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The second phrase of the first version of the Oilima Markirya poem (MC/220). The first word is the adjective pinilya “small”, followed by the adverbial form wilwarindon of wilwarin “butterfly”, hence: “like a butterfly”.

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

pinilya wilwarin-don = “*small butterfly-like”

Conceptual Development: The reference to a butterfly did not appear until the fourth draft of the poem (OM1d: PE16/62); earlier drafts used the unrelated phrase lutsilya lúne veasse “*sailing on a blue sea” (OM1a-c: PE16/56-7, 60). In the first appearance of this phrase, Tolkien retained the adjective lutsilya “sailing” (active-participle of the verb lutu-) as a descriptor for the butterfly. He changed it to the adjective pinilya in the sixth draft (OM1f: PE16/74, 76).