air

adjective. lonely

A word for “lonely” in notes probably from the early 1960s related to the initial element of Eriador “Lonely Land”, which in this document was called a “Silvan” name (PE17/28). It was derived from ✶eryā, with ✱eri(a) > eir via *i*-intrusion and then *ei* > *ai* in the final syllable as was usual for Sindarin. See S. îr for an alternate phonetic development from the 1950s.

i mbair en ndengin

the houses of the Slain

thos

noun. puff (of air)

A noun in notes from around 1957, glossed “puff (of air)” and derived from √THU(S) “blow, cause an air movement” (NM/237).

lind

noun. song, chant, singing; singer, song, chant, singing, [N.] air, tune; [N. and S.] singer

gwelu

noun. air (as substance)

lind

noun. air, tune

gwelu

air

2. (as substance) gwelu (i **welu), analogical pl. gwely (in gwely) if there is a pl. The attested form is archaic gwelw** (LR:398 s.v. WIL). Hence the coll. pl. is likely *gwelwath, if there is a coll. pl..

gwelwen

air

1. (as a region) gwelwen (i **welwen), pl. gwelwin (in gwelwin), also gwilith (i **wilith), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gwilith)

lind

air

3. (of music) lind (song, tune; singer, in the latter sense also used of rivers), no distinct pl. form, but coll. pl. linnath (WJ.309)

gwelu

air

(i ’welu), analogical pl. gwely (in gwely) if there is a pl. The attested form is archaic gwelw (LR:398 s.v. WIL). Hence the coll. pl. is likely ✱gwelwath, if there is a coll. pl..

gwelwen

air

(i ’welwen), pl. gwelwin (in gwelwin), also gwilith (i ’wilith), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gwilith)

lind

air

(song, tune; singer, in the latter sense also used of rivers), no distinct pl. form, but coll. pl. linnath (WJ.309)

gwelu

noun. air (as a substance)

gwiltha-

verb. to air, expose to air

bâr

noun. house, dwelling, home, house, dwelling, home; [N.] earth

The basic Sindarin word for “house, dwelling” derived from the root √MBAR “settle, dwell” (PE17/109; PE17/164). This Sindarin word (unlike its Quenya counterpart már) can also be used to refer to the “house” of a clan or family, as in Bar Bëora “House of Bëor” (WJ/230) and Narn e·mbar Hador “✱Tale of the House of Hador” (MR/373). It could also mean “-home (for a people)” in compound names for regions as in Eglamar “Home of the Eglain” and Brithombar (WJ/379; S/120), but it seems this use was archaic and in more recent names the trend was to use dôr “land” (PE17/164).

This word appears as both bâr with long â and bar with short a. As a general rule, it has a long â when used as an independent word, following the general Sindarin principle whereby short vowels (usually) lengthened in monosyllables. It has a short vowel when appearing in compounds or as a “pseudo-prefix” in names like Bar-en-Danwedh “House of Ransom” (S/203).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, where (adverbial?) G. bar appeared as a variant of G. barthi or barai “at home, home” (GL/21). In the Gnomish Lexicon its noun form seems to be G. bara “home” (GL/21), but in the contemporaneous Gnomish Grammar it was bar “home” (GG/8). These Gnomish words were all derived from the early root ᴱ√MBARA “dwell, live” (QL/63).

In Gnomish Lexicon slips, Tolkien modified the word to G. bawr “house” derived from primitive ᴱ✶mbāră (PE13/116). In the Name-list to the Fall of Gondolin Tolkien had G. bar “dwelling” (PE15/21). In the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s it was ᴱN. bâr “house”, though a change in its mutated form {i·bhar >>} i·mâr indicates some vacillation on its primitive form (PE13/120 and note #2). In Early Noldorin word-lists of this period it was bar “house” (PE13/138).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s it was N. bár “home” written in the margin next to the root ᴹ√MBAR “dwell, inhabit” (EtyAC/MBAR), but it also meant “Earth” in the name N. Barthan “Earth-smith” (Ety/TAN). In later notes (date unknown) this name was S. Barthan “World-artificer” (LT1A/Talka Marda). In notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s it was †băr “home”, which became bār after vowels lengthened in monosyllables (PE22/36).

In notes from the 1960s, Tolkien described this word in some detail, first saying:

> In Sindarin bar [< ✱mbăr-] (pl. bair) was used for a single house or dwelling, especially of the larger and more permanent sort; barð [< ✱mbardā̆] was much as English “home”, the (proper) place for one (or a community) to dwell in (PE17/164).

