histë

dusk

histë noun "dusk" (LT1:255)

hísë

dusk

hísë (2) noun "dusk" (LT1:255). A "Qenya" form possibly obsoleted by #1 above.

usque

noun. dusk

dusk

lómë

dusk, twilight

lómë noun "dusk, twilight", also "night"; according to SD:415, the stem is lómi- (contrast the "Qenya" genitive lómen rather than **lómin in VT45:28). According to PE17:152, lómë refers to night "when viewed favourably, as a rule, but it became the general rule" (cf. SD:414-415 regarding lōmi as an Adûnaic loan-word based on lómë, meaning "fair night, a night of stars" with "no connotations of gloom or fear"). In the battle-cry auta i lómë "the night is passing" (Silm. ch. 20), the "night" would however seem to refer metaphorically to the reign of Morgoth. As for the gloss, cf. Lómion masc. name "Child of Twilight [dusk]", the Quenya name Aredhel secretly gave to Maeglin _(SA). Otherwise lómë is usually defined as "night" (Letters:308, LR:41, SD:302 cf.414-15, SA:dú)_; the _Etymologies defines lómë as "Night [as phenomenon], night-time, shades of night, Dark" (DO3/DŌ, LUM, DOMO, VT45:28), or "night-light" (VT45:28, reading of _lómë uncertain). In early "Qenya" the gloss was "dusk, gloom, darkness" (LT1:255). Cf. lómelindëpl. lómelindi "nightingale" _(SA:dú, LR:41; SD:302, MR:172, DO3/DŌ, LIN2, TIN). _Derived adjective #lómëa "gloomy" in Lómëanor "Gloomyland"; see Taurelilómëa-tumbalemorna...

usque

noun. dusk, twilight

usquë

reek

usquë ("q")noun "reek" (USUK). In the pre-classical Tengwar system presupposed in the Etymologies, usquë was also the name of tengwa #16, which at this conceptual stage had the value squ (VT46:20). Later, Tolkien would call this letter unquë, with the value nqu.

usquë

noun. dusk, dim light, [ᴹQ.] reek, *smoke; [Q.] dusk, dim light, [ᴹQ.] twilight; [ᴱQ.] fog

An Elvish noun Tolkien used for much of his life but with shifting meanings: 1910s “fog” >> 1930s “reek” (= smoke) >> 1940s-1950s “dusk”. This word first appeared as ᴱQ. usqe “fog” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√ṢQṢ (QL/98), also mentioned in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon as a cognate of G. usc “fog, mist” (GL/75). In The Etymologies of the 1930s it was ᴹQ. usqe “reek”, cognate of N. osp “smoke”, both derived from primitive ᴹ✶us(u)k-wē under the root ᴹ√USUK (Ety/USUK).

However, in both the first and second versions of the Tengwesta Qenderinwa from the 1930s (TQ1: PE18/50) and 1950s (TQ2: PE18/100) usque had the same basic derivation but was glossed “dusk”. The word usqe “dusk, twilight” appeared in documents on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1940s (PE22/51) and in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from the early 1950s uskwe was given as the Q. derivative of √USUK “dusk, evening”. In the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s usque was glossed “dim light, especially of early dawn” (PE19/84).

Neo-Quenya: Although it is fairly clear Tolkien changed the meaning of this word from “reek” to “dusk”, many Neo-Quenya writers continue to use usque with its meaning from The Etymologies of the 1930s, since we have plenty of other “dusk” words but few words for “smoke”. The 1930s sense “reek” is a noun, and hence probably tied to Old English sense of the word, which was “smoke” before it had the later sense “stench”, so I’d use usque primarily as “✱smoke” and only secondarily as “reek” = “stench”.

Derivations

• ✶us(u)kwē “dusk” ✧ PE18/100; PE21/71
  • √USUK “dusk, evening, *reek, smoke; dusk, evening” ✧ PE18/100; PE21/71

Element in

• ᴺQ. nisquë “incense, *(lit.) sweet smoke”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶uskwē > usque	[uskwē] > [uskwe]	✧ PE18/100
✶usukwē > uskwe	[usukwē] > [uskwē] > [uskwe]	✧ PE21/71

Variations

• usque ✧ PE18/100; PE19/084
• uskwe ✧ PE21/71

Fui

night

Fui noun "Night" (PHUY) - variant Hui, which form is probably to be preferred in light of Tolkien's later insight that the related word fuinë (see below) is actually Telerin, the proper Quenya form being huinë.

