brôg

noun. bear

A noun for “bear” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶morókō under the root ᴹ√MOROK (Ety/MORÓK), where the initial syllable reduced to m’rokō and then the initial mr became br.

Conceptual Development: A likely precursor to this word is ᴱN. gorch “bear” (also “fierce fighter”) from Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/145, 149).

brôg

noun. bear

megli

noun. bear

megli

noun. bear, (lit.) honey-eater

A noun appearing as N. {magli >>} megli “bear” in The Etymologies, a combination of N. mad- “eat” and N. glî “honey”, hence more literally “honey-eater” (Ety/LIS, MAT; EtyAC/LIS, MAT), where dl > gl as was usual in Noldorin. This word also appeared in the phrase i vegli vorn “the black bear” in notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s (PE22/33).

Conceptual Development: ᴱN. magli “a bear, honey-eater” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s.

Neo-Sindarin: The sound change dl > gl was not a feature of Sindarin, so most Neo-Sindarin writers adapt this word as ᴺS. medli “bear”, as suggested in HSD (HSD).

meglin

adjective. *bear-like

An adjective form meglin of megli “bear” appearing in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/LIS).

Neo-Sindarin: The sound change dl > gl was not a feature of Sindarin, so most Neo-Sindarin writers adapt this word as ᴺS. medlin “bear-like”, as suggested in HSD (HSD).

meglin

adjective. honey-eater, bear-like

fang

noun. beard

fang

noun. beard

fangorn

masculine name. Treebeard

glî

noun. honey

A word for “honey” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶g-lisi under the root ᴹ√LIS of the same meaning (Ety/LIS).

Conceptual Development: In Early Noldorin Word-lists Tolkien also had ᴱN. glí “honey” (PE13/144), presumably similarly derived from the early root ᴱ√LISI. However, in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s the word for “honey” was G. neglis with an initial element √neg- (GL/59), the Gnomish equivalent of the early root ᴱ√NEHE that was the basis for ᴱQ. nekte “honey” (QL/65). It is possible that the second element of G. neglis was based on ᴱ√LISI and this was carried forward into later “honey” words.

glî

noun. honey

hû

noun. dog

hû

noun. dog

tog-

verb. to bring

A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “to bring” under the root ᴹ√TUK “draw, bring”, appearing in its (Noldorin-style) infinitive form tegi and its present tense form tôg (Ety/TUK). It was originally glossed as “to lead, bring”, but “lead” was crossed out (EtyAC/TUK).

tol-

verb. to come

tol-

verb. to come

toltha-

verb. to fetch, summon, make come

graw

noun. bear

A Sindarin word for “bear” in notes from the late 1960s, derived from primitive ✶grā (VT47/12).

Neo-Sindarin: Its Quenya cognate Q. roa had the revised meaning {“bear” >>} “dog”, so for purposes of Neo-Sindarin it is probably best to stick with [N.] brôg and ᴺS. medli [N. megli] as words for “bear”.

graw

noun. bear

medli

noun. bear

medlin

adjective. honey-eater, bear-like

fang

noun. beard, beard, [G.] long beard

The Sindarin word for “beard”, best known as an element in the name S. Fangorn “Treebeard, (lit.) beard of tree” (LotR/1131, PE17/84). The word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s where it appeared as G. fang “a long beard” (GL/34), though in that document it had a rejected variant bang “beard” (GL/21). ᴱN. fang “beard” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/143), and N. fang “beard” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√SPANAG (Ety/SPÁNAG). Thus this word was well established in Tolkien’s mind.

Fangorn

noun. Beard of Tree

_ prop. n. _Beard of Tree. >> orn

cyll

noun. bearer

fangorn

masculine name. Treebeard

Sindarin name of Treebeard (LotR/464), more literally translated “beard-(of)-tree” (LotR/1131, PE17/84). His name is a combination of fang “beard” and orn “tree” (SA/orn, PE17/84).

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, his name also appeared as N. Fangorn “Treebeard” (TI/412).

brôg

bear

(i vrôg, construct brog), pl. brŷg (i mrŷg)

graw

bear

(noun) 1) graw (i **raw), pl. groe (in groe), coll. pl. ?grawath or ?groath (VT47:12). 2) brôg (i vrôg, construct brog), pl. brŷg (i mrŷg**), 3) *medli (i vedli), no distinct pl. form except with article (i medli). The word literally means ”honey-eater”. Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” megli.

graw

bear

(i ’raw), pl. groe (in groe), coll. pl. ?grawath or ?groath (VT47:12).

medli

bear

(i vedli), no distinct pl. form except with article (i medli). The word literally means ”honey-eater”. – Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” megli.

col-

verb. to bear, carry, wear

A neologism based on the root √KOL “bear, carry, wear”. I first saw it proposed by David Salo in the VQP (VQP).

tol-

verb. to come

The basic Sindarin verb for “to come”, well attested from the 1930s-1960s and derived from the root √TUL of similar meaning (Ety/TUL; PE17/166; PE22/168; VT44/25). The Sindarin o was the result of the usual sound change whereby [[s|short [u] became [o]]] in Sindarin’s phonetic development.

