The War of the Jewels (72 page)

Though Feanor after the days of his first youth took no more active part in linguistic lore and enquiry, he is credited by tradition with the foundation of a school of Lambengolmor or

'Loremasters of Tongues' to carry on this work. This continued in existence among the Noldor, even through the rigours and disasters of the Flight from Aman and the Wars in Beleriand, and it survived indeed to return to Eressea.

Of the School the most eminent member after the founder was, or still is, Pengolodh,(25) an Elf of mixed Sindarin and Noldorin ancestry, born in Nevrast, who lived in Gondolin from its foundation. He wrote both in Sindarin and in Quenya.

He was one of the survivors of the destruction of Gondolin, from which he rescued a few ancient writings, and some of his own copies, compilations, and commentaries. It is due to this, and to his prodigious memory, that much of the knowledge of the Elder Days was preserved.

All that has here been said concerning the Elvish names and their origins, and concerning the views of the older loremasters, is derived directly or indirectly from Pengolodh. For before the overthrow of Morgoth and the ruin of Beleriand, he collected much material among the survivors of the wars at Sirion's Mouth concerning languages and gesture-systems with which, owing to the isolation of Gondolin, he had not before had any direct acquaintance. Pengolodh is said to have remained in Middle-earth until far on into the Second Age for the further-ance of his enquiries, and for a while to have dwelt among the Dwarves of Casarrondo (Khazad-dum). But when the shadow of Sauron fell upon Eriador, he left Middle-earth, the last of the Lambengolmor, and sailed to Eressea, where maybe he still abides.

Note on the 'Language of the Valar'.

Little is said in Noldorin lore, such as has been preserved, concerning the 'language of the Valar and Maiar'; though it has been supposed above that the application of Quenya to the speech of the Elves in Aman was due to the contrast between the tongue of the Valar and the tongue of the Elves, which they had before supposed to be the only language in the world. Considering the interest of the Noldor in all matters concerning speech this is strange. Pengolodh indeed comments upon it and offers explanations. What he says in the beginning of his Lammas is here summarized; for his comment contains all that is now known of the matter.

'Even if we had no knowledge of it,' he says, 'we could not reasonably doubt that the Valar had a lambe of their own. We know that all members of their order were incarnated by their own desire, and that most of them chose to take forms like those of the Children of Eru, as they name us. In such forms they would take on all the characters of the Incarnates that were due to the co-operation of hroa with indwelling fea, for otherwise the assumption of these forms would have been needless, and they arrayed themselves in this manner long before they had any cause to appear before us visibly. Since, then, the making of a lambe is the chief character of an Incarnate, the Valar, having arrayed them in this manner, would inevitably during their long sojourn in Arda have made a lambe for themselves.

'But without argument we know that they did so; for there are references to the Lambe Valarinwa in old lore and histories, though these are few and scattered. Most of these references appear to be derived, by tradition of mouth, from "the Sayings of Rumil" (I Equessi Rumilo), the ancient sage of Tirion, concerning the early days of the Eldar in Aman and their first dealings with the Valar. Only part of these Equessi (26) were preserved in the memory of the Lambengolmor during the dark years of the Flight and the Exile. All that I can find or remember I have here put together.'

The information that Pengolodh then gives is here set out more briefly. His preliminary points are these. Few of the Eldar ever learned to speak Valarin, even haltingly; among the people as a whole only a small number of words or names became widely known. Feanor indeed, before the growth of his discontent, is said to have learned more of this tongue than any others before his time, and his knowledge must at any rate have far surpassed the little that is now recorded; but what he knew he kept to himself, and he refused to transmit it even to the Lambengolmor because of his quarrel with the Valar.

Our knowledge (Note 35, p. 416) is therefore now limited (1) to statements of the 'ancients' that certain words in Quenya were actually derived from Valarin; (2) to the occasional citation of words and names purporting to be Valarin (neither adopted in Quenya nor adapted to it), though undoubtedly recorded with only approximate accuracy, since no signs or letters not already known in the Elvish alphabets are employed; (3) to statements that certain names (especially those of the Valar or of places in Valinor) were translations of the Valarin forms. In cases (1) and (3) the actual Valarin words are not always indicated.

