Noldorin 

dae

noun. shadow (cast by an object or form), shade

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “shadow” derived from the root ᴹ√DAY of the same meaning (Ety/DAY). The original penciled version had {daer >>} dae, while the inked version had daew “shadow (cast by an object or form)” and Dae “shade” (EtyAC/DAY). It was most notably an element in the name N. Dor-Daedeloth “Land of the Shadow of Dread” (LR/120, 405). Christopher Tolkien had S. dae “shadow” in The Silmarillion appendix (SA/dae), but I suspect that was copied from The Etymologies. In later writings, Tolkien seems to have changed the initial element of Daedeloth to a variant of S. daer “great”, and its meaning from “Shadow of Dread” to “Great Dread” (WJ/183).

Noldorin [Ety/DAY; EtyAC/DAY; PE22/034] Group: Eldamo. Published by

dae

adverb. very

Noldorin [EtyAC/DAƷ] Group: Eldamo. Published by

dae

noun. shadow

Noldorin [Ety/354, S/430] Group: SINDICT. Published by

daew

noun. shadow

beleg

adjective. great, mighty

Noldorin [Ety/352, S/428] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gaer

adjective. dreadful

Noldorin [Ety/358] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gaer

adjective. dreadful

Noldorin [Ety/GÁYAS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gorgor

adjective. dreadful

gwath

noun. shade, shadow, dim light

Noldorin [Ety/397, S/432] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwath

noun. stain

Noldorin [Ety/397, S/432] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwath

noun. shade

Noldorin [Ety/DYEL; Ety/WATH] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lhum

noun. shade

Noldorin [Ety/370, X/LH] Group: SINDICT. Published by

lhum

noun. shade

A word appearing as N. lhum “shade” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, derived from the root ᴹ√LUM, most notably an element in the name N. Hithlum (Ety/LUM). It was the cognate of ᴹQ. lumbe, and thus derived from primitive ✱lumbē, which explains why the final m survived as a reduction of mb.

Conceptual Development: The earliest iteration of this word was G. lôm {“pool, sl...” >>} “gloom, shade” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, based on primitive ᴱ✶lou̯me (GL/54) and probably derived from the early root ᴱ√LOMO as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Hisilómë). In this early document, G. lum or glum was “a cloud” (GL/55), likely a derivative of ᴱ√LUVU for “✱dark weather” as also suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Luvier). In Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s Tolkien had ᴱN. {lom >>} lhom “shadow” (PE13/149). This became N. lhum “shade” in The Etymologies, as noted above.

Neo-Sindarin: In later writings, Hithlum was designated North Sindarin and its final element was based on a loan from Q. lómë “dusk”, with the m surviving only because it was from the North dialect (PE17/133; WJ/400). However, the root √LUM “shadow, darkness” also survived in later writings (PE17/168), so I think N. lhum “shade” can be salvaged, though if adapted to Neo-Sindarin it would need to become ᴺS. lum as suggested in HSD (HSD). Given the later use of Q. lumbo for “(dark) cloud”, I think the Gnomish sense G. lum “[dark] cloud” can be salvaged as well.

Sindarin 

dae

noun. shadow, shadow (cast by an object or form), [N.] shade

dae

noun. shadow

Sindarin [Ety/354, S/430] Group: SINDICT. Published by

dae-

prefix. dae-

pref. >> daebeth

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:151] < DAY, NDAY dreadful, abominable, detestable. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

daer

adjective. dreadful, abominable, detestable

Sindarin [PE17/151] Group: Eldamo. Published by

dae-

prefix. dreadful, abominable, detestable

Sindarin [PE17/151] Group: Eldamo. Published by

daer

adjective. dreadful

_ adj. _dreadful, horrible, ghastly.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:151] < DAY, NDAY dreadful, abominable, detestable. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

daer

adjective. great

Sindarin [UT/450, WJ/187, WJ/335, VT/42:11] Group: SINDICT. Published by

dae

very

dae (exceedingly). Lenited dhae.

