bas(t)

noun. bread

This was the word for “bread” in Sindarin and its conceptual precursors for much of Tolkien’s life, derived from the equally long-lived root √MBAS “bake”. The word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s where G. bast “bread” was derived from the early root ᴱ√M(B)ASA “cook, bake” (GL/22). ᴱN. bast “bread” reappeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/138) and appeared again as N. bast “bread” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√MBAS “knead” (Ety/MBAS).

It appeared without a final t in the Sindarin version of the Lord’s Prayer from the 1950s: anno ammen sír imbas ilaurui vín “give us this day our daily bread” (VT44/21). However the t was restored in the phrase penim vast “we have no bread” from around 1959 (PE17/144). The late vacillations on the presence and absence of t are likely connected to Tolkien challenges with the derivation of lembas; see that entry for discussion. Likewise, the mutated forms mbas vs. vast indicate some late uncertainty on whether the primitive form began with mb- or b-.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume the normal form was bast “bread” from ancient mbasta, so that lenited forms show m(b)-. However, I would assume there is a variant bas(s) [< ✶mbassē] that appears occasionally in compounds like lembas.

bass

noun. bread

In the Etymologies, the word for "bread" is given as bast , Quenya masta, but it seems that Tolkien later changed his mind and updated the word to bass, as shown in Quenya massánie, Sindarin besain, besoneth "bread-giver", and in the mutated form (i)mbas (apparently prefixed with the article). These latter Sindarin forms are however dubious, as we would rather have expected bessain (as a regular cognate of Quenya massánie) and bassoneth (without i-affection), and possibly a different mutation pattern after the article

lembas

noun. waybread, journey-bread

The name of the special bread used by Elves during travel, more literally “waybread”.

Conceptual Development: This word appeared as N. lembas “waybread” in a marginal entry to The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√LEN “(road?), way” [the first gloss is unclear], a variant of ᴹ√LED “go, fare, travel” (EtyAC/LEN). Its second element was probably N. bast “bread” (Ety/MBAS). In the narratives themselves, the word lembas appeared in early drafts of Book 2, Chapter 8 “Farewell to Lórien” from The Lord of the Rings (TI/279), which is where it first appeared in the published version as well.

Possible Etymology: Although its second element was probably originally bast “bread”, it is not clear why this word was lembas and not lembast; Noldorin compounds usually retained final st, as in Orchrist and Camlost. The reduction of the st in lembas could be a remnant of earlier ideas; compare it to G. losbas “ryebread” = G. losc + G. bast from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/22, 54).

Nevertheless, Tolkien considered the etymology of lembas somewhat problematic in his later writings. In notes from the 1950s he derived it from OS. lenn-mbass “journey-bread” (PM/404). In notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s Tolkien derived lembas from lendbas where its initial element was lenda “journey” based on the root √LEN or √LED but he did not explain the second element (PE17/60). In notes from the mid-1960s Tolkien wrote:

> lembas “waybread”. This seems meant to be associated with Primitive Eldarin stems ✱LED “go” and ✱MBAS “bake” but is not readily derived from them according to Sindarin developments. Something like ✱leðbast would be expected (PE17/51).

In these notes, Tolkien initially derived the word from ledme-mbasta but struggled to explain the reduction of st. He then started over, saying:

> Simplify this thus: Assume a Primitive Eldarin derivation ✱mbassē, “(baked) bread” ... Evidently lembas is an old compound < led(e)mbasse “bread taken on leaving home (for a long journey)”, the first element being the bare verbal stem. ... lembas would be a reasonable Sindarin development in an obscured compound though leðbas would be expected if the stem √LED had remained in common use (PE17/52).

This revised etymology is more-or-less compatible with the 1950s derivation from OS. lenn-mbass, which is the derivation Christopher Tolkien presented in the Silmarillion Index (SI/lembas).

anno ammen sír i mbas ilaurui vín

give us this day our daily bread

The sixth line of Ae Adar Nín, Tolkien’s Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer (VT44/21). The first word anno is the imperative form of anna- “to give”, followed by ammen “to us”, a combination of an “to” and men “us”. The third word sír “this day” seems to be the equivalent of Q. síra.

