mar

masculine name. Mar

Another name for Aule in an very early name list of the Valar (PE14/12). It seems to be mar “Earth” used as a name.

mar

noun. house, home, dwelling (of men); -land, the Earth

mar

noun. grit, coarse grain or powder

markirya

noun. ark

mar vanwa tyaliéva

place name. Cottage of the Lost Play

The place where the earliest Lost Tales were told (LT1/14), a combination of mar “dwelling”, vanwa “lost” and the adjectival form of tyalie “play” (LT1A/Mar Vanwa Tyaliéva).

marasan

proper name. Tuesday

Alternate name of the first Tuesday in the Valinorean fortnight (PE14/22), a combination of mar “Earth” and sana “day”.

mardo

noun. dweller

A noun appearing as ᴱQ. mardo “dweller” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, apparently an agental form of ᴱQ. mar “dwelling” (QL/60).

Neo-Quenya: Since Q. mar(da) “dwelling” appears in Tolkien’s later writing (PE17/64, 107), I would keep ᴺQ. mardo “dweller” as well.

mard(a)-

verb. to grind, pulverize

A verb appearing as ᴱQ. mard- “grind, pulverize” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√MṚÐṚ (QL/63), where syllabic ṛ became ar as usual before a dental consonant (PE12/11). In a nearby comparison list of roots it was given as marda- “grind” (QL/63/11).

maru

noun. pulp

A word in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “pulp” and derived from the early root ᴱ√MARA “ripe, yellow” (QL/59).

marin

noun. (ripe) fruit (of apple type)

A word for a “(ripe) fruit” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√MARA having to do with ripeness (QL/59). Tolkien clarified that it was used for fruits “esp. [from] trees of the apple type” (QL/59) and “with pulp firm [and] seeds like apple” (QL/61). In the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa the word was simply glossed “fruit” (PME/59).

marinne

noun. fruit tree

A word for a “fruit tree” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with variants marinne and marinde, both elaborations of ᴱQ. marin “(ripe) fruit” (QL/59).

marmale

noun. beach

A noun for “beach” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, an elaboration of ᴱQ. marma “sand” (QL/63). It was also mentioned in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/63).

mar-

verb. to get ripe, come to ripeness, get ready, grow up, get mellow

marin(a)

adjective. ripe, mature

marma

noun. sand

A noun in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “sand”, a derivative of the root ᴱ√MṚŘṚ [MṚÐṚ] (QL/63). The word was also mentioned in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/63). In later writings, ᴹQ. litse was used for “sand” (Ety/LIT).

marda

noun. world

marilla

noun. pearl

mara-

verb. to dwell, live

mark

noun. ripe juice, sap, ooze, moisture

A word in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “ripe juice, sap, ooze, moisture” and derived from the early root ᴱ√MṚKṚ (QL/63).

marqa

adjective. oozy, juicy, moist

A word in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “oozy, juicy, moist” and derived from the early root ᴱ√MṚKṚ (QL/63).

mart

noun. a piece of luck

mart-

verb. to happen (impers.)

marta-

verb. to chance

marto

noun. fortune, fate, lot, luck

mara-

verb. to tarry, linger

marikta

noun. wrist

marinde

noun. fruit tree

mar vanwa·tyalien

*cottage of the lost play

mára

adjective. mighty, power[ful], doughty; good, excellent, useful (of things)

oilima markirya

The Last Ark

A Quenya poem that Tolkien presented in conjugation with his talk on “A Secret Vice” in 1931 (MC/213-5). The poem itself was written somewhat earlier, and there are ten extant drafts, as discussed in the Early Qenya Poetry article in PE16 (PE16/53-87).

The Qenya text and translation presented here are from the version of the poem on MC/213-5, with each phrase corresponding to a line of the poem. My analysis follows closely after the editors of the Early Qenya Poetry article: Gilson, Welden, and Hostetter (PE16/81-87). Detailed analysis appears in the discussion of individual phrases.

Conceptual Development: As discussed in the Early Qenya Poetry article, there were a number of drafts leading up to the Early Qenya poem presented here. The editors of the article divided the drafts up into two groups, which they label OM1a-g leading up to OM1, and OM2a preceding OM2, the last of these being the version presented here.

The first six drafts, OM1a-f, are clearly incremental developments of the same poem. For the most part, they are additions and refinements on the same text without major modifications. Accompanying the fourth draft (OM1d) is an English translation, which the editors labeled LA1a (PE16/68), which closely matches that iteration of the poem. At this point is seems that Tolkien began to work seperately on the Qenya and English versions of the poem. The next two Qenya drafts, OM1e and OM1f built on OM1d, but the following three English translations, labeled LA2a-c by the editors of the Early Qenya Poetry article (PE16/69-71) diverged into what was essentially an entirely new poem, albeit addressing the same subject matter.

