Quenya 

qual-

verb. die

Quenya [PE 22:152] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

qual-

to die

qual- vb. "to die", pa.t. quallë (PE16:143)

qual-

verb. to die

A verb for “to die” in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 (PE22/152), clearly based on the root √KWAL having to do with pain and death (PE18/91, 103; Ety/KWAL). As such, I would use this verb for undesirable or painful death, as opposed to fir- “to die (a natural or peaceful death)”.

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. qal- meant “die” in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/134), and the root √KWAL had a long history of connection to death and pain in Tolkien’s writings.

Derivations

  • KWAL “die, pain, die, pain, [ᴹ√] die in pain”

Variations

  • kwal- ✧ PE22/152

sinta-

fade

sinta- (þ) (2) vb. "fade", pa.t. sintanë (THIN)

vinda-

fade

[vinda- vb. "fade"; pa.t. vindanë given (VT46:21). Compare vinta-.]

vinta-

fade

[vinta- (2) vb. "fade", pa.t. vintë, vintanë given. (WIN/WIND) Compare vinda-.]

effírië

death

#effírië noun "death" (isolated from effíriemmo "of our death"). A verbal stem *effir- "expire, die" seems to be implied. (VT43:34)

effírië

noun. death

fir-

die, fade

fir- vb. "die, fade" (cf. fifíru-); aorist (?) fírë "expire"; augmentless perfect fírië, translated "she has breathed forth"(but no explicit element meaning "she" seems to be present) (MR:250, 470, VT43:34)

urdu

death

urdu noun "death" (LT2:342; rather nuru in Tolkien's later Quenya)

urtu

noun. death

Cognates

Element in

  • Q. násië “now and at the hour of our death: Amen” ✧ VT43/34

av-

depart

#av- vb. "depart" (cited in the form avin "he departs", read "I depart" in LotR-style Quenya), pa.t. ambë (QL:33). The word may perhaps be used to translate "leave" with a direct object, since "depart" is at least vaguely transitive in English.

quel-

verb. to fade, to fade; [ᴹQ.] †to fail; [ᴱQ.] to perish

Cognates

  • S. pel- “to fade, wane”

Derivations

  • KWEL “fade, die away, grow faint, fade, die away, grow faint, [ᴹ√] fade away; wither, [ᴱ√] decay, perish, die”

Element in

  • Q. quelië “*fading” ✧ LotR/1110
  • Q. quellë “late autumn and early winter, (lit.) fading”

fir-

verb. to die, fade, †expire, breathe forth

A verb for “to die”, originally meaning “breathe forth, expire” (MR/250). Tolkien also translated it as “die, fade” in notes for the Markirya poem of the 1960s (MC/223). The use of this verb for death was connected to the passing of Míriel and was thus used only for a natural or peaceful death (MR/250); for discussion see the noun form fírië “death”. More unpleasant forms of death would instead use the verb Q. qual-. Based on the glosses from the Markirya poem, it seems this verb may also be applied metaphorically to non-living things that “fade (away)”, as in its more elaborate form fifíru- “to slowly fade away” (MC/222-223).

Cognates

  • S. fir- “to fade, *die”

Derivations

  • PHIR “exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes”

Element in

  • Q. fifíru- “to slowly fade away” ✧ MC/223
  • Q. fírië “death (of Men), *natural death”
  • Q. Fíriel “She that Died; She that Sighed” ✧ MR/250
  • Q. fírima “mortal, *(lit.) able to die”
  • Q. násië “now and at the hour of our death: Amen” ✧ VT43/34
Quenya [MC/223; MR/250; MR/470; VT43/34] Group: Eldamo. Published by

men-

go

#men- (4) vb. "go" (VT47:11, cf. VT42:30, VT49:23), attested in the aorist (menë) in the sentence imbi Menel Cemenyë menë Ráno tië "between Heaven and Earth goes the path of the Moon". In the verb nanwen- "return" (or go/come back), -men- is changed to -wen- following nan- "back" (etymological form cited as nan-men-, PE17:166). In examples from VT49:23, 24, Tolkien used men- in the sense of "go as far as": 1st person sg. aorist menin (menin coaryanna "I arrive at [or come/get to] his house"), endingless aorist menë, present tense ména- "is on point of arrival, is just coming to an end", past tense mennë "arrived, reached", in this tense usually with locative rather than allative (mennen sís "I arrive[d] here"), perfect eménië "has just arrived", future menuva "will arrive". All of these examples were first written with the verb as ten- rather than men-, Tolkien then emending the initial consonant.

