Quennar

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Quennar, surnamed Onótimo, was a Loremaster of Aman. He wrote extensively about the reckoning of time among the Valar. His great work the Yénonótië was cited by Pengolodh in the Annals of Aman, particularly his writing explaining the length of the Valian year and its relation to the waxing and waning of the Two Trees. Quennar also calculated the duration of Valian years compared to Years of the Sun.[1] Aside from his work on reckoning that Pengolodh cited, and for devising the word Menel ("heavens, firmament"),[2] almost nothing is known about Quennar's writings or his life in general.

Etymology

Quennar's first name seems to consist of the Quenya word for 'person', 'elf': quen, and a derivative of the root NAR2 'tell',[3] yielding the meaning *"Elf-speaker". Onótimo apparently means "Reckoner", originating from the verb onot- 'count up' and the masculine agental suffix -mo.[4]

Other Versions of the Legendarium

Originally, "Quennar i Onótimo" was to have been the author of the Annals of Aman as a whole, having learned and borrowed much writing from Rúmil. Eventually, Tolkien attributed the Annals to Rúmil himself, while adding "quoth Pengolodh" to the end of the section ascribed to Quennar. This probably means that Pengolodh quoted Quennar's work in his enlargement of the Annals, which presumably took place after the Exile of the Noldor. Since Quennar's writing discusses the Years of the Sun, which did not exist while the Noldor still lived in Aman, it is most likely the case that in the final version of events as envisioned by Tolkien, Quennar wrote the Yénonótië after the Exile and was thus a Noldo who came to Middle-earth.

References

  1. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Three. The Wanderings of Húrin and Other Writings not forming part of the Quenta Silmarillion: V. The Tale of Years"
  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Qenya Noun Structure", in Parma Eldalamberon XXI (edited by Christopher Gilson, Patrick H. Wynne and Arden R. Smith), p. 84
  3. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies"
  4. Vinyar Tengwar, Number 34, March 1994