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

rista

cut

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

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)

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) 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 ✶dankĭna 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.

Cognates

• Q. nac- “to hew, cut, to hew, cut; [ᴹQ.] to kill, slay; to hate”

Derivations

• √NDAK “hew, slay, slay; hew” ✧ SA/dagor

Element in

• S. Dagmor “?Slayer of Darkness”
• S. dagnir “slayer, bane” ✧ PE17/097; SA/dagor
• S. dangen “slain” ✧ PE17/133

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√ndak- > Dag-	[ndak-] > [dak-] > [dag-]	✧ SA/dagor

Variations

• Dag- ✧ SA/dagor (Dag-)

rista-

verb. to cut

rista-

verb. to rend, rip

Rest

noun. cut

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)

rest

cut

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

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)

ristannen

adjective. cut

Elements

Word	Gloss
rista-	“to cut; to rend, rip”

mak

root. cut, hew with a sharp edge; kill, slay; forge metal, 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). 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”. 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. While it is hard to know whether Tolkien himself interpreted the root this way, I think this is the best way to treat the root for purposes of Neo-Eldarin, as it allows us to retain the largest set of derivatives of the root.

Changes

• m(b)aka- → maka- ✧ VT41/10

Derivatives

• ✶maikā “blade of a cutting tool or weapon (especially sword-blade)” ✧ VT39/11
  • Q. maica “blade of a cutting tool or weapon (especially sword-blade)” ✧ VT39/11
• ✶makwā “a hand-full, complete hand with all five fingers” ✧ VT47/19
  • Q. maqua “hand-full, group of five (similar) things; hand (colloquial); closing or closed [hand] (facing down) for taking” ✧ VT47/06; VT47/07; VT47/19
  • S. mâb “hand, hand, [N.] grasp” ✧ VT47/06; VT47/07; VT47/19
  • T. mapa “hand” ✧ VT47/06; VT47/07; VT47/19
  • T. mapa- “to take hold of, grasp” ✧ VT47/07
• Q. mac- “to hew with a sword, to hew (with a sword); [ᴱQ.] to slay; to die” ✧ VT39/11
• ᴺQ. maca- “to forge”
• Q. macar “swordsman; †forger” ✧ VT39/11; VT41/10
• Q. macil “sword, forged sword blade, cutting sword, sword, forged sword blade, cutting sword, [ᴱQ.] broadsword” ✧ VT39/11; VT41/10
• ᴺS. maga- “to forge metal”
• S. magor “swordsman”
• S. megil “sword, longsword”

Element in

• ✶maka-glawar ✧ VT41/10
• ᴺQ. aimahto “martyr, (lit.) blessed slain”
• Q. Macalaurë “Forging Gold” ✧ VT41/10
• Q. Mahtan “?Forger Smith”

Variations

• m(b)aka- ✧ VT41/10
• maka- ✧ VT41/10
• mak ✧ VT47/20

ndakta-

verb. to slay

Derivations

• √NDAK “hew, slay, slay; hew” ✧ PE22/156

Derivatives

• Q. nahta- “to slay; to hurt, injure, wound, to slay, [ᴱQ.] slay cruelly; [Q.] to hurt, injure, wound” ✧ PE22/156

Variations

• ndakta ✧ PE22/156

banga-

verb. to trade, to trade, *sell

Changes

• bactha- → banga ✧ Ety/MBAKH

Cognates

• ᴹQ. manka- “to trade” ✧ Ety/MBAKH

Derivations

• ᴹ√MBAKH “exchange” ✧ Ety/MBAKH

Element in

• ᴺS. bangad “trade, trading”
• ᴺS. bangath “market”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√MBAKH > banga	[mbaŋkʰa-] > [mbaŋxa-] > [baŋxa-] > [baŋga-]	✧ Ety/MBAKH

Variations

• banga ✧ Ety/MBAKH
• bactha- ✧ EtyAC/MBAKH (bactha-)

dag-

verb. to slay

dag-

verb. to slay

Cognates

• ᴹQ. nak- “to kill, slay; to hate”

Derivations

• On. ndak- “to slay” ✧ Ety/NDAK
  • ᴹ√(N)DAK “slay” ✧ Ety/NDAK

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
On. ndakie > degi	[ndakie] > [dakie] > [dekie] > [deki] > [degi]	✧ Ety/NDAK

osgar-

verb. to cut round, to amputate

rhista-

verb. to cut

rhista-

verb. to rend, rip

rhest

noun. cut

rhest

noun. cut

Cognates

• ᴹQ. rista “cut” ✧ Ety/RIS²

Derivations

• ᴹ√RIS “slash, rip” ✧ Ety/RIS²

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√RIS > rhest	[rista] > [resta] > [rest] > [r̥est]	✧ Ety/RIS²