nuru

death, death

nuru, Nuru noun "death, Death" _(ÑGUR). This represents earlier ñuru (VT46:4) _and should be spelt accordingly in Tengwar writing. When personalized, Nuru refers to Mandos. Cf. Nurufantur.

vanya-

go, depart, disappear

vanya- (2) vb. "go, depart, disappear", pa.t. vannë (WAN). The verb auta- may have replaced this word in Tolkien's later conception.

lelya-

go, proceed (in any direction), travel

lelya- (1) vb. "go, proceed (in any direction), travel", pa.t. lendë / elendë (WJ:363, VT14:5, PE17:139) At one point Tolkien assigned a more specific meaning to the underlying root LED: "go away from the speaker or the point in mind, depart" (PE17:52), which would make lelya- a near synonym of auta-. The same source denies that the derivatives of _LED _were used simply for "go, move, travel", but elsewhere Tolkien assigns precisely that meaning to lelya-.

lenna-

go

lenna- vb. "go", pa.t. lendë "went" (LED; cf. lelya-). In the Etymologies as printed in LR, the word lenna- wrongly appears as **linna-; see VT45:27.

mac-

verb. to hew with a sword, to hew (with a sword); [ᴱQ.] to slay; to die

Derivations

  • MAK “cut, hew with a sharp edge; kill, slay; forge metal, cut, hew with a sharp edge, [ᴹ√] cleave; sword, fight (with a sword); ️[√] forge metal; kill, slay” ✧ VT39/11

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
MAK > make[maki] > [make]✧ VT39/11

foa

breath, puff of breath

foa (1) noun "breath, puff of breath" (VT47:35, 36)

Sindarin 

Nûrnen

place name. Death

_ topon. _Death, dead water. >> guru

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:87] < _ngurū nenda_. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gurth

noun. death

Sindarin [S/432, UT/39, UT/54] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gurth

noun. death

The usual Sindarin word for “death”, derived from the root √ÑGUR of similar meaning (UT/39; Ety/ÑGUR).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/43), anchored by well established names like Gurthang or Gurtholf(in), the name of Túrin’s sword. Tolkien experimented with various alternate forms over the years, such as G. urthu (GG/14), G. gurthu (GL/43), ᴱN. gurdh (PE13/146) and N. guruth (Ety/ÑGUR), but kept coming back to gurth as the basic form.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would use this word for death in general and especially violent death, as opposed to the more euphemistic [N.] gwanath or gwanu “death”, more literally “departure”.

Cognates

Derivations

  • ÑGUR “death; to die”

Element in

Variations

  • Gurth ✧ UT/039
Sindarin [SA/gurth; UT/039] Group: Eldamo. Published by

guru

noun. death

_ n. _death. guru << gûru.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:87] < _ngur(u)_. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

guru

noun. death, death (abstract)

A Sindarin word for “death” derived from primitive ✶ñgurū (PE17/87), unusual in that its primitive ancient vowel u did not vanish. In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had variant forms [N.] gûr and gurw “death” marked with a “?”, both derived from Old Noldorin nguru and indicating some uncertainty on the exact phonetic developments (EtyAC/ÑGUR). Elsewhere in The Etymologies Tolkien said that [N.] guru was “Death as state or abstract”, as opposed to [N.] gwanw or gwanath for the “act of dying” (Ety/GWAN).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume guru was for death as an abstraction or principle, and for the death of individuals I would use either gurth or gwanu/gwanath; see those entries for discussion.

Changes

  • gûruguru ✧ PE17/087

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. nuru “death, death [abstract]”

Derivations

  • ñgurū “death” ✧ PE17/087
    • ÑGUR “death; to die”

Element in

  • S. guruthos “dread of death, death-horror, shadow of death, dread of death, death-horror, shadow of death, [N.] fear of death” ✧ PE17/087

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ngurū > guru[ŋgurū] > [ŋguru] > [guru] > [guru] > [guru]✧ PE17/087

Variations

  • gûru ✧ PE17/087 (gûru)
Sindarin [PE17/087] Group: Eldamo. Published by

fir-

verb. to fade, *die

A verb for “to fade” implied by the noun firith “fading”, a period of the year in late autumn (LotR/1107). It also appears to mean “die” given related words fíreb “mortal” (WJ/387) and firin or firen “mortal, dying” (PE17/101). Its ancient root √PHIR had nothing to do with death, so these meanings were probably borrowed from Quenya; see Q. fir- “to die” and Q. fírië “death” for discussion. As such, the Sindarin verb fir- probably applied only to the natural death of mortals, also used metaphorically when applied to inanimate things to mean “fade”. The pre-Quenya verb for “to die” seems to be [N.] gwanna- “to die, (lit.) depart”; see that entry for discussion.

