seems to cause mixed mutation: dandol- and dambeth-
Sindarin
den
preposition. ?against
dan
back to
dan
preposition. back to, (back in return) against, down upon, back on, back again
Cognates
- Q. nan- “back (again), back (again); [ᴹQ.] backwards” ✧ PE17/166; PE17/166
Derivations
- ✶ndan- “back-” ✧ PE17/166
- √(N)DAN “back (again); retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, back (again), [ᴹ√] backwards; [√] retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” ✧ PE17/166
- √(N)DAN “back (again); retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, back (again), [ᴹ√] backwards; [√] retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” ✧ PE17/166
Element in
- ᴺS. dadhra- “to face, oppose, stand in way; to resist, thwart”
- ᴺS. dadhren “opposing, facing, opposite”
- ᴺS. dadhren- “to forget”
- ᴺS. dambed- “to answer”
- S. dadwen- “to return, go back” ✧ PE17/166; PE17/166
- ᴺS. dananna- “to give back, return [something]”
- S. dandol- “to return, come back” ✧ PE17/166
- S. Danedhel “*Nando”
- S. dangar- “to undo” ✧ PE17/166
- S. dangweth “answer, *(lit.) back-report” ✧ PM/395
- S.
danbeth“*answer, (lit.) back-word”- S. dannen “ebb, lowtide”
- S. Danwaith
- S. danwedh “ransom”
- S. naur dan i ngaurhoth “*fire against the wolf-horde” ✧ LotR/0299; PE17/038
- S. sí il chem en i Naugrim en ir Ellath thor den ammen “*now all (?hands) of the Dwarves and Elves will be (?against) to us” ✧ VT50/23
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶nana-/ndan- > dan- [ndan-] > [dan-] ✧ PE17/166 √NDĀ̆ > dan/dad- [ndan-] > [dan-] ✧ PE17/166 Variations
- den ✧ VT50/23
pen
pronoun. one, somebody, anybody
Usually enclitic and mutated as ben.2
ten
pronoun. *it, passive voice marker
Element in
- S. caro den i innas lin “thy will be done” ✧ VT44/25
ed
pronoun. *it
Element in
- S. i glinn hen agorer Edain mi Velerian, ach hí in Ellath îr ed epholar “*this song Men made in Beleriand, but now the Elves alone (?remember) it” ✧ VT50/15; VT50/15; VT50/15
Variations
- ed ✧ VT50/15
min
fraction. one (first of a series)
min
cardinal. one, one, [G.] single
Cognates
- Q. min “one, one, [ᴱQ.] one (in a series), the first” ✧ PE17/095; VT48/06
Element in
Variations
- min ✧ PE17/095; VT48/06
- mîn ✧ VT42/25
fela
noun. mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling; minor excavations, den, mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling; minor excavations, den; [N.] cave
A word for “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling” in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957, but also explained in notes from 1969 as “minor excavations made by wild animals as dens or lairs” (NM/304). It was derived from primitive ✶phelgā (NM/304; PE17/118; Ety/PHÉLEG), and the final a in this word is the result of ancient ʒ (from g) become a when word-final after another consonant.
Abnormal Plural: This word has an abnormal plural form fili (NM/304; Ety/PHÉLEG): see the section on “Final a from ancient g” in the discussion of unusual plurals for more details.
Conceptual Development: This word was tied to the name of Felagund since its introduction in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where N. fela “cave” was derived from ON. phelga under the root ᴹ√PHELEG of the same meaning, already with the abnormal plural fili noted above (Ety/PHÉLEG). In Notes on Names (NN) from 1957, Tolkien again had S. fela from ✶phelgā, but there the gloss was “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwel[ling]” (PE17/118). In this note Tolkien considered instead S. feleg “cave, mine, underground dwelling” as the basis for the name Felagund, derived instead from √PHELEK (PE17/118).
