A neologism coined by Boris Shapiro in PPQ (PPQ), based on N. heleth “fur, fur-coat”.
Quenya
helma
skin, fell
helet
noun. fur, fur-coat
Cognates
- N. heleth “fur, fur-coat”
Derivations
- ᴹ√SKEL “*strip”
Sindarin
flâd
noun. skin
flâd
noun. skin
A word for “skin” (or possibly “bark”) appearing only in the name S. Fladrif “Skinbark” (LotR/474).
Element in
- S. Fladrif “Skinbark” ✧ LotR/0474
Variations
- flad ✧ LotR/0474 (flad)
helf
fur, fur coat
(i chelf, o chelf), pl. hilf (i chilf), coll. pl. helvath
Noldorin
heleth
noun. fur, fur-coat
heleth
noun. fur, fur-coat
Cognates
- ᴺQ. helet “fur, fur-coat”
Derivations
- ᴹ√SKEL “*strip” ✧ Ety/SKEL
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴹ√SKEL > heleth [skelette] > [skelettʰe] > [skeleθθe] > [sxeleθθe] > [xeleθθe] > [xeleθθ] > [heleθθ] > [heleθ] ✧ Ety/SKEL
halath
noun. skin, fell
Changes
?halath→ helath “skin, fell” ✧ EtyAC/SKELDerivations
- ᴹ√SKEL “*strip” ✧ EtyAC/SKEL
Element in
- N. Haleth ✧ EtyAC/SKEL (
Halath)Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴹ√SKAL > ?halath [skalatta] > [skalattʰa] > [skalaθθa] > [sxalaθθa] > [xalaθθa] > [xalaθθ] > [halaθθ] > [halaθ] ✧ EtyAC/SKEL ᴹ√SKAL > heleth [skalatti] > [skalattʰi] > [skalaθθi] > [sxalaθθi] > [xalaθθi] > [xeleθθi] > [xeleθθ] > [halaθθ] > [halaθ] ✧ EtyAC/SKEL Variations
?halath✧ EtyAC/SKEL (?halath)
helf
noun. fur
helf
noun. fur, fur, *hide
A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “fur” appearing beside N. heleth “fur, fur-coat”, both derived from the root ᴹ√SKEL (Ety/SKEL). Since N. helf seems to be the cognate of ᴹQ. helma “skin, fell”, I believe helf refers to both skin and fur together and hence = “✱hide”, whereas heleth refers to just the fur itself.
Conceptual Development: Various rejected forms appeared in The Etymologies, including halath “skin, fell” from an earlier version the root ᴹ√SKAL, revised to helath “skin, fell” before being deleted (EtyAC/SKEL). Possible precursors include ᴱN. gwadh “bark, skin, peel” vs. ᴱT. suada “hide” (PE13/146), and G. dafros “bark, skin, peel” (GL/29); see those entries for details.
Changes
helath→ helf “skin, fell” ✧ Ety/SKELDerivations
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴹ✶skelmā > helf [skelmā] > [skelma] > [sxelma] > [xelma] > [xelm] > [helm] > [helv] ✧ Ety/SKEL ᴹ√SKEL > helath [skelatta] > [skelattʰa] > [skelaθθa] > [sxelaθθa] > [xelaθθa] > [xelaθθ] > [helaθθ] > [helaθ] ✧ Ety/SKEL Variations
- helath ✧ EtyAC/SKEL (
helath)
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
helma
noun. skin, fell, skin, fell, *hide
A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “skin, fell” derived from the root ᴹ√SKEL (Ety/SKEL). It replaced ᴹQ. halma which was derived from the original form of the root {ᴹ√SKAL >>} ᴹ√SKEL (EtyAC/SKEL). Here “fell” is used in its archaic English sense of “an animal’s skin including its hair”, hence “✱hide”.
Conceptual Development: A word ᴱQ. fara “fur, fell” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s from primitive ᴱ✶swada, with sw > f as it did in Early Qenya of the 1910s and 20s (PE12/19); in the phonetic developments of later Quenya, sw > hw (PE19/79). Earliest still Tolkien had ᴱQ. vóre “fur” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√VŌRI of the same meaning (QL/102).
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴹ✶skelmā > helma [skelmā] > [xelmā] > [helmā] > [helma] ✧ Ety/SKEL
halma
noun. skin, fell
Changes
halma→ helma “skin, fell” ✧ Ety/SKELDerivations
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴹ✶skalmā > halma [skalmā] > [xalmā] > [halmā] > [halma] ✧ EtyAC/SKEL
Middle Primitive Elvish
skelmā
noun. skin, fell
Changes
skalmā→ skelmā “skin, fell” ✧ Ety/SKELDerivations
- ᴹ√SKEL “*strip” ✧ Ety/SKEL; EtyAC/SKEL
Derivatives
Variations
- skalmā ✧ EtyAC/SKEL (
skalmā)
Gnomish
past
noun. skin
A word for “skin” appearing in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s under G. path “peel, skin, bark” with pl. padhin (GL/63), hence probably related to ᴱQ. parma “skin, bark; parchment; book” from the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon under the early root ᴱ√PARA [✱PAÐA] (QL/72).
Derivations
- ᴱ√PARA “*peel”
Early Primitive Elvish
vōri
root. fur
A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “fur” with derivatives like ᴱQ. vōre “fur” and ᴱQ. vōriva “like fur” (QL/102). In later writings “fur” words were derived from ᴹ√SKEL.
Derivatives
- Eq. vóre “fur” ✧ QL/102
Early Quenya
naute
noun. skin
A noun for “skin” appearing in a list of body parts from the 1920s (PE14/117). Its etymology is unclear.
vóre
noun. fur
Derivations
- ᴱ√VŌRI “fur” ✧ QL/102
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴱ√VŌRI > vōre [βōri] > [βōre] > [vōre] ✧ QL/102 Variations
- vōre ✧ QL/102
helma noun "skin, fell" (SKEL), changed by Tolkien from halma (VT46:14)