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The fifth phrase of the first version of the Oilima Markirya poem (MC/220). The first word is the nominative form vean of the noun vea² “sea”, followed by the past 3rd-plural masculine form falastanéro of the verb falasta- “to surge, make a sound like surf”. Its English translation “the sea with loud surf” is rather loose; a more accurate translation would be “the sea was surging” (PE16/62).

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

vea-n falasta-né-ro = “*sea-(nominative) surge-(past)-he”

Conceptual Development: This phrase appeared in the second draft of the poem (OM1b: PE16/57-8), where Tolkien first considered prefix vean with the definite article i. He also considered alternate past tense forms vavaks >> falassiéro >> falastanéro before settling on falastanére, the past 3rd-plural feminine form, as suggested by Gilson, Welden, and Hostetter (PE16/58). The phrase then remained the same up through the sixth draft, until Tolkien switched back to the masculine form falastanéro for the version included with the “A Secret Vice” essay (MC/220).