ᴱQ. pinilya wilwarindon “small like a butterfly”
The second phrase of the first version of the Oilima Markirya poem (MC/220). The first word is the adjective pinilya “small”, followed by the adverbial form wilwarindon of wilwarin “butterfly”, hence: “like a butterfly”.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
pinilya wilwarin-don = “*small butterfly-like”
Conceptual Development: The reference to a butterfly did not appear until the fourth draft of the poem (OM1d: PE16/62); earlier drafts used the unrelated phrase lutsilya lúne veasse “*sailing on a blue sea” (OM1a-c: PE16/56-7, 60). In the first appearance of this phrase, Tolkien retained the adjective lutsilya “sailing” (active-participle of the verb lutu-) as a descriptor for the butterfly. He changed it to the adjective pinilya in the sixth draft (OM1f: PE16/74, 76).
References ✧ MC/220; PE16/62, 72, 74
Glosses
Variations
Elements
pinilya | “small” | ✧ MC/220 | |
wilwarin | “butterfly” | similative | ✧ MC/220 (wilwarindon); PE16/62 (wilwarindon); PE16/72 (vilvarindon); PE16/74 (wilwarindon) |
lutu- | “to flow, float, sail” | past active-participle | ✧ PE16/62 (lutsilya); PE16/72 (lutsilja); PE16/74 (lutsilya) |
Element In