With regard to group (1) Pengolodh cites a 'Saying' of Rumil:

'The Eldar took few words from the Valar, for they were rich in words and ready in invention at need. But though the honour which they gave to the Valar might have caused them to take words from their speech, whether needed or not, few words of Valarin could be fitted to Elvish speech without great change or diminution. For the tongues and voices of the Valar are great and stern, and yet also swift and subtle in movement, making sounds that we find hard to counterfeit; and their words are mostly long and rapid, like the glitter of swords, like the rush of leaves in a great wind or the fall of stones in the mountains.'

pengolodh comments: 'Plainly the effect of Valarin upon Elvish ears was not pleasing.' It was, he adds, as may be seen or guessed from what survives, filled with many consonants unfamiliar to the Eldar and alien to the system of their speech.(27) The examples that Pengolodh gives are as follows.

(1) (a) words.

Ainu 'one of the "order" of the Valar and Maiar, made before Ea'. Valarin ayanuz. It was from this ainu that in Quenya was made the adjective aina 'holy', since according to Quenya derivation ainu appeared to be a personal form of such an adjective.

aman 'blessed, free from evil'. Chiefly used as the name of the land in which the Valar dwelt. V form not given; said to mean

'at peace, in accord (with Eru)'. See Manu e.

apar, N asar 'fixed time, festival'. V apara 'appointed'.

axan 'law, rule, commandment'. V akasan, said to mean 'He says', referring to Eru.

indil 'a lily, or other large single flower'. V inidil.

mahalma 'throne'. V maxallam (adapted to Quenya), properly one of the seats of the Valar in the Mahanaxar or 'Doom Ring'. The element maxan, said to mean 'authority, authorita-tive decision', was also used in the form Mahan, one of the eight chiefs of the Valar, usually translated as Aratar.

miruvore, miruvor 'a special wine or cordial'. V mirubhoze-; said to be the beginning of a longer word, containing the element mirub- 'wine'.(28)

telluma 'dome', especially the 'Dome of Varda' over Valinor; but also applied to the domes of the mansion of Manwe and Varda upon Taniquetil. V delguma, altered by association with Q telume. See Note 15.

Pengolodh also cites the colour-words, which he says may be found in ancient verse, though they are used only by the Vanyar,

'who, as Rumil reports, adopted many more words than did the Noldor':

ezel, ezella 'green'. See Ezellohar.

nasar 'red'; ulban 'blue'. V forms not given.

tulka 'yellow'. See Tulkas.

(b) names.

Aule V Azulez (meaning not given).

Manwe Reduction and alteration to fit Quenya, in which words of this shape, ending in -we, were frequent in personal names. V Manawenuz 'Blessed One, One {closest) in accord with Eru'. Oldest Q forms Manwen, Manwe.

Tulkas V Tulukhastaz; said to contain V elements tuluk-ha(n) 'yellow', and (a)sata- 'hair of head': 'the golden-haired'.

Osse, Orome On these two names, the only ones that became known to the Eldar before they reached Aman, see note below.

Ulmo Like Manwe, a reduction and alteration to fit Quenya, in which the ending -mo often appeared in names or titles, sometimes with an agental significance: Ulmo was interpreted as 'the Pourer' < *UL 'pour out'. The V form is given as Ul(l)uboz, containing the element ul(l)u 'water'.

Osse and Orome. Orome was the first of the Valar that any of the Eldar saw. Osse they met in Beleriand, and he remained long upon the coasts, and became well known to the Sindar (especially to the Eglain). Both these names therefore have Sindarin forms. To Osse corresponds S Yssion or Gaerys; to Orome the S Araw. The V forms are given as Os(o)sai (said to mean 'spuming, foaming'); and Aromez.