At this point Tolkien produced one final draft based on the original Qenya development, labeled OM1 by the editors, along with a new English translation of that version. The final draft of this version of the poem was published by Christopher Tolkien as the “first version of Oilima Markirya” in an addendum to the “A Secret Vice” essay (MC/220-221).

Tolkien then cleaned up the divergent English poem and translated it back into Qenya, thereby producing a “second version” which he presented in his 1931 talk. There is also one draft of this second version, label OM2a by the editors of the Early Qenya Poetry article (PE16/81), but it is nearly identical to the version appearing with the essay.

I discuss the structure and development of the first version of the poem in a separate entry: Oilima Markirya (First Version), including a discussion of the first six drafts leading up to it: OM1a-f. Note that the seventh draft of the original Qenya poem, labeled OM1g by the editors of the Early Qenya Poetry article (PE16/77), does not match either the first or second versions of the poem, or any of the English translations, and seems to be an experimental bridge between the first and second versions. I labeled that draft as Oilima Markirya (Intermediate Version) and discuss it in its own, seperate entry.

Four decades later, Tolkien produced yet another version of this poem based on his conceptions of the Quenya language towards the end of his life, and this version is discussed in the entry for the Q. Markirya poem.

talka marda

masculine name. Smith of the World

amarto

noun. fate

alas

noun. marble

A noun appearing as ᴱQ. alas (alast-) “marble” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s derived from primitive ᴱ✶ʒalast- (QL/30).

Neo-Quenya: I think this word may be salvageable in Neo-Quenya as ᴺQ. alas, reconceived as a derivative of ᴹ√GALAS “joy, be glad”, perhaps from ᴺ✶galast- originally with the sense “thing pleasant to touch”.

verin

adjective. married

An adjective appearing as ᴱQ. verin “married” in the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s, with a stem -nd (PE15/75).

Neo-Quenya: I would adapt this word as ᴺQ. verin “married” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, but ignore the stem verind- since suffixal -in is common for adjectives in Tolkien’s later writings, but -ind is not.

lopsi

noun. mare

A word in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “mare”, a feminine variant of ᴱQ. lópa “horse”, both words appearing under the early root ᴱ√LOPO (QL/56).

lunde susúlima

proper name. March

A name for the month of March in the Qenya Lexicon from the 1910s (QL/56), a combination of lunde “month” and susúlima “windy”.

aimaksin

noun. martyr (f.)

aimaktar

noun. martyr (m.)

aimaktu

noun. martyr (m.)

kondorie

noun. martial ardour

met

noun. mark, aim, object

veniel

noun. mariner

alasta

adjective. of marble, marble

A word in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s given as ᴱQ. alasta “of marble, marble”, an adjectival form of ᴱQ. alas (alast-) “marble” (QL/30).

Neo-Quenya: I think it might likewise be used in Neo-Quenya as ᴺQ. alasta, an adjectival form of ᴺQ. alas “marble”.

(a)kainusta

noun. wedding, marriage

A word in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “wedding, marriage”, a noun form of the verb ᴱQ. (a)kainu- “to wed” (QL/46).

teke-

verb. to mark; to write on, write

tet

noun. spot, mark

vesta-

verb. to wed, marry, join others in marriage; (refl.) to get married

lópa

noun. horse, mare

nyas

noun. scratch, score, line, mark

ripta-

verb. to cut in strips, tear up; to stripe, mark in parallel lines; to flay, flog

rípe

noun. line, margin, bank of stream, edging of grass, border

veringwi

noun. husband and wife, married pair

maksa-

verb. to cook

A verb appearing as ᴱQ. maksa- “cook” in the Qenya Lexicon under the early root ᴱ√M(B)ASA “cook, bake” (QL/59). A nearby alternate form mark- was added and then deleted.

Neo-Quenya: The root √MBAS continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writings, so I would retain ᴺQ. maxa- “cook” for purposes of Neo-Quenya from primitive ✱mbaskā-. The verbal suffix -kā is very unusual, and maxa- might instead be derived from an ancient noun or adjective.

sar-

verb. to write

A verb appearing as ᴱQ. sar- “write” in Early Qenya Word-lists from the 1920s. Hints at its later validity may be seen in Q. sarat, the names of the letters in the Sarati alphabet, and the root √SAR “score, incise; write”, both mentioned in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60.

Neo-Quenya: Most Neo-Quenya writers use [ᴹQ.] tec- as the ordinary word for write, given its obvious association to Q. tehta and Q. tengwa. One of the challenges with sar- for “write” is that in Tolkien’s later writings, √SAR is also associated with “stone”, as in S. sarn/Q. sar “(small) stone”. In a discussion on the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS) in April 2022, Röandil suggested restoring ᴺQ. sar- with the sense “to mark (i.e. by incision), notch, score; (by later extension) to write”. Based on this I invented the following (fan-based) etymology:

Given its derivatives, it seems likely that √SAR is associated with stone but also with marks, probably originally marks in stone but generalized from there to marks on other substances. From this sar- was used as the basis for the earliest system of writing, both as a verb and in the name sarati. However, with the introduction of Feanor’s tengwar alphabet, this word no longer seemed suitable for as a general writing word, and was displaced by tec-, originally also meaning “make a mark”, but not specifically associated with stone.

