An adjectival form of celeb “silver”. In notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien described it as: “celebrin, adj. from celeb ‘silver’, not implying ‘made of silver’ but ‘like silver’ in hue, or worth” (PE17/42).
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, G. celebrin meant “of silver” while G. celebriol meant “like silver” (GL/25). In Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s the form became ᴱN. celebren “of silver” (PE13/140). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien first equated N. celebren with ᴹQ. telpina “of silver” (Ety/KYELEP) but he revised the entry and updated its gloss to “like silver” (EtyAC/KYELEP). This new gloss did not appear in The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road (LR/367), but Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne provided it in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies (VT45/25). This new gloss is consistent with the meaning of celebrin in Tolkien’s later writings (see above).
An adjectival form of celeb “silver”. In notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien described it as: “celebrin, adj. from celeb ‘silver’, not implying ‘made of silver’ but ‘like silver’ in hue, or worth” (PE17/42).
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, G. celebrin meant “of silver” while G. celebriol meant “like silver” (GL/25). In Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s the form became ᴱN. celebren “of silver” (PE13/140). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien first equated N. celebren with ᴹQ. telpina “of silver” (Ety/KYELEP) but he revised the entry and updated its gloss to “like silver” (EtyAC/KYELEP). This new gloss did not appear in The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road (LR/367), but Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne provided it in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies (VT45/25). This new gloss is consistent with the meaning of celebrin in Tolkien’s later writings (see above).