dag-

verb. to slay, to slay, [ᴱN.] kill

A verb meaning “to slay” derived from the root √NDAK, best known from its passive participle dangen as in Haudh-en-Ndengin “Hill of Slain” (S/197). Tolkien wrote a set of possible past forms aðag, aðanc, aðarch in notes from 1962 (PE17/131), and the verb appeared in its Noldorin-style infinitive form degi “to slay” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√NDAK “slay” (Ety/NDAK), along with another couple of (Noldorin) past forms: danc, degant (EtyAC/NDAK). The verb form ᴱN. (n)dag- “to slay” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/141), but its present form dág was glossed “kills” and in the contemporaneous Early Noldorin Grammar the form dagion was likewise glossed “I kill” (PE13/130). Thus “slay” and “kill” are both viable translations.

Possible Etymology: In notes from around 1962, Tolkien gave ✶dankĭnā as the primitive form of its passive participle dangen, indicating a root √DAK rather than √NDAK, which is also consistent with its nasal mutated plural form on that page: {i dengin >>} i nengin (PE17/133). The 1964 past forms aðag and aðanc also seem to indicate derivation from √DAK (PE17/131). In notes from around 1967, however, Tolkien had the mixed mutated form n(d)engin in the phrase i·m(b)air en N(d)engin, indicating √NDAK, and he consistently gave nac- for the equivalent Quenya forms, so the early 1960s flirtation with √DAK seems to have been a transient idea.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume the root is √NDAK, and hence I’d give it the past form ✱annanc “slayed” rather than aðanc.

Rest

noun. cut

dagnir

noun. slayer

dagnir

noun. bane

rista-

verb. to cut

rista-

verb. to rend, rip

tíra-

verb. to see

Rest

cut

(noun) 1) rest (ravine, cleft), pl. rist (idh rist), 2) criss (i griss, o chriss, construct cris) (cleft, slash), no distinct pl. form except with article (i chriss)

criss

cut

(i griss, o chriss, construct cris) (cleft, slash), no distinct pl. form except with article (i chriss)

dag

slay

dag- (i nâg, i ndegir), pa.t. danc or dagant, passive participle dangen "slain" (pl. dengin, lenited nengin) (VT45:37)

dag

slay

(i nâg, i ndegir), pa.t. danc or dagant, passive participle dangen "slain" (pl. dengin, lenited nengin) (VT45:37)

drava

hew

drava- (i dhrava, in dravar), pa.t. †dramp, later apparently dravant; passive participle drammen (VT45:8)

drava

hew

(i dhrava, in dravar), pa.t. †dramp, later apparently dravant; passive participle drammen (VT45:8)

rest

cut

(ravine, cleft), pl. rist (idh rist)

nac-

verb. to hew, cut, to hew [into], cut; [ᴹQ.] to slay, kill; to hate

This verb was mentioned in several places with different meanings. In Late Notes on Verbs Tolkien gave 1st-sg aorist and past forms of this verb along side the more “intensive” verb nahta-:

> [The ta-formative element] t was also used as (originally) an intensive or differentiator as in √NDAK, hew, ndakta, slay, to[?] Q nakin, nanke/nahtan, nakante, slay, slew (PE22/156).

Here, it seems Tolkien was describing two verbs: a basic verb nac- “hew” derived directly from the root √NDAK and a derived verb nahta- “slay” from a ta-formative augmentation of the root. The verb form nakin was mentioned in passing in Vinyar Tengwar 49 as nakin “I hew, cut” but without an indication of what the actual source was (VT49/24).

Conceptual Development: The verb ᴹQ. nak- also appeared in various forms in the Quenya Verbal System from 1948, generally with the gloss “kill” but in one place with the gloss “hate” (PE22/112, 120, 123). In Primitive Quendian Structure from the 1930s, Tolkien gave nakuvan as the modern Quenya form of ancient ᴹ✶ndăkŭbā̆nyē “I will slay” (PE21/65 and note #13). The change in meaning for Quenya nak- seems to reflect a conceptual shift in the primitive root: in The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹ√NDAK was glossed “slay” (Ety/NDAK), in the Outline of Phonology of the 1950s it was glossed “hew, slay” (PE19/91), and in the 1960s only “hew” (PE22/156, see above).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assign nac- the meanings “hew, cut”, and for “slay” I would use nahta-. Furthermore, I would assume nac- originally applied to the result of hewing a thing = “hew [into], cut”, as opposed to mac- for a hewing motion. I would further assume the meaning “hew [into], cut” was influenced by the homonym [ᴹQ.] nac- “bite” of different primitive origin (Ety/NAK), and I think the “bite” meaning of nac- is more common since mac- can be used for “hew” if things are ambiguous.

qualta-

verb. to kill, murder

A neologism for “to kill, murder” appearing in ABNW (ABNW) from the early 2000s, a causative variant of qual- “to die (painfully)”, hence literally “to make die”. The same document suggests a similar formation for firta- “to kill” for accidentally causing death, but that seems unlikely to me, since fir- seems to be limited to peaceful deaths.

firta-

verb. to kill

nehtar

slayer

#nehtar noun "slayer", isolated from Morinehtar "Darkness-slayer" (PM:384, 385). It may be that a verbal stem #nehta- "to slay, kill" can also be isolated from this noun, though the attested form is actually nahta- (a possible example of A/E variation).

