Hyarmen

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hyarmen is a noun meaning "south" in Quenya.[1]

Hyarmen.gif

Hyarmen is also the name in Quenya of the thirty-third letter of the Tengwar alphabet.[1] In origin it was a variation on Harma (letter 11) and represented HY,[2] but by the Third Age its most frequently represents H.[3] It was one of the most widely known and used of all the Tengwar since it indicated "north" even in languages that used a very different term.[1] The Westron name for this letter is .[4]


Etymology

In the West-lands of Middle-earth the four cardinal directions were Númen, Hyarmen, Rómen, and Formen, and they were named in this order, beginning with (and facing) west. Hyarmen meant a left-hand region and Formen meant a right-hand region.[1] Thus the word for "south" derives from the Primitive Quendian root KHYAR, meaning "left hand", plus MEN indicating direction.[5]

Examples

See Also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E, "Writing", "The Fëanorian Letters", Note, The names of the letters
  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E, "Writing", "The Fëanorian Letters", Note, The names of the letters, Footnote 1
  3. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E, "Writing", "The Fëanorian Letters", Note, The additional letters
  4. See Westron Tengwar
  5. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies", KHYAR-