telume

noun. the heavens, (vault of) heaven, firmament

telúme

noun. finish, conclusion, (the great) end

telúmea

adjective. final, conclusive, end; last; extreme

telumen tollanta naiko lunganar

the vault of heaven sagged upon the tops of the hills

The sixteenth phrase (lines 17-18) of the first version of the Oilima Markirya poem (MC/221). The first word is the nominative form of the noun telume “vault of heaven” followed by the allative of tolla “hill”, singular despite its English translation. It is followed by an adverb of unclear function naiko; this adverb is not reflected in the English translation, but in the Glossary Commentary accompanying the sixth draft, it is said to be the adverbial form of naika “stricken ill, sick” (PE16/75). The last word in the phrase is the aorist 3rd-singular masculine form of the verb lunga(na)- “sag, bend down”.

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

> telume-n tolla-nta naik-o lungana-r = “✱heavens-(nominative) hill-upon sick-ly sag-he”

Conceptual Development: This phrase appeared in the fourth draft of this poem, where Tolkien first considered an alternate form lungáro of the verb before switching to lunganar (OM1d: PE16/62). Aside from the variant Finnish-like spelling of the fifth draft (OM1e: PE16/72), the phrase remained the same thereafter.

telume lungane

the heavens bending

The twenty third line of the Oilima Markirya poem (MC/214). The first word is the noun telume “heavens” followed by the “bare stem” infinitive form of the verb lunga(na)- “to bend”, as suggested by Gilson, Welden, and Hostetter (PE16/84, notes on line #10 and #11), apparently functioning as either an active-participle or a verbal object.

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

> telume lunga-ne = “✱heavens bend-ing”

telumen

noun. finish, conclusion

telimektar

proper name. Orion, (lit.) Swordsman of Heaven

tel

noun. roof