The Quenya word for 'silver' was properly tyelpë, and so the original full Quenya name for the elder of the Two Trees, which shone with a silver light, was not the familiar Telperion, but strictly Tyelperion. The language of the Teleri who lived on the shores of Aman was related to Quenya, but distinct from it, and the Telerin word for silver was not tyelpë but telpë. The Teleri, indeed, had a special love of silver, to the extent that their word for that metal influenced the Quenya tongue used by the other Elves of Valinor. Hence, Tyelperion came to be rendered as Telperion in common use, and so the name has come down through history.
Notes
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This figure of 14,322 years is calculated from values given in Valian Years in the The Annals of Aman in volume X of The History of Middle-earth. By definition, the Sun did not exist during the Years of the Trees, and so calculating periods from these ancient times in solar years raises difficulties. Nonetheless, this value of many millennia gives some idea of the length of time that Tyelperion shed its silver Light over Aman.
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2 |
The Quenya word tyelpë translates definitively as 'silver', but the -rion ending of this name is not explained. Some sources suggest 'tree', others 'white', and yet others suggest a connection to the Elvish for 'crown'. Tolkien himself does not offer a specific explanation of the second element of the name, and so such interpretations must remain in the realm of speculation.
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