dae

exceedingly

dae (very). Lenited dhae.

dae

great

(lenited nae, no distinct pl. form). Isolated from daedhelos "great fear". Note: Homophones mean "shadow, shade" and also "very, exceedingly".

dae

shadow

(i dhae) (shade), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nae).

dae

adverb. very

dae

very

(exceedingly). Lenited dhae.

dae

shade

(i dhae) (shadow), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nae)

dae

exceedingly

(very). Lenited dhae.

daer

great

daer (large), lenited dhaer, no distinct pl. form. Note: a homophone means "bridegroom", but has a different lenited form.

daew

shadow

(i dhaew), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndaew) (VT45:8).

daer

great

(large), lenited dhaer, no distinct pl. form. Note: a homophone means "bridegroom", but has a different lenited form.

#dae

great

#dae (lenited nae, no distinct pl. form). Isolated from daedhelos "great fear". Note: Homophones mean "shadow, shade" and also "very, exceedingly".

gwâth

shade

(noun) 1) gwâth (i **wâth; construct gwath) (shadow, dim light), pl. gwaith (in gwaith) (UT:261), 2) dae (i dhae) (shadow), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nae), 3) lûm (pl. luim**).

morchant

shadow

  1. morchant (i vorchant), pl. morchaint (i morchaint). The literal meaning is ”dark shape”, referring to shadows with a recognizable form. 2) dae (i dhae) (shade), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nae). 3) daew (i dhaew), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndaew) (VT45:8). 4) gwâth (i **wâth; construct gwath) (shade, dim light), pl. gwaith (in gwaith) (UT:261) 5) muil (i vuil) (twilight, dreariness, vagueness), no distinct pl. except with article (i muil**),

beleg

adjective. great, mighty

Sindarin [Ety/352, S/428] Group: SINDICT. Published by

goeol

adjective. dreadful, terrifying

Sindarin [PM/363] Group: SINDICT. Published by

guruthos

noun. the shadow of death, death-horror

Sindarin [di-nguruthos LotR/IV:X, RGEO/72, Letters/278] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwath

noun. shade, shadow, dim light

Sindarin [Ety/397, S/432] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwath

noun. stain

Sindarin [Ety/397, S/432] Group: SINDICT. Published by

lum

noun. shade

Sindarin [Ety/370, X/LH] Group: SINDICT. Published by

morchant

noun. shadow (of objects, cast by light), dark shape

Sindarin [S/432, VT/42:9] morn+cant "dark shape". Group: SINDICT. Published by

naer

adjective. dreadful

_ adj. _dreadful, horrible, unendurable. Q. naira.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:151] < NAY cause bitter pain or grief. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

an-

very

(as adverbial prefix) an-, as in:

an-

very

as in:

beleg

great

beleg (mighty), lenited veleg, pl. belig

beleg

great

(mighty), lenited veleg, pl. belig

dúath

dark shadow

(i dhúath) (nightshade), pl. dúaith (i núaith). Compare the Ephel Dúath or ”Mountains of Shadow” forming th outer fence of Mordor, perhaps suggesting that Dúath is also the word used of Sauron as ”the Shadow”.

fuin

nightshade

(gloom, darkness, night, dead of night); no distinct pl. form.

gaer

dreadful

  1. gaer (awful, fearful; holy); lenited aear; no distinct pl. form. Note: homophones mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "sea". 2) naer (lamentable, woeful, sad); no distinct pl. form.

gaer

dreadful

(awful, fearful; holy); lenited ’aear; no distinct pl. form. Note: homophones mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "sea".

gwâth

shadow

(i ’wâth; construct gwath) (shade, dim light), pl. gwaith (in gwaith) (UT:261)

gwâth

shade

(i ’wâth; construct gwath) (shadow, dim light), pl. gwaith (in gwaith) (UT:261)

lûm

shade

(pl. luim).

morchant

shadow

(i vorchant), pl. morchaint (i morchaint). The literal meaning is ”dark shape”, referring to shadows with a recognizable form.

muil

shadow

(i vuil) (twilight, dreariness, vagueness), no distinct pl. except with article (i muil)

naer

dreadful

(lamentable, woeful, sad); no distinct pl. form.

