱o Holy Spirit, God have-mercy us-on”
Conceptual Development: As in the first line, Tolkien first used the dative ómen for “on us” before revising it to the locative (o)messe (VT44/12, notes on line 8).
a aina neldië eru er órava (o)messë
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us
The ninth line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is the vocative a “O” followed by aina Neldië = “holy Trinity”. The fourth word Eru is Tolkien’s usual Quenya name for God. The fifth word is er “one”, emphasizing the one-ness of the Trinity. The phrase órava (o)messe “have mercy on us” was abbreviated o.o. in the original, but presumably was the same as in earlier lines of the prayer; see the entry for the first line for discussion.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> a Aina Neldië Eru Er órava (o)me-sse = “✱o Holy Trinity, God one have-mercy us-on”
Conceptual Development: Tolkien first wrote an adjectival form Erea before changing it to Er as a way of emphasizing the one-ness of the Trinity (VT44/17).
a eruion mardorunando, eru órava (o)messë
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us
The seventh line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is the vocative a “O” followed by Eruion, a name for Christ as the “Son of God”. The third word Mardorunando seems to be a translation of “Redeemer of the World”. The fourth word Eru is Tolkien’s usual Quenya name for God. The phrase órava (o)messe “have mercy on us” is essentially the same as in the first line; see that entry for discussion.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> a Eru-ion Mard-o-runando, Eru órava (o)me-sse = “✱o God-son world-of-redeemer, God have-mercy us-on”
Conceptual Development: Tolkien began two incomplete forms Io >> Yón before settling on Eruion. As in the first line, Tolkien first used the dative ómen for “on us” before revising it to the locative (o)messe (VT44/12, notes on line 7).
a hrísto órava ómessë
Christ, have mercy on us
The second line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is the vocative a “O” followed by a Quenyarization of the name of Christ: Hrísto. The phrase órava ómessë “have mercy on us” is essentially the same as in the first line; see that entry for discussion.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> a Hrísto órava (o)me-sse = “✱o Christ have-mercy us-on”
Conceptual Development: Tolkien first wrote Elpino as the translation of Christ (VT44/15-6). He revised this to an incomplete form Hiris before settling on Hrísto (VT44/16). As in the first line, Tolkien first used the dative ómen for “on us” before revising it to the locative ómesse (VT44/12, notes on line 2).
atar meneldëa eru órava (o)messë
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us
The sixth line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is the noun atar “father”. The second word meneldea is the assimilated locative form menelde of menel “heaven”, with an adjective suffix -a added to give the sense “of Heaven”; a similar construction was used in versions IIb-IV of the first line of the Átaremma prayer (VT43/10-11). The third word Eru is Tolkien’s usual Quenya name for God. The phrase órava (o)messe “have mercy on us” is essentially the same as in the first line of this prayer; see that entry for discussion.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> Atar menel-de-a Eru (o)me-sse = “✱Father heaven-in-of God have-mercy us-on”
Conceptual Development: As in the first line, Tolkien first used the dative ómen for “on us” before revising it to the locative (o)messe (VT44/12, notes on line 6).
condo
noun. lord
heru
lord, master
heru (also hér) noun "lord, master" (PM:210, KHER, LT1:272, VT44:12); Letters:283 gives hér (heru); the form Héru with a long vowel refers to God in the source where it appears (i Héru "the Lord", VT43:29). In names like Herumor "Black Lord" and Herunúmen "Lord of the West" (SA:heru). The form heruion is evidently a gen.pl. of heru "lord": "of the lords" (SD:290); herunúmen "Lord-of-West" (LR:47), title of Manwë. Pl. númeheruvi "Lords-of-West" (*"West-lords") in SD:246, a title of the Valar; does this form suggest that #heruvi is the regular plural of heru?
hér
lord
hér noun "lord" (VT41:9), also heru, q.v.
hér
noun. lord
túrin
noun. lord
ómen
on/for us
ómen prep. + pron. ?"on/for us" (órava ómen "have mercy on us", VT44:12, changed by Tolkien from the simple dative form men "for us", then replaced by (o)messë)
aino
noun. god
órava- vb. "have mercy", followed by locative: "have mercy on". Órava (o)messë "have mercy on us" (VT44:12)