Cognates

  • Q. fir- “to die, fade, †expire, breathe forth”

Derivations

  • PHIR “exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes”

Element in

  • S. fíreb “mortal”
  • S. firin “mortal, dying, dying, mortal; [N.] human”
  • S. firith “fading; [late] autumn” ✧ LotR/1107
Sindarin [LotR/1107] Group: Eldamo. Published by

men-

verb. to go

Derivations

  • MEN “go, move, proceed (in any direction); make for, go towards; have as object, (in)tend; direction, object, point moved toward; region”

Element in

  • S. dadwen- “to return, go back”
  • S. nidhin mened “I have a mind to go, I intend to go” ✧ PE22/165
Sindarin [PE17/093; PE22/165] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gwanu

noun. death (act of dying, not death as a state or abstract)

Sindarin [Ety/397, X/W] Group: SINDICT. Published by

fir

die

1) fir- (i fîr, i firir) (fade), 2) gwanna- (i **wanna, in gwannar**) (depart)

fir

die

(i fîr, i firir) (fade)

gwanna

die

(i ’wanna, in gwannar) (depart)

fir

fade

1) fir- (i fîr, i firir) (die), 2) pel- (i bêl, i phelir) (wither), 3) thinna- (grow toward evening)

fir

fade

(i fîr, i firir) (die)

pel

fade

(i bêl, i phelir) (wither)

thinna

fade

(grow toward evening)

gurth

death

(i ngurth = i ñurth, o n’gurth = o ñgurth), pl. gyrth (in gyrth = i ñgyrth)

guruth

death

(i nguruth = i ñuruth, o n’guruth = o ñguruth), pl. gyryth (in gyryth = i ñgyryth)

gwanath

death

1) (act of dying) gwanath (i **wanath), pl. gwenaith (in gwenaith), 2) (act of dying, especially the ”death” of Elves by fading or weariness) gwanu (i **wanu), analogical pl. gweny (in gweny). Archaic gwanw (LR:397 s.v. WAN), hence coll. pl. ?gwanwath. Other words (rather referring to Death as a state or abstract): 3) gûr (i ngûr = i ñûr, o n**gûr = o ñgûr, construct gur), pl. guir (in guir = i ñguir), 4) gurth (i ngurth = i ñurth, o n**gurth = o ñgurth), pl. gyrth (in gyrth = i ñgyrth), 5) guruth (i nguruth = i ñuruth, o n**guruth = o ñguruth), pl. gyryth (in gyryth** = i ñgyryth)

gwanath

death

(i ’wanath), pl. gwenaith (in gwenaith)

gwanu

death

(i ’wanu), analogical pl. gweny (in gweny). Archaic gwanw (LR:397 s.v. WAN), hence coll. pl. ?gwanwath. Other words (rather referring to Death as a state or abstract):

gûr

death

(i ngûr = i ñûr, o n’gûr = o ñgûr, construct gur), pl. guir (in guir = i ñguir)

gwanna

depart

gwanna- (i **wanna, in gwannar**) (die)

gwanna

depart

(i ’wanna, in gwannar) (die)

bad

go

#bad- (i vâd, i medir), pa.t. bant. Isolated from trevad- ”traverse”.

bad

go

(i vâd, i medir), pa.t. bant. Isolated from trevad- ”traverse”.

nuir

noun. yesterday

Elements

WordGloss
nui“before (of time); [G.] afterwards, again, later”
Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

hwest

breath

(i chwest, o chwest) (puff, breeze), pl. hwist (i chwist)

thûl

breath

1) thûl (pl. thuil), 2) hwest (i chwest, o chwest) (puff, breeze), pl. hwist (i chwist)

thûl

breath

(pl. thuil)

orvedui

noun. yesterday

Elements

WordGloss
aur“(whole) day, (whole) day, sunlight, [N.] morning”
medui“end, final, last”
Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

Adûnaic

agan

noun. death

A noun for “death” attested both as an independent word (SD/426) and in the compound agannâlô “death-shadow” (SD/247).