Primitive elvish

nday

root. dreadful, abominable, detestable

Primitive elvish [PE17/151; PE17/167] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wath

noun. shadow

Primitive elvish [PE17/041] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Adûnaic

nâlu

noun. shadow

A noun attested only in the compound agannâlô “death-shadow [is]” (SD/247, VT24/12). The first element of the compound, agan “death”, as identified elsewhere (SD/426), so the remaining element must mean “shadow”. The compound is the subject of the sentence agannâlô burôda nênud “death-shadow [is] heavy on us” and is therefore in the subjective case. According the grammatical rules of Lowdham’s Report, the only possibly normal form producing this subjective is nâlu: compare nîlu “moon” to its subjective form nîlô (SD/431).

Conceptual Development: In early writings, the compound was (non-subjective) agannūlo, so that the apparent draft form of this noun was nūlo. A similar form nūlu appears on SD/306, described only as “a word with the evil sense of ‘night’ or ‘dark’”. It could be a separate word or another variation of this word, with the development nūlo >> nūlu >> nālu. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/21) that the earlier forms may be related to ᴹQ. nulla “dark, dusky, obscure”.

Adûnaic [SD/247; SD/306; SD/312] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ugru

noun. shadow

A noun translated “shadow” (SD/247), also described as “a word with the evil sense of ‘night’ or ‘dark’” (SD/306). It appears in the preprositional phrase ugru-dalad “under shadow” (SD/247) and in the draft-dative form ugrus “‽horror‽shadow” (SD/311).

Adûnaic [SD/247; SD/306; SD/311] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Quenya 

Naira

dreadful, horrible, unendurable

naira (3) adj. "dreadful, horrible, unendurable" (PE17:151)

an-

very

an- (2) intensive or superlative prefix carrying the idea of "very" or "most", seen in ancalima "most bright" (cf. calima "bright"), antara "very high, very lofty" and #anyára "very old" or "oldest" (the latter form occurring in the so-called Elaine inscription [VT49:40], there with the dative ending -n). Assimilated to am- before p-, as in amparca ("k") "very dry", and to al-, ar-, as- before words in l-, r-, s- (though Tolkien seems to indicate that before words in l- derived from earlier d, the original quality of the consonant would be preserved so that forms in and- rather than all- would result). See also un-. (Letters:279, VT45:5, 36) Regarding the form of the superlative prefix before certain consonants, another, partially discrepant system was also set down in the Etymologies and first published in VT45:36. The prefix was to appear as um- or un- before labialized consonants like p-, qu-, v- (the consonant v preserving its ancient pronunciation b- following the prefix, thus producing a word in umb-), as in- (technically -) before c- and g- (the latter presumably referring to words that originally had initial g-, later lost in Quenya but evidently preserved following this prefix), and as an- otherwise. However, this system would contradict the canonical example ancalima, which would have been *incalima if Tolkien had maintained this idea. In a post-LotR source, the basic form of the prefix is given as am- instead (see am- #2). In this late conception, the prefix still appears as an- before most consonants, but as ama- before r, l, and the form an- is used even before s- (whether original or from þ), not the assimilated variant as- described above. General principles would suggest that the form am- should also appear before y- (so the form #anyára probably presupposes an- rather than am- as the basic form of the prefix, Tolkien revisiting the earlier concept in the _Elaine inscription). (PE17:92)_

ita

very, extremely

ita, íta adv. 2) "very, extremely" (PE17:112). Like #1 above, this element emerged as part of Tolkiens efforts to explain the initial element of the name Idril (Q Itaril), so it is questionable if #1 and #2 were ever meant to coexist in the "same" version of Quenya.