Hui

night

Hui noun "Night" (PHUY), in earlier "Qenya" defined as "evening" _(MC:214) or"fog, dark, murk, night" (LT1:253)._

hísë

noun. mist, mist, [ᴹQ.] fog, [ᴱQ.] haze; dusk; bleared

A word for “mist” appearing as an element in several names. It is not directly attested in Tolkien’s later writings, but ᴹQ. híse “mist, fog” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶khīthi, indicating a stem form of hísi- [†híþi-] (Ety/KHIS). Its continued appearance in words like Q. Hísilómë “Land of Mist” (S/118) and Q. hísilanya “mist thread” (PE17/60) indicates its ongoing validity.

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. hīse appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√HISI alongside a variant ᴱQ. histe, but there it was glossed “dusk” (QL/40). In drafts of the Oilima Markirya written circa 1930 it was glossed “haze” (PE16/62) or “mist” (PE16/75; MC/221), but in the final 1931 iteration of the poem it appeared only in the very-loosely translated phrase ᴱQ. úri nienaite híse “a bleared sun”, perhaps literally “✱sun [with a] tearful mist” (MC/214). In the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s it was “mist” (PE21/32) and in The Etymologies of the late 1930s “mist, fog” as noted above, so Tolkien seems to have stuck with the meaning “mist” thereafter.

Cognates

• S. hîth “mist”

Derivations

• √KHITH “mist, mist, [ᴹ√] fog”

Element in

• ᴺQ. hísëa “misty”
• Q. hísië “mist, mistiness”
• Q. hísilanya “mist thread, grey elvish rope” ✧ PE17/060
• Q. Hísilómë “Land of Mist, (lit.) Mist-and-Dusk”
• Q. Hísimë “November, *Misty-one”

hísë

mist, fog

hísë (þ) (stem #hísi- because of the primitive form ¤khīthi, cf. hísilanya, Hísilómë) (1) noun "mist, fog" (KHIS/KHITH). According to VT45:22, hísë is also the name of Tengwa #11 in the pre-classical Tengwar system presupposed in the Etymologies, but Tolkien would later call #11 harma/aha instead.

hísië

mist, mistiness

hísië (þ) noun "mist, mistiness" (Nam, SA:hîth, PE17:73), also hísë.

lómë

noun. night, dimness, twilight, dusk, darkness, night, dimness, twilight, dusk, darkness, [ᴹQ.] night-time, shades of night, gloom; [ᴱQ.] shadow, cloud

Cognates

• S. dû “night, dimness; dim, dark, night, dimness; [N.] night-fall, late evening; [S.] dim, dark” ✧ PE17/152; SA/dú; SA/lómë

Derivations

• ✶dōmē “night, twilight” ✧ PE17/152; SA/dú
  • √DOM “dark, dark, [ᴹ√] faint, dim” ✧ PE17/152
• √DOM “dark, dark, [ᴹ√] faint, dim” ✧ PE22/153

Element in

• Q. Aldalómë “Tree-twilight” ✧ RC/385
• Q. auta i lómë “The night is passing!” ✧ S/190; WJ/166
• Q. Hísilómë “Land of Mist, (lit.) Mist-and-Dusk”
• ᴺQ. illómëa “nightly”
• Q. lómëa “shadowed, gloomy, shadowed, gloomy, *dusk-like” ✧ PE17/081
• Q. Lómëanor “Gloomyland” ✧ Let/308
• Q. lómelindë “nightingale, (lit.) dusk-singer” ✧ SA/dú; SA/lómë
• Q. Lómion “Son of Twilight” ✧ SA/lómë
• ᴺQ. lómivehtë “night life”
• ᴺQ. silomë “tonight”
• Q. Taurelilómëa “Forestmanyshadowed” ✧ Let/308
• Q. Tauremornalómë “*Forest (of) Black Night”
• Q. tindómë “(starry) twilight, (usually) time near dawn, (starry) twilight, time near dawn, [ᴹQ.] starlit dusk”
• Q. undómë “twilight, time near evening”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶dōmē > lómë	[dōmē] > [lōmē] > [lōme]	✧ PE17/152
√DOM > lóme	[dōmē] > [lōmē] > [lōme]	✧ PE22/153
✶dōmē > lómë	[dōmē] > [lōmē] > [lōme]	✧ SA/dú