The fourth word is the definite article i “the”, followed by the lenited form mbas of bas(t) “bread”, the adjective ilaurui “daily” and the lenited form vín of the possessive pronoun mín “ours”. The adjectival elements follow the noun as is usual in Sindarin. See the entry for the second line of this prayer for a discussion of the use of the definite article i “the” before the possessed noun in this phrase.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> ann-o am-men sír i mbas [← bas] ilaurui vín [← mín] = “✱give-(imperative) to-us this-day the bread daily ours”

Conceptual Development: Tolkien first wrote the unlenited form mín of the pronoun “our” before replacing it with the lenited form vín.

basgorn

noun. a loaf of bread

(m-)bast (“bread”) + corn (“round”))

ledhbas

'way-bread'

{ð} n. 'way-bread'. A form of lembas if the stem LED had remained in common use. >> lembas

lembas

noun. way bread

lend (“journey”) + (m-)bass (“bread”)

lembas

'way-bread'

n. 'way-bread'. Q. lerembas. >> ledhbas

penim vast

we have no bread

bassoneth

noun. bread-giver

See bass for a discussion regarding this word

besain

noun. bread-giver

See bass for a discussion regarding this word

besoneth

noun. bread-giver

See bass for a discussion regarding this word

bessain

noun. bread-giver

See bass for a discussion regarding this word

lembas

noun. journey bread made by the Elves

ledhbas(t)

noun. waybread

bass

bread

bass (i mass, o mbass, construct bas), pl. bais (i mbais). The sg. form with article "imbas" in VT44:23 may be seen as archaic Sindarin, for later *i mas(s) as suggested here. In ”Noldorin”, the word for "bread" was bast (LR:372 s.v. MBAS), but otherwise it would have the same mutations.

bass

bread

(i mass, o mbass, construct bas), pl. bais (i mbais). The sg. form with article "imbas" in VT44:23 may be seen as archaic Sindarin, for later ✱i mas(s) as suggested here. – In ”Noldorin”, the word for "bread" was bast (LR:372 s.v. MBAS), but otherwise it would have the same mutations.

lembas

journey-bread

(way-bread), pl. lembais

lembas

journey-bread

lembas (way-bread), pl. lembais

lembas

way-bread

lembas (journey-bread), pl. lembais

lembas

way-bread

(journey-bread), pl. lembais

basgorn

round bread

(loaf) (i masgorn), pl. besgyrn (i mbesgyrn).

basgorn

round bread

basgorn (loaf) (i masgorn), pl. besgyrn (i mbesgyrn).

bassoneth

bread-giver

(fem.) bassoneth (lady) (i massoneth, o mbassoneth), pl. bassonith (i mbassonith). Archaic *bassauneth. Also bessain (i messain, o mbessain), no distinct pl. except with article (i mbessain)

bassoneth

bread-giver

bassoneth (lady) (i massoneth, o mbassoneth), pl. bassonith (i mbassonith). Archaic *bassauneth.

bassoneth

bread-giver

(lady) (i massoneth, o mbassoneth), pl. bassonith (i mbassonith). Archaic ✱bassauneth. Also bessain (i messain, o mbessain), no distinct pl. except with article (i mbessain)

lembas

way-bread, journey-bread

pl. lembais.

lembas

way-bread, journey-bread

lembas, pl. lembais.

basgorn

loaf

basgorn (i masgorn), pl. besgyrn (i mbesgyrn). Literally "round bread".

basgorn

loaf

(i masgorn), pl. besgyrn (i mbesgyrn). Literally "round bread".

apharch

adjective. very dry, arid

cram

noun. cake of compressed flour or meal (often containing honey and milk)

lend

noun. journey

lenn-

noun. journey

apharch

very dry

(pl. epherch) (VT45:5, 36)

corn

round

corn (circular, globed), lenited gorn, pl. cyrn. The word is also used as a noun "circle".

corn

round

(circular, globed), lenited gorn, pl. cyrn. The word is also used as a noun "circle".

cram

cake

(of compressed flour or meal, often containing honey and milk, for use on long journeys) cram (i gram, o chram), pl. craim (i chraim), coll. pl. crammath

cram

cake

(i gram, o chram), pl. craim (i chraim), coll. pl. crammath

dolt

round knob

(i dholt) (boss), pl. dylt

lend

journey

lend (way), pl. lind, coll. pl. lennath. Note: a homophone means ”tuneful, sweet”.