címa

noun. edge of a cutting weapon/tool

#nac-

verb. hew, cut

#nac- ("k") vb. "hew, cut" (nacin "I hew, cut", VT49:24) or "bite" (NAK); compare nahta #2.

címa

noun. edge of a cutting weapon/tool

hyar-

verb. cleave

#hyar- vb. "cleave" (1st pers. aorist hyarin "I cleave") (SYAD). Pa.t. probably *hyandë since the R of hyar- was originally D; cf. rer- "sow", pa.t. rendë, from the root RED.

hyar-

verb. cleave

nahta-

slay

nahta- (1) verb "slay" (nahtan "I slay"). Possible variant #nehta- see #nehtar. Passive participle nahtana in the phrase nahtana ló Túrin *"slain by Turin". (VT49:24)

nahta-

verb. slay

nehtar

noun. slayer

An element in Morinehtar “Darkness-slayer”, a name of one of the Blue Wizards (PM/384). It seems to be an agental form of nahta- “to slay”, but the reason why the vowel is e is unclear.

pelecta-

verb. hew

pelecta- ("k")vb. "hew" (this "Qenya" word may be adapted to LotR-style Quenya as *pelehta-)(LT2:346)

rissë

cut

rissë noun? The word is not clearly glossed but apparently means "cut" or "cleft" (ravine), the cognate of the final element of Imladris, Sindarin name of Rivendell. (PE17:87)

rista

cut

rista (2) noun "cut" (RIS), cf. #1 above.

mak

root. strike; cut, hew with a sharp edge; kill, slay; forge metal, strike; cut, hew with a sharp edge, [ᴹ√] cleave; sword, fight (with a sword); [√] forge metal; kill, slay

This root was the basis for “sword” words throughout Tolkien’s life, but the meaning of the root itself shifted over time. The first appearance of this root was as ᴱ√MAKA in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, unglossed but with derivatives like ᴱQ. mak- “slay”, ᴱQ. makil “sword”, and ᴱQ. makka “slaughter” (QL/57-58). The root was also given the gloss “slay” in a section of the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon along with etymologies of names of the various Valar, but this section was deleted (GL/18). Derivatives of this root appeared elsewhere in the Gnomish Lexicon, however, such as G. mactha- “slay, kill” and G. magli “a great sword” (GL/55). Thus, the meaning of this root in the earliest period seems to be “slay”.

The root ᴹ√MAK appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, but the entry went through quite a few revisions. The gloss apparently was “cleave” >> “kill, cleave with sword” >> “sword, or verbal [stem] fight with sword, cleave” >> “sword, or as verb-stem: fight (with sword), cleave” (EtyAC/MAK; Ety/MAK). Thus the 1930s root was more directly connected with swords and wielding swords, and its derivatives included ᴹQ. makil/N. magol “sword” and ᴹQ. mahta-/N. maetha- “fight” (Ety/MAK).

In Tolkien’s later writings, the words for “sword” remained nearly the same: Q. macil and S. megil (PE17/130, 147), but the gloss of the root √MAK varied considerably based on whatever linguistic puzzle Tolkien was trying to solve at that particular moment. In notes associated with the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, its gloss was very similar to that from The Etymologies: “cut, hew with a sharp edge” (VT39/11). In notes associated with The Shibboleth of Fëanor from 1968 Tolkien glossed {m(b)aka- >>} maka- as “forge metal” as part of a new etymology of the name S. Maglor as an adaptation Q. Makalaure “Forging Gold” (PM/353; VT41/10).

In notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s Tolkien gave √MAK “strike” as the basis for ✶makwā > S. mâb “hand”, but this idea was rejected immediately (VT47/19). The same gloss “strike” appeared in a document on the Common Eldarin Article, deleted there with a reference back to the “Hands, Fingers and Numerals” document (PE23/144). This was part of Tolkien’s rather surprising decision to abandon the long-standing root √MAP (VT47/20 note #13); elsewhere in these notes he said √MAK meant “kill, slay” as it did in the 1910s (VT47/20).

Lokyt suggested in a Discord chat from 2018 that there may be a common underlying meaning for all these glosses, referring to “the movement one does when chopping with a tool”, as supported by the late 1960s gloss “strike”. Assuming this is true, the other associations of the root (“sword; slay; fight; forge”) may be the result of a narrowing of the meaning of the root in more specific contexts. I assume the based meaning of this root is something like “strike” purposes of Neo-Eldarin, as it allows us to retain the largest set of derivatives of the root.

kiris

root. cleave, cleave, [ᴹ√] cut, [ᴱ√] split

ndakta-

verb. to slay

dag-

verb. to slay

dag-

verb. to slay

draf-

verb. to hew

drava-

verb. to hew

A verb for “to hew” in The Etymologies of the 1930s appearing in its Noldorin-style infinitive form dravo under the root ᴹ√DARAM “beat, hew” (Ety/DARÁM).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. flig- “hew” probably based on the early root ᴱ√FḶKḶ of similar meaning (GL/35; QL/38) as well as G. pelectha- “hew” related to G. peleg “axe” (GL/64).

osgar-

verb. to cut round, to amputate

rhest

noun. cut

rhest

noun. cut

rhista-

verb. to cut

rhista-

verb. to rend, rip