Variations

• lóme ✧ Let/308; PE17/081; PE17/120; PE22/153 (lóme)
• lômí ✧ PE17/087 (lômí)
• Lómë ✧ RC/385

ló

night, a night

ló (1) noun "night, a night" (DO3/DŌ, VT45:28)

mori

night

mori noun "night" (LT1:261, in Tolkien's later Quenya mórë, morë)

olo

night

?olo (reading uncertain), possibly a synonym of ló #1, hence noun "night" (VT45:28)

moth

noun. dusk

Element in

• ᴺS. mothren “dusk, dusky”
• S. Nan Elmoth “*Valley of Starry Dusk” ✧ SA/moth
• S. Gilammoth

dû

night

_ n. _night (when viewed favourably). Q. lóme.

fuin

noun. night, dead of night, gloom, darkness

hîth

noun. mist

The Sindarin word for “mist”, an element in many names, derived from the root √KHITH of the same meaning (SA/hîth; PE17/73).

Conceptual Development: N. hîth “mist” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, already with the derivation given above (Ety/KHIS), though when Tolkien first defined the word, he first wrote (and then deleted) the gloss “fog” (EtyAC/KHIS). In The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road, Christopher Tolkien wrote hith (LR/364), but Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne confirmed that the actual form was hîth in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies (VT45/22).

Cognates

• Q. hísië “mist, mistiness” ✧ SA/hîth
• Q. hísë “mist, mist, [ᴹQ.] fog, [ᴱQ.] haze; dusk; bleared”

Derivations

• √KHITH “mist, mist, [ᴹ√] fog”

Element in

• S. Hithaeglir “Misty Mountains, (lit.) Line of Misty Peaks” ✧ SA/hîth
• S. hithlain “mist thread, grey elvish rope”
• north S. Hithlum “Land of Mist” ✧ SA/hîth
• S. hithren “grey”
• S. hithui “misty”
• S. Nen Hithoel “Mist-cool Water” ✧ RC/328; SA/hîth

Variations

• Hith ✧ RC/328

tinnu

noun. *twilight, [N.] (starry) twilight, dusk, early night (without moon)

Cognates

• Q. tindómë “(starry) twilight, (usually) time near dawn, (starry) twilight, time near dawn, [ᴹQ.] starlit dusk”

Element in

• S. Tinúviel “Nightingale, (lit.) Daughter of Twilight” ✧ PE19/073

Elements

Word	Gloss
TIN	“sparkle, spark, sparkle, spark, [ᴱ√] twinkle, [ᴹ√] emit slender (silver pale) beams”
dû	“night, dimness; dim, dark, night, dimness; [N.] night-fall, late evening; [S.] dim, dark”

Variations

• Tinnú ✧ PE19/073 (Tinnú)

hîth

noun. mist, fog

hithlain

noun. mist-thread (a substance used by the Elves of Lothlórien to make strong ropes)

morn

night

(i vorn) (darkness), pl. myrn (i myrn). Note: the word is also used as an adjective ”dark, black” (Letters:386).

dû

dusk

(i dhû) (night, nightfall, late evening, darkness), pl. dui (i nui) (SD:302).

moth

dusk

1) moth (i voth), pl. myth (i myth). David Salo would read *môth with a long vowel. 2) dû (i dhû) (night, nightfall, late evening, darkness), pl. dui (i nui) (SD:302).

moth

dusk

(i voth), pl. myth (i myth). David Salo would read ✱môth with a long vowel.

tinnu

dusk

tinnu (i dinnu, o thinnu) (twilight, starlit evening, early night without a moon, starry twilight), pl. tinny (i thynny) if there is a pl.