Conceptual Development: A verb G. tul- appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, but there its meaning was “(1) bring; (2) come to” (GL/71), and in one place Tolkien said its original meaning was “to support” (GL/69). This is in keeping with the broader meaning of the early root ᴱ√TULU, which was glossed “fetch, bear, bring; move, come; (originally) uphold, support, bear, carry” (QL/95).

coltha-

verb. to bear up; to weigh, balance it on scales; to be worth, value or be equivalent to; to endure

iav-

verb. to produce, yield, bear fruit

medli

noun. bear, (lit.) honey-eater

medlin

adjective. *bear-like

colron

noun. bearer

A neologism coined by Paul Strack in 2021 specifically for Eldamo, an agental form of [ᴺS.] col- “bear” and equivalent to Q. colindo. It must be a late or reformed compound in order for the lr to be preserved, as opposed to (for example) [N.] callon “hero” < ᴹ✶kalrondō where ancient lr became ll.

medlin

bearish, of bears

(adjective derived from medli ”bear”), lenited vedlin, no distinct pl. form. – Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” meglin.

medlin

bearish, of bears

*medlin (adjective derived from medli ”bear”), lenited vedlin, no distinct pl. form. Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” meglin.

cyll

bearer

cyll (i gyll, o chyll), no distinct pl. form except with article (i chyll)

cyll

bearer

(i gyll, o chyll), no distinct pl. form except with article (i chyll)

fang

beard

fang (pl. feng)

fang

beard

(pl. feng)

tolo

verb. come!

bened

noun. chin

glî

honey

glî (i **lî**);

glî

honey

(i ’lî);

hû

dog

hû (i chû, o chu, construct hu), pl. hui (i chui)

hû

dog

(i chû, o chu, construct hu), pl. hui (i chui)

nîdh

honeycomb

(construct nidh; no distinct pl. form) (VT45:38).

tol

come

tol- (i dôl, i thelir). The present tense tôl is attested (WJ:254). MAKE COME, see FETCH

tol

come

(i dôl, i thelir). The present tense tôl is attested (WJ:254).

toltha

fetch

(make come) toltha- (i doltha, i tholthar)

toltha

fetch

(i doltha, i tholthar)

urug

noun. bear

A noun translated “bear” (SD/426), also given by Tolkien as an example of how common-nouns can be altered into masculine and feminine forms using the suffixes -û and -î: urgī “female bear, she-bear” (SD/435).

nakh-

verb. to come

A verb translated in the past tense as “came” (SD/247, 311), so probably meaning “to come”. Like kalab-, this is one of the few Adûnaic verbs attested in more than one conjugation. As such, it is useful in the study of Adûnaic verbs, in this case biconsonantal-verbs as opposed to triconsonantal kalab-.

It is attested in two forms, unakkha “he-came” and yanākhim “are at hand”. The initial elements in these forms are the 3rd-sg masculine pronominal prefix u- and the 3rd-pl neuter pronominal prefix ya-, respectively, while the latter form has the plural verbal suffix -m. Removing these elements leaves the conjugated forms nakkha and nākhi, which are the past and continuative-present tenses according to the theories used here. If the second form is the continuative-present, its literal meaning may be “are coming”.

Conceptual Development: In the draft version of the Lament of Akallabêth, this verb stem was apparently nek-, with past forms hunekkū >> unekkū “he-came”, with Tolkien vacillating on the proper form of the 3rd-sg masculine pronominal prefix u-.

raba

noun. dog

A noun translated “dog” and fully declined as an example of a Strong II noun (SD/437). It is also used as an example of a common-noun that can be altered to masculine and feminine forms rabô “male dog” and rabê “bitch” (SD/434).

morco

bear

morco ("k")noun "bear" (MORÓK)

col-

verb. to bear, *carry, wear

A verb for “to bear” implied by the existence of the root √KOL “bear, carry, wear” (PE17/158; PE22/155), as well as verbal nouns like colindo “bearer” (LotR/953), cólima “bearable” (PE22/155) and coloitë “capable of bearing” (PE22/155).