In a note from 1959, Tolkien gave a completely different etymology of Felagund as a loan word from Khuzdul Felakgundu “Cave Hewer” (PM/352), and this was the etymology Christopher Tolkien gave in The Silmarillion index (SI/Felagund). In a note from 1969, however, Tolkien said instead that Felagund was a nickname meaning “den-dweller” (also used for badgers), and its initial element fela was again derived from ✶phelga or philga (NM/304), with a meaning as follows:
> It was used of minor excavations made by wild animals as dens or lairs, and also as temporary dwellings by wandering folk, Dwarvish or Elvish; it was usually distinguished from the larger caves of geological formation used and extended by stone-workers. It was thus naturally used of the “setts” of badgers (which seem to have existed in great numbers in parts of Beleriand).
In this 1969 note Tolkien again mentioned its abnormal plural fili < ✶phelgai.
Neo-Sindarin: Of the various meanings for this name, I prefer its 1957 sense “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling”; its 1969 use for “den” (and felagund = “badger”) conflicts with the etymology of Felagund’s published in The Silmarillion. For “cave” I would use groth as in Menegroth “Thousand Caves” or feleg as a loan word from Khuzdul, and for “den” I would use torech as in Torech Ungol “Shelob’s Lair”.
Cognates
- Q. felya “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwel[ling], mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling; [ᴹQ.] cave” ✧ PE17/118
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶phelga > fela [pʰelga] > [ɸelga] > [ɸelɣa] > [felɣa] > [felɣ] > [fela] ✧ NM/304 ✶phelgai > felʒi > fili [pʰelgai] > [pʰelgī] > [pʰelgi] > [ɸelgi] > [ɸelɣi] > [felɣi] > [filɣi] > [filī] > [fili] ✧ NM/304 ✶phelgā > fela [pʰelgā] > [pʰelga] > [ɸelga] > [ɸelɣa] > [felɣa] > [felɣ] > [fela] ✧ PE17/118
mîn
fraction. one (first of a series)
pen
cardinal. one
(indefinite pronoun) (= somebody, anybody) pen (WJ:376); lenited ben. According to one interpretation of the phrase caro den i innas lín from the Sindarin Lords Prayer (VT44:23), this could mean *”let one do your will”, with den (perhaps a lenited form of *ten) as the indefinite pronoun ”one”. However, others interpret den as the accusative form of the pronoun ”it”: ”Do it [, that is:] your will”.
pen
one
(WJ:376); lenited ben. According to one interpretation of the phrase caro den i innas lín from the Sindarin Lord’s Prayer (VT44:23), this could mean ✱”let one do your will”, with den (perhaps a lenited form of ✱ten) as the indefinite pronoun ”one”. However, others interpret den as the accusative form of the pronoun ”it”: ”Do it [, that is:] your will”.
eru
the one
isolated from
min
cardinal. one
1) (number ”one” as the first in a series) min, mîn (VT48:6), Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the adjective ”isolated, first, towering”. 2) (number) êr, whence the adjectival prefix er- (alone, lone); 3)
min
one
mîn (VT48:6), Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the adjective ”isolated, first, towering”.
êr
one
whence the adjectival prefix er- (alone, lone)
dath
hole
1) dath (i dhath) (pit, steep fall, abyss), pl. daith (i naith) (VT45:8), 2) gass (i **ass, construct gas) (gap), pl. gais (i ngais** = i ñais), 3)
dath
hole
(i dhath) (pit, steep fall, abyss), pl. daith (i naith) (VT45:8)
gass
hole
(i ’ass, construct gas) (gap), pl. gais (i ngais = i ñais)
tess
fine pierced hole
(i dess, construct tes), pl. tiss (i thiss). Archaic ters *(VT46:18)*****
torech
hole
torech (i dorech, o thorech) (lair, excavation), pl. terich (i therich) for archaic törich.
torech
hole
(i dorech, o thorech) (lair, excavation), pl. terich (i therich) for archaic törich.
_ adv. _back to, back (in return) against, down upon, back on. naur dan i-ngaurhoth! #'fire back against the werewolves'.