tinnu

dusk

(i dinnu, o thinnu) (twilight, starlit evening, early night without a moon, starry twilight), pl. tinny (i thynny) if there is a pl.

mothren

adjective. dusk, dusky

Elements

Word	Gloss
moth	“dusk”

dû

night

1) dû (i dhû) (nightfall, dusk, late evening, darkness), pl. dui (i nui) (SD:302), 2) morn (i vorn) (darkness), pl. myrn (i myrn). Note: the word is also used as an adjective ”dark, black” (Letters:386).

dû

night

(i dhû) (nightfall, dusk, late evening, darkness), pl. dui (i nui) (SD:302)

dúath

nightshade

(i dhúath) (dark shadow), pl. dúaith (i núaith).

daw

nighttime

(i dhaw) (gloom), pl. doe (i noe), coll. pl. ?dawath or ?doath.

osp

reek

(noun) osp (smoke), pl. ysp: _

osp

reek

(smoke), pl. ysp

fuin

night, nightshade, dead of night

(gloom, darkness). No distinct pl. form.

hîth

mist

hîth (i chîth) (fog), no distinct pl. form, not even with article (i chîth).

hîth

mist

(i chîth) (fog), no distinct pl. form, not even with article (i chîth).

tinnu

early night without a moon

(i dinnu, o thinnu) (dusk, twilight), pl. tinny (i thynny) if there is a pl.

gwâth

dim light

gwâth (i **wâth; construct gwath) (shadow, shade), pl. gwaith (in gwaith**) (UT:261);

gwâth

dim light

gwâth (i **wâth; construct gwath) (shadow, shade), pl. gwaith (in gwaith**) (UT:261).

mith

wet mist

(i vith) (white fog), no distinct pl. form except with article (i mith). David Salo would read mîth with a long vowel. Note: a homophone is the adjective ”pale grey”. ✱

hithlain

mist-thread

name of a fiber made in Lórien.

us(u)kwē

noun. dusk

Derivations

• √USUK “dusk, evening, *reek, smoke; dusk, evening” ✧ PE18/100; PE21/71

Derivatives

• Q. usquë “dusk, dim light, [ᴹQ.] reek, *smoke; [Q.] dusk, dim light, [ᴹQ.] twilight; [ᴱQ.] fog” ✧ PE18/100; PE21/71

Variations

• uskwē ✧ PE18/100
• usukwē ✧ PE21/71

usuk

root. dusk, evening, *reek, smoke; dusk, evening

This root has a long history in Tolkien’s Elvish languages, but its meaning shifted over time. The earliest iteration of this root was unglossed ᴱ√ṢQṢ in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (marked by Tolkien with a “?”) with derivatives like ᴱQ. usqe “fog” and G. usc “fog, mist” (QL/98; GL/75). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had unglossed ᴹ√USUK with derivatives like ᴹQ. usqe “reek” and N. osp “smoke” (Ety/USUK). In both the first and second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa from the 1930s (TQ1) and around 1950 (TQ2) Tolkien had √USUK > Q. usquë “dusk” (PE18/50, 100). In Common Eldarin: Noun Structure Tolkien had primitive ✶usuk “dusk, evening”, again with derivative Q. usquë (PE21/71). For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would stick with the 1930s sense “✱smoke, reek” for this root, as Elvish languages already have plenty of roots for “dusk”.

Derivatives

• ✶us(u)kwē “dusk” ✧ PE18/100; PE21/71
  • Q. usquë “dusk, dim light, [ᴹQ.] reek, *smoke; [Q.] dusk, dim light, [ᴹQ.] twilight; [ᴱQ.] fog” ✧ PE18/100; PE21/71
• ᴺQ. ussa “incense”
• ᴺQ. uruhta- “to (cause to) smoke; to belch smoke”
• ᴺQ. ustya- “to smoke (intr.)”
• ᴺS. esgia- “to smoke (intr.)”
• ᴺS. uitha- “to smoke (trans.)”
• At. uso “dusk” ✧ PE21/71

Element in

• ᴺQ. hisquë “smog”

Variations

• usuk ✧ PE21/71

khith

root. mist, mist, [ᴹ√] fog

This root and its variants were the basis for “mist” words for much of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as ᴱ√HISI with derivatives like ᴱQ. híse “dusk” and ᴱQ. hiswa “dim, fading” (QL/40), and as an element in ᴱQ. Hisilóme which was glossed “Shadowy Twilights” in the earliest Lost Tales (LT1/112). Thus the early root might have meant “✱dusk, dimness, shadow”. The root was probably also an element in the Gnomish equivalent Hithlum from this period (GL/20), perhaps the result of the sound change whereby [[g|[s] became [θ] before [l]]] in Gnomish.