lend

journey

(way), pl. lind, coll. pl. lennath. Note: a homophone means ”tuneful, sweet”.

lîdh

noun. journey

A neologism for “journey” coined by Elaran in a private Discord chat from 2019-08-07, based on ✱lēde < √LED “go, proceed”; see also N. ledh- “to go, fare, travel”. Noun forms with long vowels that correspond to basic verbs with short vowels are fairly common in Sindarin, for example: N. mîl n. “love” vs. S. mel- v. “to love”; N. glîr n. “song” vs. N. glir- “to sing”. A direct cognate of Q. lenda “journey” would be ᴺS. lend or lenn, but the form ᴺS. lend already exists as an adjective for “tuneful, sweet”.

parch

dry

parch (lenited barch; pl. perch);

parch

dry

(lenited barch; pl. perch);

massa

noun. bread

A word for “bread” appearing as massa (VT43/12) or massë (PE17/52) in Tolkien’s later writings, most notably as an element in Q. massánië “breadgiver” (PM/404). It was in competition with, and possibly replaced, the word masta “bread”. The distinction between the two was discussed in notes from 1960s (PE17/52):

> Assume a Primitive Eldarin derivation ✱mbassē “(baked) bread”. The other derivatives were ✱mbasta with short final, an infinitive or verbal noun formation denoting a single action of the stem .. and ✱mbazdā denoting the passive result of the action, and when used substantivally a single product of this: mbazda would thus mean baked or a baked thing ... In Quenya we have masse “bread” as a material, and masta “a cake or loaf” (zd > st).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I prefer to use massa as the typical word for “bread” rather than massë, to avoid conflict with other words like [ᴹQ.] masse “where”. I would also use masta as a more general word for baked goods, including bread but also other baked things like cakes and loafs.

massa

bread

#massa noun "bread" (massamma "our bread", VT43:18); massánië "breadgiver", used as a title of the highest woman among any Elvish people, since she had the keeping and gift of the coimas (lembas). Also simply translated "Lady" (PM:404)

massë

bread

massë noun "bread" (as a material), variant of massa, q.v. (PE17:52). Notice that *massë has also been extrapolated as a question-word "where?"

massë

noun. bread

masta

noun. bread

coimas

noun. life-bread, lembas

A Quenya term for “lembas” (Elven waybread) but of different etymological origins appearing in notes from the 1950s, a combination of √KOY “live” and a reduced form of massa or masta “bread” (PM/395, 403-4). As such, its stem form is likely to be either coimass- or coimast-; I prefer the first of these. Tolkien also had Q. lerembas in notes from the 1960s as a more direct cognate of S. lembas (PE17/51).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I’d stick to coimas, as the etymology of lerembas is rather muddled.

havar

noun. a loaf or cake of bread, a loaf or cake of [unleavened] bread

A word for a single loaf of háva “(unleavened) bread”, derived from primitive ✶khabar (NM/295). See the entry on háva for further discussion.

háva

noun. bread (collective), [unleavened] bread (collective)

A collective word for “bread” appearing in notes on the origin of Elvish waybread written in 1968 (NM/295). It was derived from primitive ✶khābā which Tolkien said “originally applied to most vegetable foods, but after the coming of corn was restricted to those made from grain”. Tolkien also specified that the result of its baking was “(unleavened) bread”.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would reserve this word for unleavened flat bread, and would use massa for baked bread with yeast and coimas as the Quenya term for the more specialized Elvish waybread more typically known as [S.] lembas.

hávanissi

collective name. Bread-women

A term for the women responsible for grinding flour and baking bread, a combination of háva “bread” and the plural of nissë “woman”, a notion tied to the mythical origin of lembas (NM/295). A similar term was Massánië “Breadgiver” (PM/404), but that was limited to noble elf women.

masta

noun. bread, cake, loaf, bread, cake, loaf, *baked good

This was the basic Quenya word for “bread” for much of Tolkien’s life, appearing as ᴱQ. masta “bread” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√M(B)ASA “cook, bake” (QL/59) and appearing again in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/141). It was ᴹQ. masta “bread” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√MBAS “knead” (Ety/MBAS) and the word appeared again in sentences from the Quenya Verbal System written in 1948 (PE22/119).