Element in

Variations

  • Agan ✧ SD/247
Adûnaic [SD/247; SD/312; SD/426] Group: Eldamo. Published by

agân

masculine name. Death

The masculine personification of agan “death” (SD/426). This could be the Adûnaic name for Mandos.

Variations

  • Agān ✧ SD/426

yad-

verb. to go

A verb appearing in the Lament of Akallabêth in the form ayadda “(it) went” (SD/247, VT24/12). Its initial element is the 3rd persons neuter plural suffix a- “it”. This leaves the basic verb form yadda, which is the past tense according to the theories used here.

Conceptual Development: It appeared in the form yadda in the first draft version of the Lament, and this form was also briefly considered as a replacement for unakkha “he-came” in the first sentence of the Lament (SD/312).

Element in

Adûnaic [SD/247; SD/312; VT24/12] Group: Eldamo. Published by

pûh

noun. breath

A noun translated “breath” and fully declined as an example of a Weak I noun (SD/431).

Variations

  • pūh ✧ SD/426; SD/431
Adûnaic [SD/426; SD/431; SD/432] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Primitive elvish

kwal

root. die, pain, die, pain, [ᴹ√] die in pain

This root was connected to death and pain through Tolkien’s life. Its first appearance was as ᴱ√QALA “die” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with derivatives like ᴱQ. qalin “dead, dying” and ᴱQ. qalme “death” (QL/76). The latter appeared as ᴱQ. qalme “agony” in word lists from the 1920s (PE16/144). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root as ᴹ√KWAL “die (in pain)”, again with ᴹQ. qalin “dead” and ᴹQ. qalme “agony, death” among other derivatives (Ety/KWAL).

The root appeared in both versions of the Tengwesta Qenderinwa from the 1930s (TQ1) and circa 1950 (TQ2) with the glosses “die” (TQ1: PE18/42, 58, 65; TQ2: PE18/103) and “pain” (TQ2: PE18/91). In TQ2 Tolkien connected it to similar roots √GWAL “suffer torment” and √KWEL “fade, die away, grow faint” (PE18/103). Somewhat interestingly, Tolkien gave almost no Sindarin or Noldorin derivatives of this root, indicating it probably fell out of use, most likely crowded out by derivatives of √PAL.

Derivatives

  • Q. qual- “to die”
  • ᴺQ. qualta- “to kill, murder”
  • Q. unqualë “death agony, death agony, torment, [ᴹQ.] agony, death” ✧ PE18/092; PE19/078
  • Os. amphala “death agony” ✧ PE18/092
    • ᴺS. ammal “(death) agony”

Variations

  • kwal- ✧ PE18/091
Primitive elvish [PE18/091; PE18/092; PE18/103; PE19/078] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ñgurū

noun. death

Derivations

  • ÑGUR “death; to die”

Derivatives

  • S. guru “death, death (abstract)” ✧ PE17/087

Element in

  • S. Núrnen “Sad Water, Dead Water” ✧ PE17/087

Variations

  • ngurū ✧ PE17/087
Primitive elvish [PE17/087] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kwel

root. fade, die away, grow faint, fade, die away, grow faint, [ᴹ√] fade away; wither, [ᴱ√] decay, perish, die

In Tolkien’s later writings this root primarily meant “fade”, but its earliest precursor ᴱ√QELE from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s was glossed “perish, die, decay, fade”, with derivatives like ᴱQ. qele- of the same meaning, ᴱQ. qelet “corpse”, and ᴱQ. qelme “ruin, utter end, perdition, end, death” (GL/76). Derivatives from the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon had a similar semantic scope, such as G. cwel- “fade, wither”, G. cweleg “corpse”, and G. cweloth “fading”, most notably as an element in G. lasgweloth “leaf-fading, autumn” (GL/28); the connection between this root and words for “autumn” survived in Tolkien’s later conception of the languages.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s, the meaning of the root ᴹ√KWEL seems to have softened somewhat to “fade (away), wither” with more of a sense of waning rather than outright death, though ᴹQ. qelet “corpse” remained among its derivatives (Ety/KEL, KWEL). In the 1930s it still was related to words for “autumn”, notably N. lhasbelin (Ety/LAS¹) “leaf-fall, autumn” and ᴹQ. Narqelion “Fire-fading, Autumn” (Ety/NAR¹). The latter seems to have been modified to Q. Narquelië (and S. Narbeleth) as the Elvish word for October, literally “Sun-fading”, in the Lord of the Ring appendixes (LotR/1107). The root was also the basis for Q. quellë “autumn” (LotR/1111), though its Sindarin equivalent (firith) was based on a different root.