The sense “haze” and “mist” for ᴱQ. híse first appeared in drafts of the Oilima Markirya poem (PE16/62, 75). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave this root as ᴹ√KHITH with variant ᴹ√KHIS and the gloss “mist, fog”; ᴹ√KHIS was listed first but all the actual derivatives were from ᴹ√KHITH (Ety/KHIS). The root appeared again in Notes on Galadriel’s Song from the late 1950s or early 1960s as √KHIΘ “mist” (NGS, PE17/73).

Tolkien’s continued use of Q. Hísilómë and (Northern) S. Hithlum throughout his life testifies to the enduring nature of this root, though it seems to have shifted in sense from 1910s “✱shadow” to 1930s “mist”, and from s to th.

Derivatives

• Q. hísë “mist, mist, [ᴹQ.] fog, [ᴱQ.] haze; dusk; bleared”
• Q. hísië “mist, mistiness” ✧ PE17/073
• S. hîth “mist”
• ᴺS. hithu “fog”

Element in

• ᴺQ. hisquë “smog”

Variations

• KHIΘ ✧ PE17/073; PE17/157

tindōmi

noun. *twilight

Element in

• ✶Tindōmiselde “Nightingale, (lit.) Daughter of Twilight” ✧ PE19/073

Elements

Word	Gloss
TIN	“sparkle, spark, sparkle, spark, [ᴱ√] twinkle, [ᴹ√] emit slender (silver pale) beams”
dōmē	“night, twilight”

tindu

noun. dusk, twilight, early night (without Moon)

tindu

noun. starry twilight

daw

noun. night-time, gloom

osp

noun. reek, smoke

fuin

noun. night, dead of night, gloom, darkness

hîth

noun. mist

Changes

• hîth → hîth “fog” ✧ Ety/KHIS

Cognates

• ᴹQ. híse “mist, fog” ✧ Ety/KHIS

Derivations

• ᴹ✶khīthi “mist, fog” ✧ Ety/KHIS
  • ᴹ√KHITH “mist, fog” ✧ Ety/KHIS

Element in

• N. Hithdilias ✧ TI/124
• N. Hithliniath “Pools of Mist” ✧ Ety/KHIS
• N. Hithlum “Land of Mist, (lit.) Mist-and-Dusk” ✧ Ety/KHIS
• N. hithui “misty”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶khīt(h)i > hîth	[kʰītʰi] > [kʰītʰe] > [xītʰe] > [xīθe] > [xīθ] > [hīθ]	✧ Ety/KHIS

Variations

• hith ✧ EtyAC/KHIS
• Hith ✧ TI/124

tinnu

noun. dusk, twilight, early night (without Moon)

tinnu

noun. starry twilight

tinnu

noun. (starry) twilight, dusk, early night (without moon)

Cognates

• ᴹQ. tindóme “(starry) twilight, starlit dusk” ✧ Ety/DOMO; Ety/TIN
• Ilk. tindum “(starry) twilight, starlight” ✧ Ety/THIN

Derivations

• ᴹ√TIN “sparkle, emit slender (silver pale) beams” ✧ Ety/THIN
• ᴹ√DOM “faint, dim” ✧ Ety/TIN

Element in

• N. Aran Dinnu “King of Twilight” ✧ Ety/THIN; Ety/TIN
• N. Tindobel “Twilit City, Starlit City” ✧ Ety/TIN

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√DOM > tindumh > tindu > tinnu	[tindōmi] > [tindōme] > [tindūme] > [tindūm] > [tindum] > [tinduv] > [tindu] > [tinnu]	✧ Ety/TIN

hith

noun. mist, fog