Note also the very early negative formation uvanimor "monsters, giants and ogres:" hideous creatures.
And of course Vana the Fair, the wife of Orome, Vala of spring and (strongly implied) of beauty, whose name goes back to the beginning.
But it's no secret that variations on van-, ban- meant "beautiful" for a very long time. I'm interested in the alternative wan- "blonde", and whether it can be found earlier than Q&E... or whether, by contrast, Vanyar when first coined meant "Beautiful Ones"
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The entire plot of The Lord of the Rings could be said to turn on what Sauron didn’t know, and when he didn’t know it.
Last edited by William Cloud Hicklin; 09-11-2012 at 04:58 PM.
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