Starting in the 1930s Tolkien indicated this root had an etymological relationship with √KEL “flow (down)”; see that entry for details.

Derivatives

  • Q. quel- “to fade, to fade; [ᴹQ.] †to fail; [ᴱQ.] to perish”
  • ᴺQ. quelehtë “carcass”
  • ᴺQ. queletya- “to perish”
  • ᴺQ. quelmë “ruin, utter end, perdition, end, death”
  • S. pel- “to fade, wane”

Variations

  • KWEL ✧ PE18/103
Primitive elvish [PE18/103] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Noldorin 

guruth

noun. death

Noldorin [Ety/377] Group: SINDICT. Published by

guruth

noun. death

Derivations

  • On. ngurtu “death” ✧ Ety/ÑGUR
    • ᴹ√ÑGUR “*death” ✧ Ety/ÑGUR

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
On. ngurtu > guruth[ŋgurtu] > [ŋgurtʰu] > [ŋgurθu] > [gurθu] > [gurθu] > [gurθu] > [guruθ]✧ Ety/ÑGUR

Variations

  • Gurth ✧ RS/186
Noldorin [Ety/ÑGUR; RS/186] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gûr

noun. death

Noldorin [Ety/377] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwinna-

verb. to fade

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. vinda- “to fade” ✧ Ety/WIN

Derivations

  • On. winda- “to fade, to have evening approach” ✧ Ety/WIN; EtyAC/WIN
    • ᴹ✶wínda- “fade” ✧ Ety/WIN; EtyAC/WIN
    • ᴹ√WIN(I)D “pale blue” ✧ Ety/WIN; EtyAC/WIN

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
On. wintha > gwinna[winθa-] > [gwinθa-] > [gwinna-]✧ Ety/WIN
On. winda > gwinna[winda-] > [gwinda-] > [gwinna-]✧ EtyAC/WIN

Variations

  • gwinna ✧ Ety/WIN (gwinna); EtyAC/WIN (gwinna)
Noldorin [Ety/WIN; EtyAC/WIN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gwanna-

verb. to depart, die

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

gwanna-

verb. to depart, die, to die, depart

A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s appearing in its (Noldorin) infinitive form gwanno with the gloss “depart, die” and derived from primitive ᴹ✶wanta- under the root ᴹ√WAN “depart” (Ety/WAN). Its use for “to die” could be euphemistic or could refer to the departure of Elvish spirits to Valinor.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin I was use this as the normal verb for “to die” among Elves, and limit S. fir- to the death of mortals.

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶wanta- “to depart, die” ✧ Ety/WAN
    • ᴹ√WAN “depart, go away, disappear, vanish” ✧ Ety/WAN

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶wanta- > gwanno[wanta-] > [wantʰa-] > [wanθa-] > [gwanθa-] > [gwanna-]✧ Ety/WAN

ledh-

verb. to go, to go, *travel, journey

@@@ extended meanings suggested by Fiona Jallings

Derivations

  • On. led- “to fare”
    • ᴹ√LED “go, fare, travel” ✧ Ety/LED; EtyAC/LED

Element in

  • N. neledh- “*to go in, enter” ✧ TAI/150

thûl

noun. breath

Noldorin [Ety/393] Group: SINDICT. Published by

thûl

noun. breath

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “breath” derived from the root ᴹ√THŪ “puff, blow” (Ety/THŪ). As written in The Etymologies, the actual form was thūl (EtyAC/THŪ).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, Tolkien gave G. fest “breath, breathing” (GL/35), likely derived from the early root ᴱ√ǶEHE “breathe” (QL/41) with ƕ becoming f.

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. súle “breath; spirit” ✧ Ety/THŪ

Derivations

  • ᴹ√THŪ “puff, blow” ✧ Ety/THŪ

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√THŪ > thūl[tʰūle] > [θūle] > [θūl]✧ Ety/THŪ

Variations

  • thūl ✧ Ety/THŪ
Noldorin [Ety/THŪ; EtyAC/THŪ] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thinna-

verb. to fade, to grow towards evening

The punctuation in The Etymologies is considered incorrect (the full dot after this word should conceivably be a comma)

Noldorin [Ety/392] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwanath

noun. death (act of dying, not death as a state or abstract)

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

gwanw

noun. death (act of dying, not death as a state or abstract)

Noldorin [Ety/397, X/W] Group: SINDICT. Published by

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 

nuru

noun. death, death [abstract]

A word for “death” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√ÑGUR, where Tolkien said its personification was Mandos (Ety/ÑGUR). Tolkien also use this word as “death” in the phrase ᴹQ. núruhuine méne lumna “death-shadow on-us is-heavy” (LR/47, 56; SD/310).