Here it seems bar = “house, dwelling” but bardh = “home”. However, in a later iteration of these notes Tolkien said:

> There were thus tendencies both (a) for Noldorin terms for things peculiar to their culture to be translated into Sindarin forms or imitated ... Examples ... were (a) the use of Sindarin bâr (< ✱mbăr(a)) for “house” a settled built dwelling of a family, larger or smaller: in true Sindarin use it only denoted a small area in which some group had at last settled more or less permanently (PE17/164).

This was revised slightly to read:

> There was thus a tendency: (a) for Noldorin words and terms for things peculiar to their culture to be translated into Sindarin, or imitated ... Examples of these processes are: (a) the use of Sindarin bâr (< ✱mbăr(a)) for “house”: the permanent building serving as the home of a family, larger or smaller, though in genuine older Sindarin use this word referred to a (small) area, in which some group had at last settled, more or less permanently (PE17/164).

Both these later paragraph imply that the original sense of Sindarin bâr was something like “✱settlement (of a group or community)” but came to mean “house, dwelling” under the influence of Quenya már.

Of its uses in compounds Tolkien said:

> This was also in old compounds used (like Q -mar) for a region, but not in ordinary language ... Only in old names was -bar used like Q -mar for a region inhabited by a people. For this Sindarin used usually -dor (< ndor) “land” (PE17/165).

ereb

lonely

ereb (isolated), pl. erib

thûl

breath

1. thûl (pl. thuil), 2) hwest (i chwest, o chwest) (puff, breeze), pl. hwist (i chwist)

faw

noun. *breath, puff of breath

An unglossed word in 1964 notes on Dalath Dirnen (DD) derived from the root √PHAW (PE17/181). Since this root was elsewhere glossed “emit (foul breath etc.)”, this word probably mean something like “✱breath, puff of breath”, like its cognate Q. foa (VT47/35).

ereb

lonely

(isolated), pl. erib

hwest

breath

(i chwest, o chwest) (puff, breeze), pl. hwist (i chwist)

thûl

breath

(pl. thuil)

airō

noun. ocean

thū

root. blow, cause an air movement, blow, cause an air movement, [ᴹ√] puff

Tolkien used a variety of related roots for “wind” and “breath”, intermingled with the name Q. Súlimo, surname of Manwë. The earliest of these roots was ᴱ√SUHYU “air, breath, exhale, puff” with variants ᴱ√SUHU and ᴱ√SUFU from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, having derivatives like ᴱQ. sú “noise of wind”, ᴱQ. súma “nostril”, and ᴱQ. †súye “air, breezes, winds” (QL/86). Related forms in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon confirm that the root began with S-, such as: G. saul “a great wind”, G. sû, G. and sûtha- “blow (of wind)” (GL/67-68). In Early Noldorin Word-lists from the 1920s Tolkien twice mentioned ᴱ√suru “(to) blow” as the basis for ᴱN. huiriaith “gale” (PE13/148, 163).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien instead had ᴹ√THŪ “puff, blow” with derivatives like ᴹQ. súle/N. thûl “breath” and ᴹQ. súya-/N. thuia- “breathe” (Ety/THŪ). A document grouped with Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 had an extensive discussion of Q. súlë “spirit; breath” where he gave the root as √THŪ with variant √SŪ (PE17/124). In notes on spirit from 1957, however, Tolkien indicated that √THŪ and √SŪ were similar but distinct roots, the former being “blow, cause an air movement” and the latter “blow, move with audible sound (of air)” (NM/237), that is the distinction being the absence or presense of sound. This document also noted various extensions to these base roots such as √THUS and √SUR of similar meaning (NM/237).

The root √SŪ was mentioned in Notes on Galdriel’s Song (NGS) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, along with extended form √SUR(U) serving as the basis for Q. súrë “wind” (PE17/62). In notes from the late 1960s, ✶sū was mentioned a couple times as an example of an ancient monosyllabic noun with the meaning “(noise of) wind” (VT47/12, 35). In one of these documents Tolkien clarified that base form ✶sū was “used only of the sound of wind; as noun [for actual ‘wind’] + r/l: suli, sur(i)” (VT47/12). Compare Q. súrë above as well as S. sûl “wind” (PE17/15; RC/778).

Thus it seems clear that Tolkien’s later writings, he had two distinct but related roots having to do with the movement of air: √THŪ “blow without sound, breath” and √SŪ “blow with sound, (noise of) wind”.

sū

root. blow, move with audible sound (of air)

thus

root. evil mist, fog, darkness; blow, cause an air movement, blow, cause an air movement; [ᴹ√] *smell, stench; [√] evil mist, fog, darkness

thusta-

verb. to send on [a gust of air]

thūta-

verb. to send on [a gust of air]

phā

noun. breath, puff of breath

šebeth

noun. air

gwelw

noun. air (as a substance)

A noun appearing in The Etymologies of the 1930s as N. gwelw “air (as a substance)” derived from primitive ᴹ✶wilwā under the root ᴹ√WIL “fly, float in air” (Ety/WIL).