The first name was evidently adopted in the form Ossai, which became naturally Q Osse. In S Ossai would become ossi

> ussi > yssi to which the ending (of male names) -on was added; or else the adjective *gaira 'awful, fearful' was prefixed, producing Gaerys. The latter was more often used by the inland Teleri. *gaira is from *gay- 'astound, make aghast', which was also used in the oldest Eldarin word for the Sea: *gayar, Q ear, S gaear.

Aromez evidently, as was pointed out by Feanor, contained the open a-like q (which did as a matter of later observation occur frequently in Valarin). This was treated as was the Eldarin q, so that the Sindarin development was > *arame > aromae > araum(a) > araum, arauv > araw. (In North Sindarin or Mithrim, where the diphthongization of o and the opening of intervocalic m did not occur, the form produced was Arum; cf.

the North Sindarin transformation of the Exilic Noldorin name Hisilome > Hithlum.) The Quenya form with Orome for

*Arome < *Arome, may show assimilation of the initial o to the following o before the retraction of the normal Q accent to the first syllable; but Pengolodh says that it was due to the association of the name with the native Q *rom, used of the sound of trumps or horns, seen in the Q name for the great horn of Orome, the Vala-roma (also in Q romba 'horn, trumpet', S rom).

'The Eldar,' he says, 'now take the name to signify "horn-blowing" or "horn-blower"; but to the Valar it had no such meaning. Now the names that we have for the Valar or the Maiar, whether adapted from the Valarin or translated, are not right names but titles, referring to some function or character of the person; for though the Valar have right names, they do not reveal them. Save only in the case of Orome. For it is said in the histories of the most ancient days of the Quendi that, when Orome appeared among them, and at length some dared to approach him, they asked him his name, and he answered: Orome. Then they asked him what that signified, and again he answered: Orome. To me only is it given; for I am Orome. Yet the titles that he bore were many and glorious; but he withheld them at that time, that the Quendi should not be afraid.'

Nahar, the name of Orome's horse. 'Otherwise it was,' says Pengolodh, 'with the steed upon which the Lord Orome rode.

When the Quendi asked his name, and if that bore any meaning, Orome answered: "Nahar, and he is called from the sound of his voice, when he is eager to run>.' But the V form that is recorded by Rumil was naexaerra.

Ezellohar (also translated as Koron Oiolaire, Korollaire), the Green Mound upon which grew the Two Trees. V Ezelloxar.

Mahanaxar, the 'Doom-ring' in which were set the thrones of the Valar whereon they sat in council (see mahalma above, p. 399). Reduced and altered from V maxananaskad. Also translated as Rithil-Anamo.

(2) Valarin words and names, recorded but not adopted.

(a) words

urus, rusur 'fire'.

ithtr 'light'.

ul(l)u 'water'.

sebeth 'air'.

(b) names

Arda: V Aparaphelun (said to mean 'appointed dwelling').

Arda Unmarred: Aparaphelun Amanaisal; Arda Marred: Aparaphelun Dusamanudan.

Telperion: V Ibrtnidilpathanezel.

Laurelin: V Tulukhedelgorus.

Ithil 'moon': V Phanaikeluth. Said to mean 'bright mirror'.

Anar Sun: V Aparaigas. Said to mean appointed heat .

At the end of this short list Pengolodh cites another eques of Rumil, which might seem contrary to that already quoted above: 'Let none be surprised who endeavour to learn somewhat of the tongue of the Lords of the West, as have I, if they find therein many words or parts of words that resemble our own words for the same or similar meanings. For even as they took our form for love of us, so in that form their voices would be likely to light upon similar tengwi.'

Upon this Pengolodh comments: He knew not of Men or of Dwarves. But we who have dwelt among Men know that (strange though that seems to some) the Valar love them no less.

And for my part I perceive a likeness no less, or indeed greater, between the Valarin and the tongues of Men, notably the language of the Dunedain and of the Children of Marach (sc.

Adunaic). Also in general manner it resembles the tongues of the Kasari; though this is not to be wondered at, if the tradition that they have is true that Aule devised for them their tongue in its beginning, and therefore it changes little, whereas the iglishmek which they made for themselves is changeable.'