morë adj. "black" (MOR), "dark, darkness" (Letters:282). In compounds the stem-form mori- (q.v.) appears, since the primitive form was ¤mori.
Quenya
morqua
black
morë
black
mori-
dark, black
mori- "dark, black" in a number of compounds (independent form morë, q.v.):Morimando "Dark Mando" = Mandos (MBAD, VT45:33), morimaitë "black-handed" (LotR3:VI ch. 6, VT49:42). Moriquendi "Dark Elves" (SA:mor, WJ:361, 373), Moringotto "Black Foe", Sindarin Morgoth, later name of Melkor. The oldest form is said to have been Moriñgotho (MR:194). In late material, Tolkien is seen to consider both Moringotto and Moricotto _("k") _as the Quenya form of the name Morgoth (VT49:24-25; Moricotto also appears in the ablative, Moricottollo). Morion "the dark one", a title of Morgoth (FS). Morifinwë "dark Finwë", masc. name; he was called Caranthir in Sindarin (short Quenya name Moryo). (PM:353) In the name Morinehtar, translated "Darkness-slayer", the initial element is defined would thus seem to signify "darkness" rather than "dark" as an adjective (see mórë). (PM:384, 385)
morna
dark, black
morna adj. "dark, black" (Letters:282, LT1:261; also used of black hair, PE17:154), or "gloomy, sombre" (MOR). Used as noun in the phrase mi…morna of someone clad "in…black" (PE17:71). In tumbalemorna (Letters:282), q.v. Pl. mornë in Markirya**(the first version of this poem had "green rocks", MC:215, changed to ondolisse mornë** "upon dark rocks" in the final version; see MC:220, note 8).
lóna
dark
?lóna (4) adj. "dark" (DO3/DŌ). If this is to be the cognate of "Noldorin"/Sindarin dûr, as the context seems to indicate, lóna is likely a misreading for *lóra in Tolkien's manuscript.
lúna
dark
lúna adj. *"dark" in Lúnaturco and Taras Lúna, Quenya names of Barad-dûr (Dark Tower). (PE17:22). In the Etymologies, lúnë "blue" was changed by Tolkien from lúna (VT45:29).
morco
bear
morco ("k")noun "bear" (MORÓK)
morĭ
adjective. dark
PQ. dark
móri
dark
móri adj. "dark" (MC:221; this is "Qenya"; in Tolkien's later Quenya mórë, morë)
ulca
adjective. dark
dark, gloomy, sinister
nulla
dark, dusky, obscure
nulla adj. "dark, dusky, obscure" (NDUL), "secret" (DUL). See also VT45:11.
núla
dark, occult, mysterious
núla ("ñ")adj. "dark, occult, mysterious" (PE17:125)
col-
bear, carry
#col- vb. "bear, carry", not attested by itself by suggested by colindo and colla, q.v.; also compare Tancol.
látie
noun. openness
Elements
Word Gloss láta “open (not closed)” -ië “abstract noun, adverb”
látië
openness
látië noun "openness" (VT39:23)
lúrëa
dark, overcast
lúrëa adj. "dark, overcast" (LT1:259)
lúmë
darkness
lúmë (2) noun "darkness" (one wonders if Tolkien confused lúmë "time, hour" and lómë "night") (Markirya)
lúmë
noun. darkness
A noun in the 1960s versions of the Markirya glossed “darkness” (MC/222), perhaps derived from a root √DU as suggested by David Salo in a post to the Elfling mailing list in 2012 (Elfling/362.96).
Neo-Quenya: I’d generally use Q. huinë for “darkness” in Neo-Quenya, but that word is more for total darkness, whereas lúmë might be a less severe form of darkness, a variant of Q. lómë “night, dusk”.
