ᴹQ. helyanwe n. “rainbow, (lit.) sky-bridge” (Category: Rainbow)
A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “[lit.] ‘sky-bridge’, rainbow”, a combination of ᴹQ. helle “sky” and ᴹQ. yanwe “bridge, joining” (Ety/ƷEL).
Conceptual Development: Early Qenya “rainbow” words from the 1910s were mostly tied to Qenya forms of the name {G. Cris a Teld Quing Ilon >>} G. Cris Ilbranteloth “Gully of the Rainbow Roof”: either ᴱQ. iluqin(ga) “*(lit). sky bow” = ilu + qinga “bow” or ᴱQ. ilweran(ta) “(lit.) bridge of heaven” = ilwe + ranta “bridge” (QL/42). Only ᴱQ. {ukko >>} ukku “rainbow” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s was unrelated to this name, being derived from the early root ᴱ√UQU “wet” instead (QL/98).
The form helyanwe from The Etymologies (with cognate N. eilianw) was probably connected to the name of that same pass had in the early 1930s: Cirith Helvin “Rainbow Cleft” (SM/146, 193). In later writings, Tolkien changed the Sindarin name of the pass to S. Cirith Ninniach “Rainbow Cleft” (S/238; WJ/299), but gave no Quenya equivalent.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d stick with helyanwe as the best available word for “rainbow”. In later writings, yanwë no longer meant “bridge” (that became Q. yanta), but it still meant “joining” (VT49/45), and so this word could be used unmodified with a literal sense of “*sky-joining”.
Reference ✧ Ety/ƷEL ✧ “‘sky-bridge’, rainbow”
Elements
| helle¹ | “sky” | ✧ Ety/ƷEL | |
| yanwe | “bridge, joining, isthmus” | ||
| ᴹ√YAT | “join” | ✧ Ety/ƷEL | |
Cognates
ᴱQ. ilweran(ta) n. “bridge of heaven, rainbow” (Category: Rainbow)
References ✧ GL/65; LT1/212; LT1A/Ilweran; LT1I/Ilweran; QL/42
Glosses
Variations
Related
Elements
| ilwe | “sky, heavens” | ✧ LT1A/Ilwë; QL/42 |
| ranta¹ | “arch, bridge” | ✧ QL/42 |
Element In
Cognates
ᴱQ. iluqinga n. “rainbow” (Category: Rainbow)
References ✧ LT1A/Ilweran; LT2A/Teld Quing Ilon; QL/42
Glosses
Variations
Related
Inflections
| ILQING- | stem | ✧ QL/42 |
Elements
| ilu | “ether” | ✧ LT1A/Ilwë; QL/42 |
| qinga | “bow” | ✧ LT1A/Ilweran |
Element In