dan-

prefix. nan-

_ pref. _Q. nan-. >> damen, dangar

dan

Dan

dan

dan

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dan

preposition. back to, (back in return) against, down upon, back on, back again

A preposition translated as “back to, back (in return) against” in Tolkien’s notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/38). In drafts of these notes it was translated “down upon, back on” (PE17/38). In notes from 1959, Tolkien gave dan as a derivative of √NDAN(A) “back (again)”, itself an enlargement of √NDĀ̆ (PE17/166). Its most notable use is in the phrase naur dan i ngaurhoth (LotR/299), which probably means “✱fire [be] against the wolf-horde”.

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s the phrase was [N.] naur ad i gaurhoth (TI/187), with preposition ad perhaps related to [N.] ad- “back, again, re-” from The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/AT(AT)). In the Túrin Wrapper from the late 1940s or early 1950s, Tolkien had a similar word den in the phrase sí il chem en i Naugrim en ir Ellath thor {a >>} den ammen]], which perhaps meant “✱now all hands of the Dwarves and Elves will be against us” (VT50/5, 23), but this den could have meant something else instead. See VT50/24-25 for possible meanings suggested by Carl Hostetter. The deleted {a} in this phrase might be an incomplete ad.

Possible precursors from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s was G. abod “again; in return, in exchange, back”, originally two separate entries avod “again; in return, in exchange” and abod “back” (GL/17). G. abod was the adverbial equivalent of the prefix G. bod- “back, again” (GL/23). Early Noldorin word lists of the 1920s has ᴱN. {abod >>} avod “again, back again, in return” (PE13/136-137, 160).

dan

preposition. against

dan

preposition. etym. back

dan

back to

_ adv. _back to, back (in return) against, down upon, back on. naur dan i-ngaurhoth! #'fire back against the werewolves'.

dan

back

(prep.) dan (lenited nan) (again, against);

dan

back

(lenited nan) (again, against);

dan

again, against

(lenited nan) (back). As prep. maybe followed by soft mutation.

dan

again, against

dan (lenited nan) (back). As prep. maybe followed by soft mutation.

Deniedhel

probably 'Elf of Dan'

pl1. Deiniedhil {ð}_ n. _probably #'Elf of Dan'.

dân

proper name. *Green-elf

naur dan i ngaurhoth

*fire [be] against the wolf-horde

@@@ for gloss, compare to naur an edraith ammen “fire [be] for rescue/saving us” (PE17/38).

tân

noun. builder, smith, wright, artificer

An element in various words with senses like “builder, smith, wright, artificer”. N. tân was also an element in a number of words in The Etymologies of the 1930s, based on the root ᴹ√TAN “make, fashion” (Ety/KIR, TAN). In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien revised the primitive root to √TAM “construct”, but he said that “in Sindarin the base appeared mostly in form √TAN owing to contact with √PAN ‘arrange, set in order’ (PE17/108)”. It is not clear whether the element -tan can be used as independent word, but if it can then it would have the form tân.

ad

back

(as prefix) ad-, also meaning "second, again, re-", e.g. aderthad "reunion".

ad

back

also meaning "second, again, re-", e.g. aderthad "reunion".

ad

against

(prep.) 1) ad (probably followed by soft mutation), 2)

ad

against

(probably followed by soft mutation)

ceredir

maker

ceredir (i geredir, o cheredir) (doer), no distinct pl. form except with article (i cheredir)

ceredir

maker

(i geredir, o cheredir) (doer), no distinct pl. form except with article (i cheredir)

círdan

shipbuilder

(i gírdan, o chírdan) (shipwright), pl. círdain (i chírdain)  

thavron

builder

thavron (wright, carpenter), pl. thevryn, coll. pl. thavronnath.

thavron

builder

(wright, carpenter), pl. thevryn, coll. pl. thavronnath.

tân

maker

1) ?tân (i dân, o thân), only attested as -dan or -than as the final element of compounds, e.g. Círdan ”Ship-maker”). Construct tan, pl. tain (i thain), 2)

tân

maker

(i dân, o thân), only attested as -dan or -than as the final element of compounds, e.g. Círdan ”Ship-maker”). Construct tan, pl. tain (i thain)

nan-

prefix. back (again), back (again); [ᴹQ.] backwards

ahto

noun. maker

maker, wright

opto

noun. back

pontë

back, rear

pontë (ponti-) noun "back, rear" (QL:75)

anat

preposition. against

@@@ see gilruin.gitlab.io, also used by Damien Bador in gilruin.gitlab.io

catta

noun. back

A neologism for “back” coined by Paul Strack in 2022 specifically for Eldamo, based on Q. ca(ta) “behind, at back of place”. This word can refer to the back of body as well as the back of other things.

