Q. vilvarin (vilvarind-) [w] n. “butterfly” (Category: Insect)
A word for “butterfly” appearing as wilwarin in the Markirya poem of the 1960s based on the adjective wilwa “fluttering to and fro” (MC/222, 223). It has a stem form of wilwarind- as implied by the adjective wilwarindëa “like a butterfly” from the version of the Nieninquë poem from the 1960s (PE16/96). The appearance of an initial w- in this word is somewhat unusual: see the entry on the sound [w] for further discussion. Its modern Quenya pronunciation would be vilwarin or vilvarin. Tolkien himself occasionally used vilvarin instead (PE16/72; MR/166).
Conceptual Development: The word ᴱQ. wilwarin (wilwarind-) “butterfly” appeared all the way back in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√GWILI (QL/104). That document also had an adjective form ᴱQ. wilwarinda, descriptive of the sycamore tree (QL/57). This word appeared in the versions of the Oilima Markirya poem written around 1930, and the adjective wilwarindea appeared in the version of the Nieninqe poem from this period. ᴹQ. wilwarin “butterfly” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√WIL “fly” with a plural form wilwarindi (Ety/WIL). Thus this word was quite stable in Tolkien’s mind, and usually appeared with an initial w.
References ✧ MC/222-223; PE16/96
Glosses
Variations
Elements
| vilva | “fluttering to and fro” | ✧ MC/223 (wilwa) |
Element In
ᴹQ. wilwarin (wilwarind-) n. “butterfly” (Category: Insect)
References ✧ Ety/WIL
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| wilwarindi | plural | ✧ Ety/WIL |
Elements
| ᴹ√WIL | “fly, float in air” | ✧ Ety/WIL |
Cognates
ᴱQ. wilwarin (wilwarind-) n. “butterfly” (Category: Insect)
References ✧ LT1A/Vilna; MC/213, 220; PE16/62, 72, 74, 77; PME/104; QL/104
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| vilvarindon | similative | ✧ PE16/72 | |
| wilwarindon | similative | “as a butterfly” | ✧ MC/213 |
| wilwarindon | similative | “like a butterfly” | ✧ MC/220; PE16/62 |
| wilwarindon | similative | ✧ PE16/74; PE16/77 |
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴱ√GWILI > ’wilwarin | [gʷilwarind] > [wilwarind] > [wilwarin] | ✧ QL/104 |