Conceptual Development: A possible precursor to this word is ᴱQ. urdu “death” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√GWṚÐṚ “die” (QL/104), given as a cognate to G. gurthu in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/43). A variant of this form seems to have been briefly restored in Quenya prayers from the 1950s as incomplete urtulm..., probably Q. urtu with a possessive suffix, but this was quickly replaced by Q. fírië “death” (VT43/27, 34).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use the word nuru for death as an abstract force or concept (Death), as opposed to the death of individuals which would be fírie (if natural or peaceful) or [ᴹQ.] qualme (if undesired or painful). This is the way its cognate [N.] guru was used (Ety/WAN).

Cognates

  • On. nguru “death” ✧ Ety/ÑGUR
  • N. guru “death (abstract)” ✧ Ety/ÑGUR
  • S. guru “death, death (abstract)”

Derivations

  • ᴹ√ÑGUR “*death” ✧ Ety/ÑGUR

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√ÑGUR > ñuru[ŋguru] > [ŋuru] > [nuru]✧ Ety/ÑGUR

Variations

  • ñuru ✧ Ety/ÑGUR
  • nūru ✧ SD/310
Qenya [Ety/ÑGUR; EtyAC/ÑGUR; LR/047; LR/056; SD/310] Group: Eldamo. Published by

vinda-

verb. to fade

Changes

  • vinta-vinda- “fade” ✧ EtyAC/WIN

Cognates

  • On. winda- “to fade, to have evening approach” ✧ Ety/WIN
  • N. gwinna- “to fade” ✧ Ety/WIN

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶wínda- “fade” ✧ Ety/WIN; EtyAC/WIN
    • ᴹ√WIN(I)D “pale blue” ✧ Ety/WIN; EtyAC/WIN

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶wínta- > vinta-[winta-] > [vinta-]✧ Ety/WIN
ᴹ✶wínda- > vinda-[winda-] > [vinda-]✧ EtyAC/WIN

Variations

  • vinta- ✧ Ety/WIN (vinta-)
Qenya [Ety/WIN; EtyAC/WIN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Old Noldorin 

ngurtu

noun. death

Derivations

  • ᴹ√ÑGUR “*death” ✧ Ety/ÑGUR

Derivatives

  • N. guruth “death” ✧ Ety/ÑGUR

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√ÑGUR > ngurtu[ŋgurtū] > [ŋgurtu]✧ Ety/ÑGUR
Old Noldorin [Ety/ÑGUR] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nguru

noun. death

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. nuru “death, death [abstract]” ✧ Ety/ÑGUR

Derivations

  • ᴹ√ÑGUR “*death” ✧ Ety/ÑGUR

Derivatives

  • N. guru “death (abstract)” ✧ Ety/ÑGUR

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√ÑGUR > nguru[ŋgurū] > [ŋguru]✧ Ety/ÑGUR
Old Noldorin [Ety/ÑGUR] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thintha-

verb. to fade

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. sinta- “to fade, *(lit.) become grey” ✧ Ety/THIN

Derivations

  • ᴹ√THIN “*grey” ✧ Ety/THIN

Derivatives

  • N. thinna- “to fade, *(lit.) become grey” ✧ Ety/THIN

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√THIN > thintha[tʰinta] > [tʰintʰa] > [tʰinθa] > [θinθa]✧ Ety/THIN

Variations

  • thintha ✧ Ety/THIN
Old Noldorin [Ety/THIN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

wínda-

verb. fade

Changes

  • wínta-wínda- “fade” ✧ EtyAC/WIN

Derivations

  • ᴹ√WIN(I)D “pale blue” ✧ Ety/WIN; EtyAC/WIN

Derivatives

  • ᴹQ. vinda- “to fade” ✧ Ety/WIN; EtyAC/WIN
  • On. winda- “to fade, to have evening approach” ✧ Ety/WIN; EtyAC/WIN
    • N. gwinna- “to fade” ✧ Ety/WIN; EtyAC/WIN

