Q. Úmanyar coll. “Those not of Aman”

Q. Úmanyar, coll. “Those not of Aman”

A term for Elves who did not reach Aman (S/53, WJ/373), a combination of the negative prefix ú- and Amanyar, “Those of Aman”. This term applied to Elves who intended to go to Aman but were unable to complete the journey, as opposed to the Avamanyar who refused to go to Aman in the first place, more commonly known as the Avari (WJ/371). In a few places this term appeared instead as Úamanyar (WJ/373, PE21/72).

Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s, Tolkien first used the term Alamanyar for those not of Aman, using the negative prefix al(a)-¹ (MR/170). The change to Úmanyar reflects Tolkien’s general vacillation on the basis for Eldarin negation: the roots √LA or √Ū. In some linguistic notes from the early 1950s, Tolkien also changed Alamanyar to Úamanyar, but in later emendations from 1970 he wrote “stet” next to Alamanyar indicating he was considering restoring it (PE21/72, note #13). In other notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien also consider restoring the Alamanyar form (PE22/156).

References ✧ LRI; LT1I; LT2I; MR/163, 170; MRI; PE17/143; PE21/72; S/53; SA/mān; SI; WJ/371, 373; WJI

Glosses

Variations

Related

Inflections

Úamanya singular “who did not actually go to Aman” ✧ PE17/143

Elements

ú- “no, not, un-, in-; hard, difficult, bad, uneasy; hardly, with difficulty, ‘badly’”
Amanyar “Those of Aman” plural
Aman “Blessed Realm” ✧ SA/mān

Q. Alamanyar coll. “(Elves) Not of Aman”

An earlier version of Úmanyar, differing only in its use of the prefix al(a)-¹ for negation instead of ú- (MR/170). In some late notes from the end of the 1960s, Tolkien considered restoring this form (PE21/72; PE22/156).

See Q. Úmanyar for further discussion.

References ✧ MR/163, 170, 223; MRI/Alamanyar, Úmanyar; PE18/77; PE21/72; PE22/156

Glosses

Changes

Elements

al(a)-¹ “in-, un-, not; †-less, without” ✧ PE22/156 (ala)
Amanyar “Those of Aman”