_ pl2. n. _the unfriendly Northern folk who lived in the snow. >> hoth
Sindarin
Lossoth
noun. the Snowmen
Lossoth
noun. snowmen
Lossoth
the unfriendly Northern folk who lived in the snow
lossoth
collective name. Snowmen
The Snowmen of Forochel (LotR/1041). This name is a combination of loss “snow” and hoth “host” (RGEO/62; SA/hoth; PE17/39, 161).
Elements
Word Gloss loss “snow” hoth “host, horde, host, horde, [N.] crowd; group plural; [ᴱN.] folk, [G.] people; †army” Variations
- Loss(h)oth ✧ PE17/039; PE17/161; SA/hoth
loss
noun. snow
The usual Sindarin word for “snow” (Let/278; PE17/161; RGEO/62), especially fallen and long-lying snow (VT42/18), derived from primitive ✶lossē (PE17/161) based on the root √(G)LOS (PE17/26; RGEO/62). It sometimes appeared in a shorter form los (PE17/26, 161). See the entry on [s] for a discussion of these long vs. short variations; for purposes of Neo-Sindarin loss is probably preferable.
Conceptual Development: Perhaps the earliest iteration of this word was G. glui “snow” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, likely related to nearby words like G. gloss “white” (GL/40). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, N. gloss from the root ᴹ√GOLOS was both noun “snow” and adjective “snow-white” (Ety/GOLÓS), but in later writing Tolkien split these into S loss “snow” (see above) and S. gloss “(dazzling) white” (RGEO/62; VT42/18).
Cognates
- Q. lossë “snow, fallen snow; snow-white, snowy” ✧ PE17/026; PE17/161; SA/los; RGEO/61
Derivations
Element in
- S. Aeglos “Snow-point” ✧ SA/los
- S. aeglos “icicle, (lit.) snow-point; snowthorn (a plant)”
- S. Amon Uilos “Hill of Ever-snow” ✧ SA/los
- S. Fanuilos “Bright (Angelic) Figure upon Uilos” ✧ Let/278
- S. Lossarnach “Flowery Arnarch” ✧ VT42/18
- S. lossen “snowy” ✧ RGEO/62
- S. Lossoth “Snowmen” ✧ PE17/161; RGEO/62
- S. Nimphelos “Pale ?Snow”
- S. Uilos “Ever-snow”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √LŎS > los [lossē] > [losse] > [loss] ✧ PE17/026 ✶lossē > loss [lossē] > [losse] > [loss] ✧ PE17/161 √los > loss [lossē] > [losse] > [loss] ✧ RGEO/61 √los > loss [lossē] > [losse] > [loss] ✧ SA/los √(G)LOS > loss [lossē] > [losse] > [loss] ✧ VT42/18 Variations
- los ✧ PE17/026
- lŏs ✧ PE17/161
- Loss ✧ VT42/18
los
noun. snow
lôd
verb. (he) floats
dagorath
noun. all the battles
falathrim
noun. people of the Falas
avo
verb. don't!
Used as a negative adverb before an imperative: avo garo "don't do it!". Sometimes used as prefix: avgaro
noro
verb. run! ride!
Untranslated in LotR, but written nora-lim and rendered as "ride on" in RS/196 (not a literal translation) and later translated as "run swift" in RC/195. A verb nor- is attested in the old Gnomish lexicon, PE/11:61, with the meaning "to run, roll"
anglennatha
verb. (he) will approach
ónen
noun. I gave
Written onen in some editions of LotR. In the Qenyaqetsa, Qenya anta- is marked as having an irregular past tense áne. Assuming the same sound-shifts as observed in other words, this would indeed lead to onen in Sindarin, see PE/12:31 and TT/14:48-49
avon
verb. I won't
lammas
noun. account of tongues
galadhad
noun. the Two Trees of Valinor
rochirrim
noun. horse-lords, the people of Rohan
drúwaith
noun. the wilderness of the Drû-men (q.v.)
cuio
verb. live!
lâf
verb. (he) licks
tôl
verb. (he) comes
According to WJ/301, the expression tôl acharn "vengeance comes" was later changed to tûl acharn by Tolkien
rammas
noun. (great) wall
pêd
verb. (he) says
anfangrim
noun. the Longbeards (a tribe of Dwarves)
Lossoth
snow-men
(a northern people living near the bay of Forochel) Lossoth (a coll. pl.)
lossoth
snow-men
(a coll. pl.)
loss
snow
(construct los; pl. lyss if there is a pl.) (RGEO:61-62, Letters:278, VT42:18) (Note: homophones mean ”flower” [more commonly loth] and ”wilderness”.).
gloss
white as snow, dazzling white
(in compounds -los), lenited ’loss; pl. glyss.
lossen
snowy
(pl. lessin, for archaic lössin). Adj.
nínim
snowdrop
(”white tear”), no distinct pl. form; coll. pl. nínimmath. – The niphredil seems to be a flower similar to the snowdrop (no distinct pl. form; coll. pl. niphrediliath)
loss (“snow”) + #(h)oth (collective plural suffix) Ss was preserved in the intervocalic position [HKF].