dat

root. fall down, fall to ground

The Quenya word for “fall” was Q. lanta- for all of Tolkien’s life, and in his later writings it was derived from the root √DAT, where the [[aq|initial [d] became [l]]] as it usually did in Quenya. But this was not the earliest root for “fall”, which was given as ᴱ√LANTAN in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/51), though the actual primitive form was probably ✱ᴱ√LṆTṆ. This early root is consistent with the Gnomish form G. lantha- “fall onto, settle on, alight” (GL/52). Indeed, this is the most reasonable root in this early period, since [[eq|initial [d] > [t]]] in Early Qenya rather than to [l] as it did later on.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s, however, Tolkien gave the root as ᴹ√DAT “fall down” (Ety/DAT), replacing a deleted root ᴹ√LANTA (Ety/TALÁT; EtyAC/LANTA). Tolkien coined a new Noldorin verb for “to fall”, as N. dant- with passive participle N. dannen “fallen”. The Noldorin verb form dant- was probably archaic or incomplete, and with the proper form most likely matching its later Sindarin form, S. danna- (PE17/62).

The root √DAT “fall” appeared pretty regularly in later notes (VT47/29; VT48/24, 30). In some notes associated with words in The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien gave a new derivation of Q. lanta- and S. danna- from a root DAN-TA (PE17/62), but I suspect this was just the nasal-infixed form of √DAT, as with the similar form ᴹ√DANT from the 1930s (Ety/DAT).

However, in notes from 1968, Tolkien gave √LAT as a variant of √DAT via ancient d/l interchange:

> d and l interchanged frequently in early Common Eldarin, as exemplified by Dat/Lat “fall (to the ground)” (VT47/29).

Detecting this variant in Quenya would be nearly impossible, but it is probably evident in the Sindarin word for “waterfall”: S. lanthir (S/235; PM/349), perhaps < ✱lat-sirē “fall-river”. This variant might be a partial restoration of the early root ᴱ√LṆTṆ, but there are no clear signs of it outside this 1968 note and the Sindarin word for “waterfall”.

(n)dan

root. back (again); retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, back (again), [ᴹ√] backwards; [√] retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, [ᴹ√] return

The most notable use of the root √(N)DAN “back(wards)” was in the name Q. Nandor for those Elves who joined in the march to Valinor but turned back during the journey (VT48/32); the same root was an element in the earlier name for the Nandor from the 1930s, the Danas (Ety/NDAN). The root first appeared as ᴹ√NDAN “back” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like the aforementioned Danas as well as the prefix ᴹQ. nan- “backwards” and the Doriathrin noun dôn “back” (Ety/NDAN). The Etymologies also mentioned an unstrengthened form of the root ᴹ√DAN (Ety/DAN).

The root √(N)DAN appeared several times in Tolkien’s later writings. It appeared among a list of roots having to do with “back” probably composed around 1959 (PE17/166). In this list, Tolkien clarified that in Quenya, √NDAN specifically meant “back” as an action by the same agent revising a previous action, as opposed to an action by a different agent, for which Tolkien coined the root {√TŌ/OTO >>} √KHAN; the example Tolkien gave was Q. nanwen-/S. dadwen- “return, go back [by same agent]” < √NDAN vs. {{Q. tóquet- >>} Q. hanquenta “answer [by a different agent]”. This distinction was lost in Sindarin, however, and √NDAN came to be used for both same and differing agents. Tolkien also said that √NDAN could be used “of return (in same path), retracing, and so employable as un- as in undo”.

The root was mentioned again in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, where Tolkien said:

> The name Nandor was a derivative of the element ✱dan, ✱ndan- indicating the reversal of an action, so as to undo or nullify its effect, as in “undo, go back (the same way), unsay, give back (the same gift: not another in return)”. The original word ✱ndandō, therefore, probably only implied “one who goes back on his word or decision”.

Finally, the root appeared in some notes from the late 1960s where √dan- was glossed “retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” serving as the basis for {✶danmi >>} ✶ndanmē > Q. nanwë/S. dannen “ebb-tide”, apparently originally meaning “retreat” (VT48/26 author’s note #2, VT48/32 editor’s note #18). In the same document Tolkien again mentioned the connection of this root to the name of the Nandor.

khan

root. back

tō/oto

root. back

The earliest appearance of this root was ᴹ√TOTO- “repeat” from Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 (PE23/109). The root appeared as √TŌ/OTO in a discussion of prefixes for “back” from around 1959, where Tolkien specified its meaning as “back as an answer, or return by another agent to an action affecting him, as in answering, replying, avenging, requiting, repaying, rewarding”; Tolkien also considered the forms √UTU/TŪ (PE17/166). In this 1959 note Tolkien crossed √TŌ/OTO through and seems to have replaced it with √KHAN. Tolkien mentioned the root √OT in a discussion of numbers from the late 1960s, but only to specify that “there was no primitive base OT-” (VT47/16).

ad-

prefix. back, again, re-

naur ad i gaurhoth

*fire [be] against the wolf-horde

tân

noun. builder, smith