Derivations
- √DU “dark”
Element in
- Q. enwina lúmë “the old darkness” ✧ MC/222
Variations
- lúme ✧ MC/222
mor
darkness
mor noun "darkness" (Letters:308; probably just an Elvish "element" rather than a complete word; Namárië has mornië for "darkness")
mornië
darkness
mornië noun "darkness" (Nam, RGEO:67), "dark, blackness" (PE17:73). Early "Qenya" also has Mornië "Black Grief", "the black ship that plies between Mandos and Erumáni" (LT1:261). This is probably a compound of mor- "black" and nië "tear".
morna
adjective. black, dark; black of hair, black, dark; black of hair; [ᴹQ.] sombre, gloomy
Cognates
- S. morn “black, dark; night” ✧ Let/382
Derivations
Element in
- Q. mornië “darkness, blackness” ✧ PE17/073
- Q. ondolissë mornë “on the dark rocks” ✧ MC/222
- Q. sanomë tarnë Olórin, Aracorno, Eomer, Imrahil, mi mísë, mi telepta yo morna, mi laiqua yo ninquë, mi luinë, ta Gimli mi lossëa “There stood Gandalf, Aragorn, Eomer and Imrahil in grey, in silver and black, in green and white, and in blue, and also Gimli in white” ✧ PE17/071
- Q. Tauremorna “Black Forest” ✧ PE17/082
- Q. Tauremornalómë “*Forest (of) Black Night”
- Q. Tumbalemorna “deepvalleyblack” ✧ LotR/1131
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶mornā > morna [mornā] > [morna] ✧ Let/382 √MOR > morna [morna] ✧ PE17/073
morë
noun/adjective. dark, black; darkness, night, dark, black; darkness, [ᴹQ.] blackness, [Q.] night
A word meaning both “dark” and “black” in various compounds, sometimes also functioning as a noun “darkness”. It was derived from primitive ✶mori based on the root √MOR (Let/382).
Conceptual Development: This word has a long history in Tolkien’s languages. It first appeared as ᴱQ. {mōre >>} mōri “night” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s from the early root ᴱ√MORO (QL/62), also appearing as mōre “night” in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/63). The word mōre was used as “darkness” in the Oilima Markirya poem written around 1930 (MC/214).
In The Etymologies of the 1930s there were two distinct forms: noun ᴹQ. móre “blackness, dark, night” from primitive ᴹ✶mǭri and adjective ᴹQ. more “blackness, dark, night” from primitive from primitive ᴹ✶mori (Ety/MOR; EtyAC/MOR), though the adjective prefix mori- was frequently translated “dark” in contemporaneous compounds: ᴹQ. Morimando “Dark Mando”, ᴹQ. Moriqendi “Dark Elves”, etc. In later writings, the forms with long ó were no longer used, though whether this was intentional or a coincidence is unclear.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would mainly use more as an adjective with the sense “dark”, reserving for the colour “black” the word morna instead. For the noun form, I’d use mornië, but I sometimes use mori- or móri- for “night” in compounds as the time of darkness.
Cognates
- S. môr “dark(ness); †night, dark(ness); †night, [N.] †black” ✧ Let/382
Derivations
Element in
- Q. Herumor “*Black Lord”
- ᴺQ. morendë “midnight”
- ᴺQ. moricalca “obsidian, (lit.) black glass”
- Q. Morifinwë “Dark Finwë”
- Q. Morikotto “*Dark Enemy” ✧ VT49/24
- ᴺQ. mórilanta “nightfall”
- ᴺQ. morilúpë “blackbird, (lit.) black plume”
- Q. morimaitë “black-handed” ✧ PE17/110
- Q. Morinehtar “Darkness-slayer” ✧ PM/384
- Q. Moriquendi “Elves of the Darkness, (lit.) Dark Elves”
- ᴺQ. moritöa “ebony wood”
- ᴺQ. móriva “nocturnal”
- ᴺQ. morteccon “graphite, (lit.) black writing rock”
- ᴺQ. morumbar “dark-fated”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶mori > more [mori] > [more] ✧ Let/382 Variations
- more ✧ Let/382
mórë
blackness, dark, night, darkness
mórë noun "blackness, dark, night, darkness" (MOR, MC:214), also given with a short vowel:morë "dark, darkness" (Letters:282). If this is the initial element of Morinehtar "Darkness-slayer" (PM:384, 385), it would seem to have the stem-form mori-, though mori- is normally the adjective "dark, black" (see below).
hróva
dark, dark brown
hróva adj. "dark, dark brown", used to refer to hair (PE17:154)
-ië
openness
-ië (2) abstract ending, often used to derive abstracts from adjectives, e.g. látië "openness" vs. láta "open", mornië "darkness" vs. morna "black, dark", vanië (for *vanyië) "beauty" vs. vanya "fair".
morqua adj. "black" (LT1:261; rather morna in LotR-style Quenya)