S. leithian n. “release from bondage” (Category: to Release)
A noun most notably used as the name of the “Lay of Leithian” in The Silmarillion, translated “Release from Bondage” (S/162). It had this translation back in its earliest appearance in the 1920s (LB/120). The Etymologies of the 1930s has N. Lheithian “Release, Freeing” based on the verb N. lheithia- “to release, set free” under the root ᴹ√LEK “loose, let loose, release” (Ety/LEK). Here the initial lh is the result of the Noldorin unvoicing of initial l, a sound change Tolkien abandoned for Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s, and indeed this entry also had an “EN” [Exhilic Noldorin] form leithian “release”. A slip accompanying The Etymologies indicated the root was instead Leth-, but √LEK was the root form given in Tolkien’s later writing (VT41/6).
References ✧ S/162; SI/Lay of Leithian
Glosses
Elements
| #leithia- | “to release” | ✧ S/162 (#Leithia-) |
N. lheithian n. “release from bondage, release, freeing” (Category: to Release)
References ✧ Ety/LEK; EtyAC/LEK; LR/296
Glosses
Variations
Changes
Elements
| lheithia- | “to release, set free” | ✧ Ety/LEK (lheitho); Ety/LEK (leithia-) |