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The thirteenth line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is amil(lë) “mother” followed by the Quenyarized name of Christ: Hristo. As suggested by Wynne, Smith and Hostetter, this second word is probably a genitive: Hristo = “of Christ” (VT44/18). The genitive forms of nouns ending in o are indistinguishable from their normal forms.

Conceptual Development: Tolkien first wrote this phrase in the opposite order: Hristo amille >> Amille Hristo (VT44/12, note on line 13). If Hristo is a genitive, either order could work, because the Quenya genitive can appear both before and after the noun it modifies. Perhaps Tolkien decided that placing it afterwards was less ambiguous, given that the genitive and normal forms of Hristo are identical.