Conceptual Development: An earlier precursor is G. gwail “air” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, derived from the early root ᴱ√gu̯il (GL/45).

Neo-Sindarin: If adapted to Neo-Sindarin, this word would be ᴺS. gwelu as suggested in HSD (HSD).

gwilith

noun. air (as a region), air (as a region), *lower sky; [G.] breeze

An abstract noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “air as a region” under the root ᴹ√WIL (Ety/WIL). In other words, you breath N. gwelw (ᴺS. gwelu) “air as a substance”, but birds fly through gwilith, basically making it the lower sky below the clouds.

Conceptual Development: In Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, G. gwilith was “a breeze” (GL/45).

gwelwen

noun. air, lower air

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s given as the equivalent of ᴹQ. vilwa “lower air” under the root ᴹ√WIL (Ety/WIL). Since ᴹQ. vilwa was changed to wilma, I’d abandon this word and use N. gwilith instead.

lhinn

noun. air, tune

gwelw

noun. air (as substance)

gwelwen

noun. air, lower air (distinct from the upper air of the stars, or the outer)

gwilith

noun. air (as a region)

lhind

noun. air, tune

lhinn

noun. air, tune

ui

noun. envelope (especially of the Outer Sea or Air enfolding the world within the Ilurambar or world-walls)

gilith

noun. region above air where stars are

cf. Q ilmen

thûl

noun. breath

thûl

noun. breath

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “breath” derived from the root ᴹ√THŪ “puff, blow” (Ety/THŪ). As written in The Etymologies, the actual form was thūl (EtyAC/THŪ).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, Tolkien gave G. fest “breath, breathing” (GL/35), likely derived from the early root ᴱ√ǶEHE “breathe” (QL/41) with *ƕ* becoming *f*.

nefítë

adjective. air-breathing

A word for “air-breathing” in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969, appearing in its plural for nefíti and as an element in yulunefítë “amphibious”, illustrating the use of the verbal suffix -itë for creating adjectives indicating one is capable of doing something (PE22/155). As such, it implies the existence of a verb ✱nef- “to breathe (air)”.

vilya

proper name. (Ring) of Air

One of the three Elvish rings of power, the Ring of Air (S/288). It might simply be vilya “air” used as a name. However, given the pattern of names for the other Elvish rings, I think it is more likely to be an adjectival formation combining the root ᴹ√WIL and the adjectival suffix -ya.

vilya

noun. air, sky

A word for “air” or “sky” appearing Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings from older †wilya, serving as the name of tengwa #24 [n] (LotR/1123). It is clearly a derivative of the root ᴹ√WIL (Ety/WIL). It has an abnormal plural form wilyar with initial w- in the 1950s version of the Nieninquë poem in the phrase yan i wilyar antar miquelis “✱to whom the air gives kisses” (PE16/96).

Conceptual Development: The notion of the “lower air” as a region dates all the way back to the earliest Lost Tales, where the innermost layer of air was called ᴱQ. Vilna (LT1/65). However, in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, the term was ᴱQ. Vilya “air (lower)” as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√VILI (QL/101). The word vilya “lower air” appeared English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s but was deleted (PE15/68), and this term appeared as both the singular “air” and plural “airs” in version of Nieninqe and its drafts circa 1930: yan/yar i __vilya(r)__ anta miqilis “to whom the air(s) give kisses” (MC/215; PE16/90, 92).

In the Ambarkanta of the early 1930s, the lower air was {Wilwa >>} Vista (SM/236, 240 note #1), but it was Wilwa again in the earliest tales of Númenor from the 1930s (LR/12) and was ᴹQ. {vilwa >>} wilma in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√WIL “fly, float in air” (Ety/WIL). Q. vilya “air, sky” in Appendix E seems to be the last iteration in this chain.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I think vilya refers mainly to air as the region above the ground, as opposed to ᴹQ. vista “air (as a substance)”. You breath vista, but birds fly through vilya, and breezes flow through vilya like ripples in a lake.

Fanyamar

upper air

Fanyamar place-name referring to the "upper air" (SPAN), literally *"Cloudland"

hwesta

breeze, breath, puff of air

hwesta (1) noun "breeze, breath, puff of air" (SWES), also name of tengwa #12 (Appendix E, VT46:17); hwesta sindarinwa "Grey-elven hw", name of tengwa #34 (Appendix E).

hwesta

noun. breeze, breeze; [ᴹQ.] breath, puff of air

A noun in Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings glossed “breeze”, the name of tengwa #12 [c] (LotR/1123).

