Quenya 

mól

slave, thrall

mól noun "slave, thrall" (MŌ, VT43:31)

mól

noun. slave, slave, [ᴹQ.] thrall

A noun meaning “slave” or “thrall”, from primitive ✶mōl derived from the root √ having to do with “labour” (VT43/31; Ety/MŌ).

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon from the 1910s the word for “slave” or “servant” was ᴱQ. virt or vartyo, derived from the root ᴱ√VṚTYṚ “serve” (QL/102). In the two variants, either the [[eq|short syllabic [ṛ] became [ir] before palatalized [tʲ]]], or [[eq|long syllabic [ṝ] became [ar]]]. This word appeared as an element in the name ᴱQ. Virtinoldor “Thrall-Noldoli” for those Noldor enslaved by Melko(r) in the early tales (PE14/9).

In the Gnomish Lexicon from the same period, another Qenya word for “slave” or “servant” was given as ᴱQ. norka derived from primitive ᴱ✶norokā́ (GL/31), though its relationship to other roots is unclear.

The form ᴹQ. mól first appeared in The Etymologies from the 1930s, already having the derivation given above (Ety/MŌ). This word also appeared in Tolkien’s later writings from the 1950s (VT43/31). A later term for "Slave Noldorin” was ᴹQ. Mólanoldorin (Ety/MŌ; LR/177), a strong indication that mól replaced Early Qenya virt.

Cognates

  • N. mûl “slave, thrall”

Derivations

  • mōl “slave, slave, [ᴹ✶] thrall” ✧ VT43/31
    • “labour, be afflicted” ✧ VT43/31

Element in

  • ᴺQ. mólië “slavery, thralldom”

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
mō-l > mōl[mōl]✧ VT43/31

Variations

  • mōl ✧ VT43/31