Kelvar
Kelvar was a name used by the Vala Yavanna to refer to that part of her natural realm capable of moving or escaping, as opposed to the olvar which were rooted in place. The terms kelvar and olvar, then, refer respectively to animal and plant life, and are essentially equivalent in meaning to fauna and flora.[1]
After the awakening of the Elves, some of the kelvar were said to have been inhabited by powerful spirits. Most famous among these were the great Eagles that overlooked events in Middle-earth from their mountainous eyries.[1]
Etymology
Kelvar is an Elvish word meaning "animals, living things that move",[2] probably derived from the stem KEL-, meaning "go" or "run".[3]
In Gnomish, one of Tolkien's early conceptions of an Elven language, the word for "living creature, animal" is cuid. The word meg is glossed as "any small animal, especially mole").[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Aulë and Yavanna"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Index of Names"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies", p. 363
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "I-Lam na-Ngoldathon: The Grammar and Lexicon of the Gnomish Tongue", in Parma Eldalamberon XI (edited by Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, and Patrick H. Wynne), pp. 27, 56