Since tec- now usually meant “write”, the archaic sense “mark, score” was restored to sar-. This was aided by the fact that sar- was primarily a transitive verb, and used some awkward constructions. In particular, with the verb sar-, the direct object was always the thing written on, rather than the thing written. Thus with sar-, the proper way to say “write a sentence on paper” was actually sare hyalin quettalénen “write [on] paper with a sentence [instrumental]”, a construction that still survives, though now somewhat archaic. Meanwhile, the direct object of tec- is the thing written, so one would say tece quettale hyalinesse “write a sentence on paper”.

Note that this last construction [sare hyalin quettalénen] is inspired by Tolkien’s usage of the ᴱQ. verb teke- from the 1910s (QL/90), and essentially reverses of the Early Qenya paradigm of the 1910s and 20s, switching the roles of tek- and sar-. There is no evidence that the above Neo-Quenya discussion matches Tolkien’s own thoughts on the subject, so it should be considered “etymological fan-fiction”.

(a)kainu-

verb. to wed

A verb for “to wed” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with variants kainu- and akainu- under the early root ᴱ√KAYA “lie, rest; dwell”, so perhaps originally meaning “✱to come to lie together”, but Tolkien marked the entire entry with a “?” (QL/46).

níva

adjective. pale

falmo

noun. foam

má

noun. hand

tekta-

verb. to write

vea

noun. sea

aile

noun. beach

ambarta

adjective. fated

aulisan

proper name. Tuesday

Name of the first Tuesday in the Valinorean fortnight (PE14/22), a combination of the name of the god Aule and sana “day”.

ausi-

prefix. well

dachen

adjective. slain

fuinen

proper name. Tuesday

Name of Tuesday in the seven-day week of the Elves (otsola) in an early word list (PE14/21). The day was related to death and sorrow, and was probably derived from Fui, a name of the Goddess Nienna.

hoiye

noun. foam

A noun in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s glossed “foam” (PE16/136). Its etymology is unclear.

indo

noun. house

A word for “house” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√IŘI [IÐI] “dwell” (QL/43). It also appeared in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/43).

kante

noun. edge

laiwa

adjective. pale

maksar

noun. cook

A word appearing as ᴱQ. maksar “cook” in the Qenya Lexicon based on maksa- “to cook” (QL/59).

Neo-Quenya: Since I retain ᴺQ. maxa- “to cook” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would also retain the noun ᴺQ. maxar “cook” as an agental formation.

makte

noun. hand

An archaic word for “hand” in Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, derived from the early root ᴱ√MAHA “grasp” (QL/57). There are no signs of it in Tolkien’s later writings.

mande

adverb. well

masta-

verb. to tarry, linger

mul(u)-

verb. to grind

A verb appearing as ᴱQ. mul- “grind” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√MULU “grind (fine)” (QL/63). In a nearby comparative list of roots it was given as mulu- “grind”.

Neo-Quenya: The 1968 word Q. mulë “meal” (PE17/115) indicates ✱√MUL survived in Tolkien’s later writing, so I would retain ᴺQ. mul- “to grind” for purposes of Neo-Quenya.

no

preposition. under

nu

preposition. under

qalmisan

proper name. Tuesday

Name of the second Tuesday in the Valinorean fortnight (PE14/22), a combination of qalme “death” and sana “day”.

ráqa

adjective. rough

sorakte

noun. beach

A word glossed “beach, etc.” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, a combination of the prefix ᴱQ. so- “together” with ᴱQ. rakte “pile, heap” (QL/85). It was also mentioned in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/85).

talqe

noun. glass

tampo

noun. well

A noun in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s given as ᴱQ. tampo “a well”, derived from the root ᴱ√TṂPṂ “build”; Tolkien considered transferring the word to ᴱ√TAPA “✱stretch” (QL/93). This word also appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/93).

Neo-Quenya: I think ᴺQ. tampo “well” might be salvaged in Neo-Quenya as a derivative of √TAM “construct”; it is used this way in Helge Fauskanger’s NQNT (NQNT).

tirin

place name. Tower

Name of Ingil’s tower in the earliest Lost Tales (LT2/5), it is simply tirin “tower” used as a name (LT1A/Kortirion).

tyusse

noun. sand

A word for “sand” from Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/139). Its etymology is unclear, and none of the words from this period with similar forms seem to be related.

túrea

adjective. mighty

uilosse

noun. foam

A (rejected) noun in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s glossed “foam” (PE16/139). Its etymology is unclear.

vande

adverb. well

vestale

noun. wedding

wasta-

verb. to dwell

A verb in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s appearing as wastar “I dwell” under the early root ᴱ√ẆAÐA of the same meaning (QL/102).

yarendilyon

noun. sailor

kainu-

verb. to wed