Starting with Quenya prayers in the 1950s Tolkien began to experiment with other forms, however. In the Átaremma “prayer” Tolkien revised mastamma “our bread” to massamma in the final version of the prayer (VT43/11-12), and in notes on lembas from the late 1950s he had massánië “Lady, breadgiver” as the title of the keeper of lembas (PM/404). This change seems to have been inspired by the Sindarin word lembas itself, and the problem of how to explain its final s rather than st. In notes probably from the mid-1960s (PE17/51-52) Tolkien wrote:

> lembas “waybread”. This seems meant to be associated with Primitive Eldarin stems ✱LED “go” and ✱MBAS “bake” but is not readily derived from them according to Sindarin developments. Something like ✱leðbast would be expected.

He resolved this quandary by separating the basic word for “bread” from masta:

> Assume a Primitive Eldarin derivation ✱mbassē “(baked) bread”. The other derivatives were ✱mbasta with short final, an infinitive or verbal noun formation denoting a single action of the stem .. and ✱mbazdā denoting the passive result of the action, and when used substantivally a single product of this: mbazda would thus mean baked or a baked thing ... In Quenya we have masse “bread” as a material, and masta “a cake or loaf” (zd > st).

Thus it seems that massa or massë was the word for “bread” (giving a clean explanation for the final s in lembas) while masta was a more general term for baked goods, including other items like cakes and loafs. Note, however, that Tolkien continued to use masta for “bread” in later sentences, including one in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969: vá matuvatyë mastanya “you are not to eat my bread” (PE22/162).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I prefer to use massa as the typical word for “bread” rather than massë, to avoid conflict with other words like [ᴹQ.] masse “where”. I reserve masta as a more general word for baked goods, including bread but also other baked things like cakes and loafs.

ámen anta síra ilaurëa massamma

give us this day our daily bread

The sixth line of Átaremma, Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Lord’s Prayer. The first word Ámen is a combination of the imperative particle á and the (dative) second person plural pronoun men “[to] us”, followed by the aorist verb form anta “give”. This is followed by síra “this day”, ilaurëa “daily” and massamma “our bread”, the last one being the first person plural exclusive possessive form of massa “bread”.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> Á-me-n anta síra ilaurëa massa-mma = “✱(imperative)-us-to give this-day daily bread-our”

Conceptual Development: The imperative element á, the verb anta “give” and the dative pronoun men “us” appear in all versions of the prayer, but are arranged differently. In versions I-IV of the prayer, there is an additional subject pronoun l(y)e “you (polite)” [God], either as a suffix -le of the verb anta (I) or the suffix -lye of the imperative element á (IIa-IV). In versions I-IV, the indirect object men “us” appears after the verb.

In earlier versions of the prayer, the Quenya word for “this day” varied from siarë >> hyárë >> hyázë (I-IIa), and then back hyázë >> hyárë >> siar(ë) (IIb-III). Another form siar appears in version IV, but this may be a slip for siare. The form of the adjective “daily” was ilyarëa (I, IIb-IV) or ilyázëa (II), while the word for “bread” was masta (I-IV). These earlier forms probably reflect Tolkien’s previous words for “day” and “bread”: ᴹQ. are and ᴹQ. masta (Ety/AR¹, MBAS), which later become Q. aurë and Q. massa.

| |  I  |IIa|IIb|III|IV|V|VI| |A|Alye|Ámen| |{anta >>}|antale|anta|anta| |{amen >>}|men| | |{siare >> hyáre >>}|hyáze|{hyáre >>} siare|siar|síra| |ilyarea|ilyázea|ilyarea|ilaurea| |mastamma|massamma|

Versions I-IIa of this line include the phoneme [z] (hyáze, ilyázea), which was not seen in Classical Quenya. It was, however, present in Ancient Quenya (LotR/1123) and Vanyarin (PE19/73). It is possible that Tolkien was attempting (at least initially) to write the prayer in a particularly archaic or “high” form of Quenya.