lai

very

[lai adverbial particle "very" (VT45:8)]

laimë

shade

laimë noun "shade" (DAY; in an earlier version the gloss was "shadow (cast by an object or form)"; see VT45:8-9. Perhaps Tolkien transferred this meaning to lëo when giving laimë the more general meaning "shade".)

lëo

shade, shadow cast by any object

lëo noun "shade, shadow cast by any object" (DAY)

lómin

shade, shadow

lómin noun "shade, shadow" (LT1:255)

mordo

shadow, obscurity, stain

mordo (1) noun "shadow, obscurity, stain" (MOR)

velicë

great

velicë ("k") adj. "great" _(LT1:254; probably not valid in Tolkien's later Quenya; in the context of the Etymologies it would have to be derived from _BEL, but it is stated that this stem was "not found in Q". Perhaps Tolkien rejected velicë because it was too similar to the Russian word that clearly inspired it.)

lai

adverb. very

Nandorin 

scella

noun. shade, screen

Probably noun. Primitive form given as skalnâ, derived from the stem SKAL1 "screen, hide (from light)" (LR:386). Since -nâ is an adjectival ending, often taking on the meaning of a kind of past participle, skalnâ must mean "screened, hidden (from light)"; this has become a noun "shade, screen" in Nandorin.

The word scella, sciella alone tells us that ln is assimilated to ll in Nandorin, and as in dunna, spenna a primitive final , usually lost, seems to persist as -a following a double consonant. The shift of a to e in skalnâ > scella is parallelled by the similar shift in spannâ > spenna, q.v. However, such a shift does not occur in what might seem to be similar environments (before a double consonant?); cf. hrassa, not hressa, from khrassê. It would seem that e might further break up into ie, scella having the alternative form sciella.

Nandorin [H. Fauskanger (LR:386)] < SKAL. Published by

sciella

noun. shade, screen

Nandorin [H. Fauskanger] < SKAL. Published by

Khuzdûl

gabil Reconstructed

adjective. great


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!

Qenya 

laime

noun. shadow (cast by an object or form), shade

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s variously glossed “shade”, “shadow (cast by an object or form)”, and “shadow cast by a thing” under different iterations of the root ᴹ√DAY “shadow” (Ety/DAY; EtyAC/DAY). This root was primarily used for N. dae “shadow” in N. Dor-Daedeloth “Land of the Shadow of Dread”; in later writings the Dae- element in that name seems to have become dae(r) “great” (WJ/183), so I suspect ᴹ√DAY “shadow” and its derivatives were abandoned.

Qenya [Ety/DAY; EtyAC/DAY] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lai

adverb. very

-on

suffix. great

Middle Primitive Elvish

day

root. shadow

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/DAY; Ety/DYEL; Ety/TEL; EtyAC/DAY] Group: Eldamo. Published by

daʒ

root. great

Middle Primitive Elvish [EtyAC/DAƷ] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ala-

prefix. very

Middle Primitive Elvish [PE21/41] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gaisrā

adjective. dreadful

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/GÁYAS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wath

root. shade

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/THUR; Ety/WAƷ; Ety/WATH; EtyAC/MBAT(H)] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

odra

adverb. very

Early Noldorin

agos

adverb. very

Early Noldorin [PE13/124] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lhom

noun. shadow

Early Noldorin [PE13/149] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

varkima

adjective. dreadful

Early Quenya [QL/102] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Doriathrin

gwath

noun. shade

A noun glossed “shade” (shadow) derived from the root ᴹ√WATH (Ety/WATH). It is a clear example of how [[ilk|initial [w] became [gw]]] in Ilkorin, and it appears in several names: Thuringwethil “(Woman of) Secret Shadow” and Urthin Gwethion (unglossed but presumably “✱Mountains of Shadow”).

Doriathrin [Ety/WATH; EtyAC/WATH] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Old Noldorin 

gērrha

adjective. dreadful

Old Noldorin [Ety/GÁYAS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

watha

noun. shade

Old Noldorin [Ety/WATH] Group: Eldamo. Published by