Neo-Quenya: The use of col- for “bear = ✱carry” is well-attested, but it may also mean “✱wear” based on the meaning of its root (PE17/158) as well as the adjective colla “borne, worn” (MR/385). For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume colin macil means “I bear/carry a sword”, but colin laupe means “I wear a shirt”.

Conceptual Development: Earlier words for “carry” include ᴱQ. tala- “carry, bring; weigh (intr.)” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√TALA “support” (QL/88), and ᴱQ. yulu- “carry” in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon based on the early root ᴱ√dyulu (GL/38).

tul-

verb. to come, to come, [ᴱQ.] move (intr.); to bring, carry, fetch; to produce, bear fruit

The Quenya verb for “to come”, which is very well-attested. It is derived from the root √TUL whose basic sense is “move towards the speaker” (PE17/188), as in “come here”: á tule sís. English may also use “come with” in the sense “accompany” such as “I will come with you”, but Quenya uses men- (“go”) for this purpose (PE22/162), such as menuvan ó le = “I will go with you”.

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. tulu- dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where it appeared under the early root ᴱ√TULU, but in that early document it has a much broader set of glosses: “(1) bring, carry, fetch; (2) intr. move, come; (3) produce, bear fruit” (QL/95). By the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s its list of glosses was reduced to “come” (PE14/57), and Tolkien used the verb only to mean “come” thereafter. Tolkien often used this verb in grammatical examples, which is part of the reason it is so well-attested.

col-

bear, carry

#col- vb. "bear, carry", not attested by itself by suggested by colindo and colla, q.v.; also compare Tancol.

tulu-

fetch, bring, bear; move, come

tulu- vb. "fetch, bring, bear; move, come" (LT1:270; compare tulta- in Tolkien's later Quenya)

yav-

bear fruit

yav- vb. "bear fruit" (LT1:273, given in the form yavin and glossed "bears fruit"; this would have to mean "I bear fruit" in Tolkien's later Quenya: 1st pers. sg. aorist)

colindo

noun. bearer

A word for “bearer” appearing in its plural form colindor in the title Cormacolindor “Ring-bearers” (LotR/0953). It is simply an agental form of the verb col- “bear”.

cólima

adjective. bearable, light (of burdens and things comparable, troubles, labors, afflications)

A word whose base meaning is “bearable”, a verbal adjective that is a combination of col- “bear” with the suffix -ima “-able” (PE22/155). By extension, the adjective also means “light [easy to bear]”, applicable both physically to things like burdens and metaphorically to things like troubles, labors, afflications, etc.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I assume that things that are difficult to bear would require an additional prefix such as hraicólima “hard to bear”; compare hraicénima “hard to see”.

fanga

noun. beard

A noun for “beard” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√SPANAG (Ety/SPÁNAG), where the [[aq|initial [sp-] became the voiceless spirant [f]]]. It reappeared in the 1960s as an element in the name Q. Andafangar “Longbeards” (PM/321 note #21).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, Tolkien gave ᴱQ. fange as cognate of G. fang “a long beard” (GL/34). Elsewhere in the same document he had ᴱQ. vanga as cognate of G. bang “beard”, but both these words were deleted (GL/21). Other early “beard” words include ᴱQ. velte under the early root ᴱ√VETE (QL/101), and ᴱQ. poa as a cognate to G. pau “a beard” (GL/63).

colindo

bearer

#colindo noun "bearer", pl. #colindor in cormacolindor "ring-bearers" (q.v.)

fanga

beard

fanga noun "beard" (SPÁNAG)

ornemalin

bearing yellow flowers

ornemalin adj. "bearing yellow flowers" (PE17:80); this is Entish-style Quenya. See laurelindórenan lindelorendor…

poa

beard

poa noun "beard" (GL:63). Rather fanga in Tolkien's later Quenya

vanga

beard

vanga noun "beard" (LT2:344, GL:21; in Tolkien's later Quenya fanga)

cólima

adjective. bearable, light (of burdens, troubles etc)

yav-

verb. to bear (fruit), *yield, bring forth, produce

colla

borne, worn

colla passive participle "borne, worn" (compare #col- "bear"); also used as a noun = "vestment, cloak" (MR:385). Variant form collo "cloak" _(SA:thin(d) ) _in the name Sindicollo (q.v.), sc. colla with a masculine ending.

röa

noun. dog

A word for “dog” appearing in 1968 notes on monosyllabic primitive Elvish nouns (VT47/35). Of the primitive forms, Tolkien first gave ✶wā(w) “dog” and ✶grā “bear”, but ✶wā(w) was struck through and the gloss of ✶grā was changed to “dog”, after which Tolkien wrote Q. roa “dog” (VT47/36). He seems to have been disatisfied with this derivation, however, going on to write a number of primitive animal roots in the upper margin, including ✶yarr- “dog”.