Variations

  • wínta- ✧ Ety/WIN (wínta-)
  • winta- ✧ EtyAC/WIN (winta-)
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/WIN; EtyAC/WIN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wanwē

noun. death

Derivations

  • ᴹ√WAN “depart, go away, disappear, vanish” ✧ Ety/WAN

Derivatives

  • N. gwanw “death (act of dying)” ✧ Ety/WAN
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/WAN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wanta-

verb. to depart, die

Derivations

  • ᴹ√WAN “depart, go away, disappear, vanish” ✧ Ety/WAN

Derivatives

  • N. gwanna- “to depart, die, to die, depart” ✧ Ety/WAN
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/WAN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

gor-

verb. to die

Derivations

Element in

Variations

  • gor- ✧ GL/41; GL/43
Gnomish [GL/41; GL/43] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gurth(u)

noun. death

Cognates

  • Eq. urdu “death” ✧ GL/43; LT2A/Gurtholfin

Derivations

Element in

  • G. Gurtholfin “Wand of Death” ✧ GL/43; GL/43 (Gortholfin); LT2A/Gurtholfin

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ✶gu̯rþū́ > gurthu[gʷṛθū] > [gʷurθū] > [gurθū] > [gurθu]✧ GL/43
ᴱ✶ngwṛþ- > gurth[ŋgʷṛθ] > [gʷṛθ] > [gʷurθ] > [gurθ]✧ GL/43

Variations

  • urthu ✧ GG/14
  • gurthu ✧ GL/41; GL/43; GL/44; LT2A/Gurtholfin
  • gorth ✧ GL/43 (gorth)
  • gurth ✧ GL/43
Gnomish [GG/13; GG/14; GL/41; GL/43; GL/44; LT2A/Gurtholfin] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gîr

noun. yesterday

Derivations

  • ᴱ√DYĒ “behind, back (before of time)”

Element in

  • G. gîrin “bygone, old, belonging to former days, olden, former, ancient” ✧ GL/38

lith-

verb. to go, depart, be over, finish, end, die

Derivations

  • ᴱ√LIÞI “*flow of time”

Element in

  • G. lithin “bygone, ended” ✧ GL/54

Variations

  • lith ✧ GL/54

Early Noldorin

gurdh-

verb. to die

A verb for “die” in Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s with present form gwardh indicating vowel gradation (PE13/132), so that it was likely based on the early root ᴱ√GWṚÐṚ (QL/104) with a/u variations due to the different developments of long syllabic vs short .

Conceptual Development: The verb G. gor-“die” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s related to gurthu “death” (GL/41, 43), thus also based on the early root ᴱ√GWṚÐṚ (QL/104).

Neo-Sindarin: S. gurth “death” survived in Tolkien’s later writings, so in theory the Gnomish verb gor- could be salvaged as a derivative of the later root √ÑGUR “die”. However, gor- already serves various functions in Sindarin, so I’d stick with the later verbs fir- and [N.] gwanna- for “to die”.

Derivations

Early Noldorin [PE13/132] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gurdh

noun. death

Changes

  • gurthgurdh “death” ✧ PE13/146

Derivations

Element in

  • En. Gurthrond “Valley of the Dead Awaiting” ✧ LB/028

Variations

  • gurth ✧ LB/028; PE13/146
Early Noldorin [LB/028; PE13/146] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Primitive Elvish

gwṛðṛ

root. die

Derivatives

Variations

  • GWṚÐR ✧ QL/104
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/104] Group: Eldamo. Published by

qala

root. die

Derivatives

  • Eq. qalin “dead, dying” ✧ LT1A/Qalmë-Tári; QL/076
  • Eq. qalna “dead” ✧ QL/076
  • Eq. qalme “death, agony” ✧ LT1A/Qalmë-Tári; QL/076
  • Eq. qalume “death” ✧ QL/076
  • Eq. qal- “to die”
  • Eq. qalma “deadly” ✧ QL/076

Element in

  • Eq. Qalvanda “Road of Death” ✧ LT1A/Qalmë-Tári
Early Primitive Elvish [LT1A/Qalmë-Tári; QL/076] Group: Eldamo. Published by

qele

root. perish, die, decay, fade

Derivatives

  • Eq. qelet “corpse” ✧ QL/076
  • Eq. qele- “to perish; to fade” ✧ QL/076
  • Eq. qeletya- “to perish” ✧ QL/076
  • Eq. qelme “ruin, utter end, perdition, end, death” ✧ QL/076
  • G. cwel- “to fade, wither”
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/076] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ƕehe

root. breath; die, expire

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “breath; die, expire” and with the derivative ᴱQ. “last hour, death” (QL/41). It also has some derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. fest “breath, breathing” and G. festa- “breath[e]” (GL/35). There are no obvious signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing, though the connection between “last breath” and “death” does reappear in the root √PHIR (WJ/387).

