Tarmenel

From Tolkien Gateway
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

Tarmenel was a term that clearly translates as "high heaven", though as it only appears in one of Bilbo Baggins's rhymes, it is hard to be sure exactly what the term referred to. In Elvish cosmology, the world was enfolded in different layers of airs, and it seems that Tarmenel was a term for the highest or outermost of these - the "Over-heaven".[1]

Etymology

Tarmenel is a Quenya name, described as signifying "true firmament",[2] apparently consisting of tar + menel.

References

  1. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), "Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings", published in A Tolkien Compass (edited by Jared Lobdell)
  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), pp. 19, 22