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. roa “a wild beast” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, derived from primitive ᴱ✶raw̯a under the early root ᴱ√RAVA or ᴱ√RAẆA (QL/79).

Neo-Quenya: Giving Tolkien’s vacillations on these 1968 forms, I’d stick to the better known ᴹQ. huo as the common word for “dog” in (Neo) Quenya, which is the word used in Helge Fauskanger’s NQNT (NQNT).

Laurelindórinan

valley of singing gold

Laurelindórinan noun "Valley of Singing Gold", an earlier name of Laurenandë (Lórien) (UT:253); laurelindórenan lindelorendor malinornélion ornemalin *"Goldenlight-music-land-valley music-dream-land of yellow-trees tree-yellow", Quenya elements agglutinated in Entish fashion; this supposedly means something like "the valley where the trees in a golden light sing musically, a land of music and dreams; there are yellow trees there, it is a tree-yellow land" (LotR2:III ch. 4, translated in Letters:308). The last word ornemalin is defined in as "bearing yellow flowers" in PE17:80.

huo

dog

huo noun "dog" (KHUG, see KHUGAN; cf. hú, huan). Also roa.

lav-

yield, allow, grant

lav- (2) vb. "yield, allow, grant" (DAB)

lenna-

verb. to come, to come; [ᴹQ.] to go, depart

lís

noun. honey, honey, *sugar, sweetener

A word for “honey” in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 given as lîs and derived from the root √(G)LIS (PE17/154); the usual representation of a long vowel in Quenya would be ✱lís. In DLN Tolkien said that it sometimes appeared as līr- in inflections with the usual change of intervocalic s to r, but that its usual stem form was liss-. Indeed, in The Etymologies of the 1930s this word was ᴹQ. lis “honey” under the root ᴹ√LIS of the same meaning, and its stem form was also liss- as indicated by its [ᴹQ.] genitive lissen (Ety/LIS). Tolkien originally gave the base noun as lisse in The Etymologies, but this was deleted and replaced by lis (EtyAC/LIS). In The Etymologies its Noldorin cognate was N. glî.

Conceptual Development: A likely precursor to this word was ᴱQ. ile “honey” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, cognate to ᴱN. glí “honey” (GL/59).

Neo-Quenya: Since there are other honey-words in Quenya like Q. nehtë, I would use lís (liss-) for sweeteners in general, including both honey and sugar.

melu

honey

#melu noun "honey", isolated from melumatya, q.v. (PE17:68)

melu

noun. honey

A word for “honey” appearing only in the compound Q. melumatya “honey-eating” in notes from 1967 (PE17/68).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I recommend using the better-established Q. nehtë for “honey”.

nectë

honey

nectë noun "honey" (LT1:262; Tolkien's later Quenya has lis; otherwise, nectë would have had to become nehtë_, a form appearing in the Etymologies with the meaning "honeycomb" [VT45:38]. However, this word clashes with _nehtë "angle" or "spearhead, gore, wedge, narrow promontory" from later sources [PE17:55, UT:282].)

nehte

noun. honey

honey

nehtë

noun. honey, honey; [ᴹQ.] honeycomb

A noun for “honey” appearing in 1970 green-ink revisions to the Outline of Phonology (OP2) derived from ✶negdē “exudation” based on the root √NEG “ooze, drip” (PE19/91). It was a later iteration of ᴹQ. nehte “honeycomb” in The Etymologies of the 1930s which had essentially the same derivation (EtyAC/NEG). This in turn was a later form of ᴱQ. nekte “honey” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s derived from the early root ᴱ√NEHE having to do with bees and honey (QL/65).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d use this word only for “honey”. For “honeycomb” I’d use ᴺQ. nehtelë inspired by ᴱQ. nektele “honeycomb” (QL/65)

roa

dog

roa noun "dog" (VT47:35). Also huo.

