Primitive elvish

log

root. wet (and soft), soaked, swampy

Tolkien considered a bewildering variety of roots as the basis for the suffixal element S. -ló “flood” in Sindarin, common in river names such as S. Gwathló and S. Ringló. In a collection of notes associated with the name S. Lhûn from around 1967, Tolkien first considered √SLOUN, √SLON or √SLUN (unglossed); then √(S)LOW “flow freely (fully)” (PE17/136-7; VT48/27-28). In notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from 1967-69, Tolkien instead wrote:

> was derived from Common Eldarin base LOG “wet (and soft), soaked, swampy, etc.” The form ✱loga produced S. and T. loga; and also, from ✱logna, S. loen, T. logna “soaking wet, swamped”. But the stem in Quenya, owing to sound-changes which caused its derivatives to clash with other words, was little represented except in the intensive formation oloiya- “to inundate, flood”; oloire “a great flood” (VT42/10).

I prefer this last explanation, as it explains a wider variety of words. As for S. Lhûn, in notes from 1968 Tolkien explained it as a loan word from Khuzdul (VT48/24).

Derivatives

  • Nan. loeg “pool”
  • “lying water”
    • T. “pool, bathing place” ✧ VT47/12
  • logna “soaking wet, swamped” ✧ VT42/10
    • ᴺQ. lóna “soaked, drenched”
    • S. loen “soaking wet, swamped” ✧ VT42/10
    • T. logna “soaking wet, swamped” ✧ VT42/10
  • (s)loga “fenland” ✧ UT/263; VT42/09; VT42/10
    • Q. hlöa “flood, fenland” ✧ VT42/09
    • S. l(h)ô “flood, fenland, flood, fenland; [G.] pool, lake” ✧ UT/263; VT42/09; VT42/10
    • T. loga “*flood, fenland” ✧ VT42/10
  • ᴺQ. loxo “mud”
  • ᴺS. loew “moss”

Element in

  • ᴺQ. lóma “moss”
  • Q. oloirë “great flood” ✧ VT42/10
  • Q. oloiya- “to inundate, flood” ✧ VT42/10

Variations

  • log- ✧ UT/263
  • (s)log ✧ VT42/09 ((s)log)
Primitive elvish [UT/263; VT42/09; VT42/10] Group: Eldamo. Published by

taw

root. wood

Tolkien used a similar set of words for “forest” starting with the earliest versions of Elvish, but their derivation evolved somewhat over time. The earliest related root was ᴱ√TAVA “beam” with variant ᴱ√TAFA (the latter marked by Tolkien with a “?” and with no obvious derivatives) from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as the basis for words like ᴱQ. taule “great tree”, ᴱQ. tauno “forest” and ᴱQ. tavar “dale-sprite” (QL/90). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. tavros/G. taur “forest” and G. tavor “wood fay” (GL/69).

ᴱQ. taure “forest” did not appear as an independent word until drafts of the Oilima Markirya from around 1930 (PE16/62; MC/213). Thereafter Tolkien mostly stuck with Q. taurë and N./S. taur for “forest”. In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root ᴹ√TAWAR “wood, forest” (Ety/TÁWAR), though in one place it was ᴹ√TAR (EtyAC/TUR). In notes associated with the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 Tolkien gave √TAWA “wood”, and in notes on “large & small” roots from 1968 Tolkien had √TAW “wood” (PE17/115).

Derivatives

  • taurē “forest” ✧ PE17/115
    • Q. taurë “forest, (great) wood” ✧ PE17/115
    • S. taur “forest, wood, forest, wood, [N.] great wood, [G.] dense wood” ✧ PE17/115
  • tawinā “wood” ✧ PE17/115
    • Q. toina “wood, wood, *wooden, made of wood” ✧ PE17/115
    • S. tawen “wood (of material), ?wooden (of make), wood (of material), wooden (of make)” ✧ PE17/115
  • Q. tauca “stiff, wooden” ✧ PE17/115
  • Q. taurë “forest, (great) wood” ✧ VT39/07
  • ᴺQ. tauron “forester”
  • Q. táva “great tree” ✧ PE17/115
  • ᴺQ. tavas “woodland”
  • Q. töa “wood (as material)” ✧ PE17/115
  • S. taug “firm, strong, (?withstand)” ✧ PE17/115
  • S. taw “wood as material” ✧ PE17/115

Element in

Variations

  • TAWA ✧ VT39/07
Primitive elvish [PE17/115; PE17/187; VT39/07] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tawinā

adjective. wood

Derivations

  • TAW “wood” ✧ PE17/115

Derivatives

  • Q. toina “wood, wood, *wooden, made of wood” ✧ PE17/115
  • S. tawen “wood (of material), ?wooden (of make), wood (of material), wooden (of make)” ✧ PE17/115

Variations

  • tawĭnā ✧ PE17/115
Primitive elvish [PE17/115] Group: Eldamo. Published by