Conceptual Development: ᴹQ. hwesta “breath, breeze, puff of air” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√SWES “noise of blowing or breathing” (Ety/SWES).

lindë

air, tune, singing, song

lindë noun "air, tune, singing, song" (SA:gond, (LIN2, [GLIN]); lindelorendor "music-dream-land"; see laurelindórenan lindelorendor... _(LotR2:III ch. 4, cf. Letters:308). _Also compare lindi- in lindimaitar, q.v. (but the other compounds here cited do not give a lindë a stem-form lindi-).

sussë

noun. puff (of air)

A noun in notes from around 1957, glossed “puff (of air)” and derived from √THU(S) “blow, cause an air movement” (NM/237).

Conceptual Development: The noun ᴱQ. pusse “a puff” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√PUSU of similar meaning, followed by a more elaborate form ᴱQ. pusilla “puff, whiff, breeze”, perhaps a diminutive (QL/76).

vilwa

air, lower air

[vilwa < wilwa] noun "air, lower air" (distinct from the 'upper' air of the stars, or the 'outer') (WIL; in one place vilwa was not struck out, VT46:21) According to VT46:21, Tolkien considered vilda < wilda as a replacement form, but rejected it.

vilya

air, sky

vilya noun "air, sky", also name of tengwa #24. Older wilya. (Appendix E). Early "Qenya" has Vilya (changed from Vilna) "lower air" (LT1:273); also vilya "air" (MC:215)

vista

air as substance

vista (1) noun "air as substance" (WIS (WIL) )

wilma

air, lower air

wilma noun "air, lower air" (distinct from the 'upper' air of the stars, or the 'outer') (WIL)

lindë

noun. singing, song, musical sound, singing, song, musical sound; [ᴹQ.] air, tune

nefíte

adjective. air-breathing

nefíti kuimar

air-breathing animals

wilya Archaic

noun. air, sky

yan i wilyar antar miquelis

*to whom the air gives kisses

vilwis(të)

noun. weather, (lit.) turn of air

A neologism for “weather” coined by Tamas Ferencz, more literally “✱air-change” or “✱atmosphere-change”, a combination of vilya “air, sky”, and vistë (†wistë) “change”. It is properly vilwiste, but may be reduced to vilwis (vilwist-) in some circumstances.

yerwissa

adjective. stuffy, (lit.) with worn out air

A neologism for a “stuffy” coined by Chaered posted on 2026-04-27 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a combination of ᴹ√GYER “worn out” and an adjectival form of ᴹ√WIS “air”.

sustar(o)

noun. bellows, device for blowing or pushing air in a forge, (lit.) blower

A neologism for “bellows” as in a “device for blowing or pushing air in a forge”, coined by Valerie and posted on 2025-03-01 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS) as an agental form of susta- [þ] “blow”.

nef- Reconstructed

verb. to breathe (air)

orro

adverb. up in the air, on high

quasil

noun. fan, a device used to stir air

A neologism coined by Orondil posted on 2025-04-10 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), an instrumental form based on the Neo-Root ᴺ√KWATH “shake”.

eressëa

lonely

eressëa adj. "lonely" (ERE, LT1:269), "solitary" (cf. Letters:386). Eressëa place-name "Lonely (One)", often used by itself for Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle (Silm) or Solitary Isle (Letters:386, footnote)

eressëa

adjective. lonely

A word for “lonely”, most notably as an element in the name Tol Eressëa “Lonely Isle” (LotR/1116; S/59). This word and name had a long history in Tolkien’s writings, dating back to Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/36, 94) and appearing in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√ERE (Ety/ERE).

foa

breath, puff of breath

foa (1) noun "breath, puff of breath" (VT47:35, 36)

fá

noun. breath, puff of breath

föa

noun. breath, puff of breath

A word appearing as fā in 1968 notes on primitive monosyllables as a derivative of ✶phā “breath, puff of breath” (VT47/35). Tolkien said this word survived in Quenya, but in a later sentence he wrote Q. fawa, foa, perhaps indicating its more common form was foa. The form foa appeared unglossed in 1964 notes on Dalath Dirnen (DD), and also in 1957 Quenya Notes (QN) as a derivative of √PHAW “emit (foul breath etc.)” and an element in foalóke, probably = “✱breath-dragon” (PE17/181). As such, I consider foa the most likely Quenya form and “breath, puff of breath” its most likely meaning.

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, this word appeared as ᴱQ. foa “hoard, treasure” under the early root ᴱ√FOƷO “hide, hoard, store up, lay up in secret”, also as an element in ᴱQ. Foalôke as the name of a dragon (QL/38).

fúmë

noun. breath

A word for “breath” in the Löa Yucainen poem, perhaps related to föa “(puff of) breath”.

pûh

noun. breath

A noun translated “breath” and fully declined as an example of a Weak I noun (SD/431).