tul-

come

tul- vb. "come" (WJ:368), 1st pers. aorist tulin "I come" (TUL), 3rd pers. sg. tulis "(s)he comes" (VT49:19), perfect utúlië "has come" (utúlien "I am come", EO), utúlie'n aurë "Day has come" (the function of the 'n is unclear; it may be a variant of the article "the", hence literally "the Day has come"). Past tense túlë "came" in LR:47 and SD:246, though an alternative form *tullë has also been theorized. Túlë in VT43:14 seems to be an abnormal aorist stem, later abandoned; tula in the same source would be an imperative. Prefixed future tense entuluva "shall come again" in the Silmarillion, future tuluva also in the phrase aranielya na tuluva* "may thy kingdom come" (VT44:32/34), literally apparently "thy kingdom, be-it-that (it) will come". In early "Qenya" we have the perfects tulielto "they have come" (LT1:114, 270, VT49:57) and tulier "have come", pl., in the phrase I·Eldar tulier "the Eldar have come"(LT1:114, 270). Read probably utúlieltë, Eldar utúlier** in LotR-style Quenya.

tul-

verb. come

venta

chin

venta noun "chin" (QL:101)

venta

noun. chin

morokō

noun. bear

kol

root. bear, carry, wear

The root √KOL served various purposes throughout Tolkien’s life. The root appeared as two separate entries in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s: ᴱ√KOLO “to strain through” and also as ᴱ√KOLO, unglossed but with derivatives like ᴱQ. koli- “to prick”, ᴱQ. kolme “point, tip”, and ᴱQ. kolman “peak, summit”, so perhaps meaning something like “✱point” (QL/47). It reappeared in a rejected entry in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√KOL with a single derivative ᴹQ. kolma “ring”, and the root had the gloss “round, (?rim)” in an earlier version of the entry (EtyAC/KOL). It had a deleted reference in the entry ᴹ√KOR “round” of which it was probably a variant (EtyAC/KOR).

The root √KOL appeared regularly in Tolkien’s writing in the 1950s and 60s with glosses like “bear, carry” and derivatives of similar meaning (PE17/145, 158; PE22/152, 155; VT39/10). This new meaning of the root was anchored in the words Q. colindo “bearer” as in Q. Cormacolindor “Ring-bearers” (LotR/953), as well as S. coll “cloak” in S. Thingol “Grey-cloak” (PE17/72). In notes from 1969, Tolkien clarified that the root referred “to the ability to support weight or a burden, physical or mental, not necessarily to transporting it” (PE22/155).

tul

root. come, approach, move towards (point of speaker), come, approach, [ᴹ√] move towards (point of speaker); [ᴱ√] fetch, bear, bring; (originally) uphold, support, bear, carry

The root √TUL was used for Elvish words having to do with motion towards a speaker for much of Tolkien’s life, but the precise meaning evolved over time. The earliest appearance of this root was as ᴱ√TULU “fetch, bear, bring; move, come”, but with an original sense = “uphold, support, bear, carry” (QL/95). It had a derived verb ᴱQ. tulu- matching the verbal sense of the root along with an added sense “produce, bear fruit”, but it had other derivatives like ᴱQ. tulma “bier, tray” and ᴱQ. tulwe “tall thin pillar, standard, pole; banner” connected to the older “support” sense of the root. It had a similar divergence of meaning in its derivatives from the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, such as G. taul “a pillar” vs. G. tul- “bring; come to” (GL/69, 71). This 1910s root ᴱ√TULU may also have been connected to ᴱ√TḶPḶ which likewise had derivatives having to do with “support” (QL/93).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root ᴹ√TUL had the gloss “come, approach, move towards (point of speaker)” with derivatives like ᴹQ. tul-/N. tol- “come” and ᴹQ. tulta-/N. toltha- “send for, fetch, summon” = “(orig.) make come” (Ety/TUL); in the 1930s the “support” words seem to have been transferred to (probably unrelated) ᴹ√TULUK. √TUL “come” was mentioned regularly in Tolkien’s later writings (PE22/103; PE17/188; PE22/156), in one 1969 note with the extra gloss “approach” (PE22/168), so the 1930s senses for the root seem to have been retained thereafter.

grā

noun. dog, bear

tul-

verb. come, is coming, has come, is here, I come, have come

grawa

noun. dog

wā(w)

noun. dog

yarr-

noun. dog, dog; *growl, snarl

In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, Tolkien gave the root ᴱ√YAPA “snarl, snap, bark ill-temperedly” (QL/105). It had no derivatives in QL, but in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon the words G. gab- “bark, bay (of dogs)” and G. gôbi “a large hound” were clearly related (GL/36). There were no similar forms for many years, but then primitive ✶yarr- “dog” appeared in notes from 1968 (VT47/36). This later primitive was likely related to Q. yarra- “growl, snarl” from the Q. Markirya poem of this same period (MC/223), perhaps from a root ✱√YAR.

benet

root. chin

turg Reconstructed

noun. beard

necte, nette

noun. honey

honey

nettë

noun. honey