coimas

life-bread

coimas noun "life-bread" = Sindarin lembas(SA:cuivië, PM:395); coimas Eldaron "the coimas of the Eldar" (PM:395)

lerembas

noun. bread taken on leaving home (for a long journey)

vá matuvatyë mastanya

you are not to eat my bread, you shan’t eat my bread

liscornë

noun. any sweet fried bread, doughnut

A neologism for “doughnut” or any “sweet fried bread irrespective of shape” coined by Orondil posted on 2024-05-03 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a combination of lissë “sweet” and [ᴱQ.] cornë “loaf”. This word also could mean “cake”, but for that we have a different neologism lissimbas.

mastacornë

noun. [bread] loaf

masta

cake or loaf

masta noun "cake or loaf" (PE17:52), in an earlier source defined as "bread" (MBAS, PM:404; later sources have massa or massë for this meaning). Mastamma "our bread" in Tolkiens translatation of the Lords Prayer (VT43:18). In the Etymologies, Tolkien emended the gloss of masta from "dough" to "bread" (VT45:33).

lenda

noun. journey, journey, *travel, trip

A word for “journey” appearing in Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, derived from √LEN or √LED and related to the derivation of S. lembas “waybread” (PE17/60).

Neo-Quenya: The NQW suggested this word may mean also be used for “✱travel, trip”.

Conceptual Development: The Declension of Nouns of the early 1930s had ᴹQ. lesto “journey” (PE21/12).

lerembas

lembas

lerembas noun "lembas" (waybread of the Elves) (PE17:52); in a later source, the Quenya word for lembas is however given as coimas, q.v.

cornë

noun. loaf

corima

round

corima _("k")_adj. "round" (LT1:257; rather corna in Tolkien's later Quenya)

corna

round, globed

corna ("k")adj. "round, globed" (KOR)

cornë

loaf

cornë _("k")_noun "loaf" (LT1:257)

lenda

journey

lenda (1) noun "journey" (PE17:60)

mesta

journey

mesta noun ?"journey" (Arct)

parca

dry

parca (1) ("k")adj. "dry" (PÁRAK)

lendë

noun. journey

A neologism for “journey” created by Didier Willis in PPQ (PPQ) from the early 2000s based on the root √LED “go, proceed”. I would instead used the attested form lenda “journey”, published in 2007.

bast

noun. bread

bast

noun. bread

basgorn

noun. loaf, loaf, [G.] loaf of bread, [ᴱN.] round loaf, cake

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “loaf”, combination of N. bast “bread” and N. corn “round” (Ety/MBAS).

Conceptual Development: The word G. basgorn appeared in Gnomish Grammar and Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s with the glosses “loaf” (GG/8), “a loaf” (GL/22), and “loaf of bread” (GL/26) as a combination of G. bast “bread” and G. corn “loaf”; in the last of these appearances its form was basgo(r)n indicating the r was optional. The word appeared as ᴱN. basgorn {“loaf” >>} “round loaf, cake” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/138).

basgorn

noun. loaf (of bread)

lembas

noun. waybread

afarch

adjective. very dry, arid

corn

adjective. round, globed

cram

noun. cake of compressed flour or meal (often containing honey and milk)

cramb

noun. cake of compressed flour or meal (often containing honey and milk)

parch

adjective. dry

parch

adjective. dry

khabar

noun. a loaf or cake of bread

khābā

noun. unleavened bread (originally from any vegetable, later just bread from grains)

mbassē

noun. (baked) bread

le(n)dembassē Speculative

noun. bread taken on leaving home (for a long journey)

kor

root. round, round; [ᴱ√] be round, roll

This was the Elvish root for round things throughout Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as ᴱ√KORO “be round, roll” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, and had Early Qenya and Gnomish derivatives like ᴱQ. korima “round” and G. corm “ring, circle, disc” (GL/26). ᴹ√KOR “round” reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives in both Quenya and Noldorin (Ety/KOR). √KOR “round” was also mentioned in etymological notes probably written in the early 1960s (PE17/184). Its derivatives like Q. corma “ring” (LotR/953) and S. cerin “(circular) mound” (LotR/350; RC/309) appeared regularly in Tolkien’s later writings.