findl

lock of hair, tress

findl noun "lock of hair, tress" (but findil elsewhere in LotR-style Quenya, no word can end in -dl). (LT2:341)

náha

adjective. narrow, narrow, *thin

Derivations

• √NAKH “narrow, thin” ✧ PE17/166

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√NAKH > nāha	[nākʰa] > [naxa] > [naha]	✧ PE17/166

Variations

• nāha ✧ PE17/166

náha

narrow

náha adj. "narrow" (PE17:166)

arca

narrow

arca (1) adj. "narrow" (AK)

fing

noun. lock of hair

A noun appearing in 1967 notes on the Nomenclature of the Lord of the Rings as an element in Finglas “Leaflock” (RC/760). The form fineg appeared unglossed in notes from around 1965 as a derivative of ✶phinik (PE17/17). The word fing is more obscure than S. find of similar meaning.

Conceptual Development: The word G. fingl or finnil “a tress” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/35). In that period, the gl was probably the result of the sound change whereby ðl became gl, since this early form was likely derived from the root ᴱ√FIŘI [FIÐI] (QL/38). When it first appeared, the name N. Finglas (= find + las?) may also have had a similar sound change, but since Tolkien abandoned that phonetic rule in Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s (compare S. edlenn vs. N. eglenn “exiled”), Tolkien needed to come up with a new etymology.

Cognates

• Q. finca “[unglossed]” ✧ PE17/017

Derivations

• ✶phinik ✧ PE17/017
  • √SPIN(ID) “fine thread, filament; hair” ✧ PE17/017

Element in

• S. Finglas “Leaflock” ✧ RC/760
• ᴺS. orfing “pear, *(lit.) hair-apple”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶finik/fink > fineg	[pʰinika] > [ɸinika] > [ɸineka] > [fineka] > [finek] > [fineg]	✧ PE17/017

Variations

• fineg ✧ PE17/017

fing

noun. lock of hair

fing

lock of hair

fing (no distinct pl. form)

find

lock of hair

find (tress). Construct fin; no distinct pl. form; coll pl. finnath

find

lock of hair

(tress). Construct fin; no distinct pl. form; coll pl. finnath

agor

narrow

agor (analogical pl. egyr). In archaic S agr.

agor

narrow

(analogical pl. egyr). In archaic S agr.

lond

narrow path

(harbour, haven, pass, strait), pl. lynd, coll. pl. lonnath (as in the name Lonnath Ernin, WR:294).

imlad

narrow valley with steep sides

(glen, deep valley), pl. imlaid.

imrath

narrow valley

(pl. imraith)

nek

root. narrow, narrow; *angular, sharp

A root appearing in notes on words and phrases from The Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, serving mainly as the basis for S. naith “angle” (PE17/55). It was also mentioned in a discussion of the death of Isildur at the Gladden Fields, again as the basis for S. naith among other words, where the root √NEK was glossed “narrow” (UT/281-2, note #16). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, N. naith was derived from ᴹ√SNAS or ᴹ√SNAT, but the precise derivation was unclear, and in any cases seems to have been replaced by Tolkien with a more straightforward derivation from √NEK.

The root √NEK also appeared in Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 with the gloss “deprive”, serving among other things as the basis for S. neithan “one deprived” (PE17/167), which was the name adopted by Túrin after he became an outlaw (S/200). The root appeared again in notes on Elvish numbers from the late 1960s glossed as either “divide, part, separate” (VT47/16) or “divide, separate” (VT48/9), where it served as the basis for √ENEK “six” as the dividing point between the lower and upper set of numbers in the Elvish duodecimal system.

It is not clear whether Tolkien intended all these various meanings for the root √NEK to be connected. For purposes of analysis, I’ve split √NEK “narrow” from √NEK “separate; deprive”, but conceivably the sense “narrow” could be a semantic extension of “separate” or vice-versa.

Derivatives

• ✶nektē “angle” ✧ PE17/055
  • Q. nehtë “spearhead, gore, wedge, narrow prominitory; angle” ✧ PE17/055; PE17/055
  • S. naith “spearhead, gore, wedge, narrow prominitory; angle” ✧ PE17/055; PE17/055
• Q. necel “thorn” ✧ PE17/055
• Q. nehtë “spearhead, gore, wedge, narrow prominitory; angle” ✧ UT/282
• Q. nexa “sharp, angular” ✧ PE17/055
• S. naith “spearhead, gore, wedge, narrow prominitory; angle” ✧ UT/282
• S. negen “sharp, angular” ✧ PE17/055

Variations

• NEK ✧ PE17/055; PE17/167
• nek ✧ UT/282

agr

adjective. narrow

agor

adjective. narrow

agor

adjective. narrow

Cognates

• ᴹQ. arka “narrow” ✧ Ety/AK

Derivations

• ᴹ✶akrā “narrow” ✧ Ety/AK
  • ᴹ√AK “narrow, confined” ✧ Ety/AK

Element in

• S. Aglon “Narrow Pass”
• N. Aglon “defile, pass between high walls” ✧ Ety/AK

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶akrā > agr > agor	[akrā] > [akra] > [akr] > [agr] > [agor]	✧ Ety/AK