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S. †êl n. “star” (Category: Star)

S. †êl, n. “star” (Category: Star)

A Sindarin word for “star” that is largely archaic and poetic, and is mainly used as element in names like Elrond (Let/281; WJ/363; Ety/EL); the more usual word for “star” in ordinary speech was gil (RGEO/65). However, the collective form elenath is still used in common speech to refer to the entire host of stars (WJ/363). The plural of êl is elin, as this word was derived from ancient ✶elen, and the final n that was lost in the singular was preserved in the plural. In some cases Tolkien posited a restored analogical singular elen from the plural form (PE17/24, 67, 139), but this isn’t in keeping with the notion that the word was archaic, so I would ignore this for purposes of Neo-Sindarin.

Conceptual Development: This word and its root first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where N. el “star” was derived from the root ᴹ√EL of similar meaning, but was “only [used] in names” (Ety/EL). It seems Tolkien introduced the root to give a new etymology for names like N. Elrond and N. Elwing, which initially appeared under the root ᴹ√ƷEL “sky” (Ety/ƷEL).

References ✧ Let/281; LotR/238; MR/373; PE17/22, 24-25, 55, 67, 127, 139, 151; PE22/150; PM/369; RGEO/63-65, 67; SA/êl; WJ/363

Glosses

Variations

Related

Inflections

elenath class-plural   ✧ LotR/238; PE17/67; PE17/127; RGEO/65
elenath class-plural “the (host of all) stars” ✧ PE17/24: general or collective plural, properly including all of a given kind or group named
elenath class-plural “the host of stars, (all) the (visible) stars of the firmament” ✧ PE17/25
elenath class-plural “all the host of stars” ✧ PE17/151: pl. 2
elenath class-plural “(of) the starry host” ✧ RGEO/63
elenath class-plural “(of) the star-host” ✧ RGEO/64
elenath class-plural “the host of the stars” ✧ RGEO/67
elenath class-plural “all the host of the stars of heaven” ✧ WJ/363
elenathon class-plural old-genitive   ✧ PE17/25: full genitive
elin plural   ✧ Let/281; PE17/25; PE17/67; PE17/127; PE17/139; PE22/150; RGEO/65; RGEO/67
elin plural   ✧ PE17/24: particular plural
elin plural   ✧ PE17/151: pl. 1
elin plural   ✧ WJ/363

Element In

Cognates

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

EL > êl [elen] > [ele] > [el] > [ēl] ✧ Let/281
elen > êl [elen] > [ele] > [el] > [ēl] ✧ PE17/67
ELEN > êl [elen] > [ele] > [el] > [ēl] ✧ PE17/139
elenī > elin [elenī] > [eleni] > [elini] > [elin] ✧ PE22/150
EL > êl [elen] > [ele] > [el] > [ēl] ✧ RGEO/65
ele > êl [elen] > [ele] > [el] > [ēl] ✧ SA/êl
elen > †êl [elen] > [ele] > [el] > [ēl] ✧ WJ/363

N. el n. “star” (Category: Star)

See S. †êl for discussion.

References ✧ Ety/EL

Glosses

Element In

Cognates

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

ᴹ√EL > el [elen] > [ele] > [el] ✧ Ety/EL