Henneth Annun Reseach Center

Things of Middle-earth

Belthil

Type: Artifacts

Meaning: divine radiance

Other Names:
Bansil (HoME only)

Description:

The image of Telperion, the silver tree of Valinor, wrought in metal by Turgon, King of Gondolin.
Gondolin upon Amon Gwareth became... fit to compare even with Elven Tirion.... High and white were its walls..., and tall and strong was the Tower of the King. There shining fountains played, and in the courts of Turgon stood images of the Trees of old, which Turgon himself wrought with elven-craft; and the Tree which he made of gold was named Glingal, and the Tree whose flowers he made of silver was named Belthil.

The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Ch 15, Of the Noldor in Beleriand

[The] light which sprang from them filled all the ways of the city.

The War of the Jewels, HoME Vol 11, Part 2, Ch 12, Of Turgon and the Building of Gondolin

[The] image that Turgon made of [Silpion] in Gondolin was called Belthil divine radiance.

The Lost Road and Other Writings, HoME Vol 5, Part 2, Ch 6, Quenta Silmarillion: 2 Of Valinor and the Two Trees


Etymology
val-  'power' in Valar, Valacirca, Valaquenta, Valaraukar, Val(i)mar, Valinor. The original stem was bal-, preserved in Sindarin Balan, plural Belain, the Valar, and in Balrog.

The Silmarillion, Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names

sil-  (and variant thil-) 'shine (with white or silver light)' in Belthil, Galathilion, Silpion, and in Quenya Isil, Sindarin Ithil, the Moon (whence Isildur, Narsil; Minas Ithil, Ithilien). The Quenya word Silmarilli is said to derive from the name silima that FĂ«anor gave to the substance from which they were made.

The Silmarillion, Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names

Contributors:
Elena Tiriel 27Oct07, 7Feb10

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