Derivatives

  • Eq. “last hour, last breath, (act of) death” ✧ QL/041
  • G. feth “one breath”
  • G. fest “breath, breathing”

Variations

  • FEHE ✧ QL/100 (FEHE)
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/041; QL/100] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

die

noun. yesterday

Derivations

  • ᴱ✶dyeye ✧ QL/105
    • ᴱ√DYĒ “behind, back (before of time)” ✧ QL/105

Element in

  • Eq. dienda “day before yesterday, (lit.) yesterday’s yesterday” ✧ QL/105
  • Eq. diéra “yesterday’s; (mostly in sense) bygone, over, passed” ✧ QL/105

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ✶dyeye > die[dʲejē] > [dʲeje] > [dʲeie] > [dʲie] > [die]✧ QL/105
Early Quenya [QL/105] Group: Eldamo. Published by

qal-

verb. to die

Derivations

  • ᴱ√QALA “die”
Early Quenya [PE16/134; PE16/143] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tie-

verb. to go

Derivations

  • ᴱ√TEHE “‽pull”

Variations

  • tie ✧ PE16/133 (tie)
Early Quenya [PE16/133] Group: Eldamo. Published by

qalume

noun. death

Derivations

  • ᴱ√QALA “die” ✧ QL/076

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√QALA > qalume[kʷalumē] > [kʷalume]✧ QL/076

Variations

  • qalume ✧ QL/076 (qalume)
Early Quenya [QL/076] Group: Eldamo. Published by

urdu

noun. death

Cognates

  • G. gurth(u) “death” ✧ GL/43; LT2A/Gurtholfin

Derivations

Element in

  • Eq. Urdolwen “Wand of Death” ✧ GL/43

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ✶gu̯rþū́ > urdu[gʷṛθū] > [gʷṛθu] > [wṛθu] > [urθu] > [urðu] > [urdu]✧ GL/43
ᴱ√GWṚÐR > urdu[gʷṛðū] > [gʷṛðu] > [wṛðu] > [urðu] > [urdu]✧ QL/104
Early Quenya [GL/43; LT2A/Gurtholfin; QL/104] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hista-

verb. to fade

Derivations

  • ᴱ√HISI “*mist, dimness”

Element in

Early Quenya [MC/213] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ava-

verb. to depart

Derivations

  • ᴱ√AVA “go away, depart, leave” ✧ QL/033
  • ᴱ√VAHA “*depart, travel” ✧ QL/099

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√AVA > avin[aβ-] > [av-]✧ QL/033
ᴱ√AVA > ambe[amβe-] > [ambe-]✧ QL/033
ᴱ√VAHA > [βax] > [vax] > [vaɣ] > [vā]✧ QL/099
Early Quenya [LT1A/Qalvanda; QL/033; QL/099] Group: Eldamo. Published by

maka-

verb. to slay; to die

Cognates

  • G. mactha- “to slay, kill” ✧ LT1A/Makar

Derivations

  • ᴱ√MAKA “slay” ✧ LT1A/Makar; QL/057

Element in

  • Eq. maktya- “to kill” ✧ PE14/058
  • Eq. mána “dead” ✧ PE14/058

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√MAKA > mak-[mak-]✧ QL/057

Variations

  • mak- ✧ LT1A/Makar; QL/057
  • maka ✧ PE14/058
Early Quenya [LT1A/Makar; PE14/058; QL/057] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ere-

verb. to go

Derivations

  • ᴱ√EÐE “out”

Variations

  • ere ✧ PE16/133 (ere)
Early Quenya [PE16/133] Group: Eldamo. Published by

yenye(n)

noun. yesterday

Derivations

  • ᴱ✶dyen(d)ye(n) ✧ QL/105
    • ᴱ√DYĒ “behind, back (before of time)” ✧ QL/105

Element in

  • Eq. yendiéra “day before yesterday, (lit.) yesterday’s yesterday” ✧ QL/105

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ✶dyen(d)ye(n) > ’yenye(n)[dʲendʲen] > [dʲenjen] > [jenjen]✧ QL/105

Variations

  • ’yenye(n) ✧ QL/105
Early Quenya [QL/105] Group: Eldamo. Published by