Primitive elvish

lok

root. bend, loop, bend, loop, [ᴱ√] twine, twist, curl; [ᴹ√] great serpent, dragon

A root having to do with bending things, whose most notable derivatives are Q. (h)lócë/S. lhûg “snake, serpent, reptile, worm”. The first appearance of this root was as ᴱ√LOKO “twine, twist, curl” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/55), and in this period it had derivatives like ᴱQ. lóke “snake” and G. ulug “dragon”, but also derivatives like G. log- “curl, bend, wind, twine” and G. lonc “curl” (QL/55; GL/54).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s, however, ᴹ√LOK was glossed “great serpent, dragon”, and all its derivatives were dragon words based on ᴹQ. lóke and N. lhûg (Ety/LOK). In this period the “curl” words might have been allocated to the unglossed root ᴹ√LOKH which had derivatives like N. lhoch “ringlet” as well as ᴹQ. lokse and N. lhaws “hair”, so perhaps meaning “✱curl (of hair)” (Ety/LOKH). In notes from the late 1950s, Tolkien again generalized the meaning of the root √LOK to “bend, loop”, with additional non-serpent derivatives like Q. lokin “bent” and Q. lōke “bight, bend, curl of hair” (PE17/160); thus √LOK may have (re)absorbed the meanings of ᴹ√LOKH.

Derivatives

  • Ad. lôkho “bent, crooked”
  • (s)lōkō “reptile, snake, worm” ✧ PE17/160
    • Q. hlócë “reptile, snake, serpant, worm, reptile, snake, serpant, worm, *lizard; [ᴹQ.] dragon” ✧ PE17/160
    • S. lhûg “reptile, snake, serpent, worm, reptile, snake, serpent, worm, *lizard; [N.] dragon” ✧ PE17/160
  • Q. hlócë “reptile, snake, serpant, worm, reptile, snake, serpant, worm, *lizard; [ᴹQ.] dragon” ✧ SA/lok
  • ᴺQ. loc- “to bend”
  • Q. lócë “bight, bend, curl of hair” ✧ PE17/160
  • Q. locin “bent” ✧ PE17/160
  • ᴺQ. lolóca- “to crawl”
  • S. lhûg “reptile, snake, serpent, worm, reptile, snake, serpent, worm, *lizard; [N.] dragon” ✧ SA/lok
  • ᴺS. loera- “to stoop, bow, cower; to submit”
  • ᴺS. loeth “twist, tendril, spiral, coil”
  • ᴺS. loetha- “to curl, bend, wind, twine, tie knot, tangle”
  • ᴺS. lonc “curl”
  • ᴺS. lûg “bend, loop, wind, twist; guile, deceit”

Element in

  • ᴺS. logweg “meandering, twisting, winding, intricate, (lit.) apt to bend”

Variations

  • LOK- ✧ PE17/145
  • lok- ✧ SA/lok
Primitive elvish [PE17/145; PE17/160; SA/lok] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lub

root. bend

Derivatives

  • Q. lúva “bow (in forming tengwar), bight, bend, curve” ✧ PE17/122

Variations

  • LUB ✧ PE17/122; PE17/161
Primitive elvish [PE17/122; PE17/161] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Middle Primitive Elvish

lok

root. great serpent, dragon

Derivatives

  • ᴹQ. lóke “dragon” ✧ Ety/LOK
  • ᴹQ. lungu “dragon”
  • N. lhûg “dragon” ✧ Ety/LOK

Element in

  • N. amlug “dragon” ✧ Ety/ANGWA
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/ANGWA; Ety/LOK; EtyAC/LAK¹] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

gwedhwin

noun. bend, loop

Derivations

  • ᴱ√GWEÐE “*bend, loop” ✧ GL/46

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√gwedh-¹ > gwedhwin[gweðin]✧ GL/46