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The third line of the Markirya poem (MC/221). The first word is i¹ “the”, followed by the plural of fairë “phantom” and the plural form of the adjective néca “pale” in agreement with the noun.

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

i fair-i néc-ë = “*the phantom-(plural) pale-(plural)”

Conceptual Development: In the first draft, the adjective/noun order was reversed: néka fairi, and the adjective was not in the plural (MC/222).

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The third line of the Oilima Markirya poem (MC/213). The first word is plural of the adjective níva “pale” modifying the plural of the noun qímar “phantom”. This is followed by the adjective ringa “cold” modifying the noun ambar² “bosom”. It seems that the words “her” and “in” do not appear in the Quenya phrase, although Gilson, Welden, and Hostetter suggested ambar might be an idiomatic dative form of a variant noun amba “bosom” (PE16/82, notes on line #3).

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

nív-e qímar-i ringa ambar = “*pale-(plural) phantom-(plural) cold bosom”