The Sindarin word for “beard”, best known as an element in the name S. Fangorn “Treebeard, (lit.) beard of tree” (LotR/1131, PE17/84). The word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s where it appeared as G. fang “a long beard” (GL/34), though in that document it had a rejected variant bang “beard” (GL/21). ᴱN. fang “beard” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/143), and N. fang “beard” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√SPANAG (Ety/SPÁNAG). Thus this word was well established in Tolkien’s mind.
Sindarin
carch
noun. fang, fang, [N.] tooth
Cognates
- Q. carca “fang; [sharp] rock, fang, [ᴹQ.] tooth, [ᴱQ.] tusk; [Q.] rock” ✧ SA/carak
Derivations
- √KARAK “*sharp fang, spike, tooth, [ᴹ√] sharp fang, spike, tooth” ✧ SA/carak
Element in
- S. Carcharoth “Red Maw, ?(lit.) Great Red Fang” ✧ SA/carak
- S. Carchost “Fang Fort” ✧ SA/carak
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √carak- > carch [karka] > [karkʰa] > [karxa] > [karx] ✧ SA/carak
fang
noun. beard, beard, [G.] long beard
Cognates
- Q. fanga “beard”
Element in
carch
noun. tooth, fang
carch
fang
carch (i garch, o charch) (tooth), pl. cerch (i cherch)
carch
fang
(i garch, o charch) (tooth), pl. cerch (i cherch)
fang
beard
fang (pl. feng)
fang
beard
(pl. feng)
nagol
tooth
1) *nagol (analogical pl. negyl, coll. pl. naglath*; possibly the analogical form nagolath would also be acceptable). Only the coll. pl. naglath is attested. 2) naes (no distinct pl. form) (VT45:36). 3) nêl (note: a homophone means ”three”), stem neleg-, whence pl. nelig. Also simply neleg (pl. nelig). 4) (fang) carch (i garch, o charch), pl. cerch (i cherch**).
nagol
tooth
(analogical pl. negyl, coll. pl. naglath; possibly the analogical form ✱nagolath would also be acceptable). Only the coll. pl. naglath is attested.
naes
tooth
(no distinct pl. form) (VT45:36).
carch
tooth
(i garch, o charch), pl. cerch (i cherch).
nêl
tooth
(note: a homophone means ”three”), stem neleg-, whence pl. nelig. Also simply neleg (pl. nelig).
The Sindarin word for “fang” (SA/carak), most notably appearing as an element in the names like S. Carchost “Fang Fort” (RC/601) and S. Carcharoth “Red Maw” (S/180), perhaps more literally “✱Great Red Fang”. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, N. carch was glossed “tooth, fang” under the root ᴹ√KARAK “sharp fang, spike, tooth” (Ety/KARAK). For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I’d use the word carch exclusively for the sharp teeth of animals (“fang”) and for “tooth” I’d use [N.] nêl or neleg.
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had the word G. carc “jag, point, fang” (GL/25), likely based on the earlier form of the root: ᴱ√KṚKṚ (QL/48). This early word reflects the different phonetic developments of Gnomish versus Sindarin/Noldorin: compare G. orc (GL/63) vs. S./N. orch.