A noun for “a conclusion, anything used to finish off a work or affair” appearing in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 as a derivative of √TELE “close, end, come at the end” (WJ/411 note #15).
Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had unglossed ᴹQ. tyelma derived from the root ᴹ√KYEL “come to an end” (Ety/KYEL; EtyAC/KYEL). This word appeared as tyelma “ending” in the poem Fíriel’s Song, also from the 1930s (LR/72).
The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. telū̆me or telumen “finish, conclusion” under the early root ᴱ√TEL+U (QL/91), given as telūme “the great end” in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/91). In a list of names also from the 1910s, it appeared as an element in ᴱQ. Irmina Telume “End of the World” (PE13/104).
telma noun "a conclusion, anything used to finish off a work or affair", often applied to the last item in a structure, such as a coping-stone, or a topmost pinnacle (WJ:411). Notice that the form telmanna in the entry TEL/TELU in the Etymologies is a misreading for talmanna (VT46:18) and therefore not the same word as telma.