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 √MŌ 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
  • √MŌ “labour, be afflicted” ✧ VT43/31

Element in

• ᴺQ. mólië “slavery, thralldom”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶mō-l > mōl	[mōl]	✧ VT43/31

Variations

• mōl ✧ VT43/31

mûl

slave

mûl (i vûl, construct mul) (thrall), pl. muil (i muil)

mûl

slave

(i vûl, construct mul) (thrall), pl. muil (i muil)

mûl

thrall

mûl (i vûl, construct mul) (slave), pl. muil (i muil)

mûl

thrall

(i vûl, construct mul) (slave), pl. muil (i muil)

snaga

masculine name. slave

snaga

noun. slave

Variations

• Snaga ✧ WJI/Snaga

mōl

noun. slave, slave, [ᴹ✶] thrall

Derivations

• √MŌ “labour, be afflicted” ✧ VT43/31

Derivatives

• Q. mól “slave, slave, [ᴹQ.] thrall” ✧ VT43/31

Variations

• mō-l ✧ PE21/71; VT43/31
• mólu ✧ PE22/148 (mólu)

mûl

noun. slave, thrall

mûl

noun. slave, thrall

A noun meaning “slave” or “thrall”, from primitive ᴹ✶mōl derived from the root ᴹ√MŌ having to do with “labour” (Ety/MŌ). In Noldorin, a [[on|primitive long [ō] became [ū]]] (PE18/96; PE19/91).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, one word for “slave” was G. guinir, apparently an agental form of the adjective guin “possessed”. The suffix -(n)ir was usually limited to feminine word, so perhaps this word was exclusively female.

Another word for “slave” or “servant” was G. drog (GL/31), and the word ᴱN. drog “slave” reappeared in the Early Noldorin word lists of the 1920s (PE13/142, 155). This word was derived from primitive ᴱ✶norokā́ > ✱nrokā after which the [[g|initial [nr] becoming [dr]]] (GL/31), though at this stage its relationship to other roots is unclear.

Neo-Sindarin: This form did not appear in Tolkien’s later writings as Sindarin, but its Quenya cognate mól did, along with its primitive form and its root (VT43/31).

Cognates

• Q. mól “slave, slave, [ᴹQ.] thrall”
• ᴹQ. mól “slave, thrall” ✧ Ety/MŌ

Derivations

• ᴹ✶mōl “slave, thrall” ✧ Ety/MŌ
  • ᴹ√MŌ “*labour” ✧ Ety/MŌ

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶mōl- > mûl	[mōlǝ] > [mōl] > [mūl]	✧ Ety/MŌ