nem-

judge

[#nem- vb. "judge", attested as endingless aorist nemë, changed by Tolkien to hamë and finally to navë "in all but one case" (Bill Welden). Forms like námo "judge" and namna "statute" point rather to #nam- (q.v.) as a verb "to judge" (VT42:34); the verb namin "I judge" is even listed in Etym.]

nem-

sew

nem- vb. "sew" (cited in the form neme), pa.t. néme (QL:65)

nem-

verb. to judge

nam-

judge

#nam- vb. "judge", attested in the 1st person aorist: namin "I judge" (VT41:13). Compare Námo.

nam-

verb. to judge

Derivations

• √NAM “judge”

Element in

• Q. námië “single judgment or desire”
• ᴺQ. námima “culpable, (lit.) judgeable”
• ᴺQ. nammar “court, courthouse, (lit.) judgment-house”
• ᴺQ. námocombë “tribunal”
• Q. orë nin caritas nó namin alasaila “I would like / feel moved to do so but judge it unwise” ✧ VT41/13
• Q. Rithil-Anamo “Doom-ring”

Námo

judge

Námo (1) noun "Judge", name of a Vala, normally called Mandos, properly the place where he dwells (WJ:402)

lesta-

leave

lesta- (1) vb. "leave", pa.t. lendë (which is also the pa.t. of lelya-, q.v.) (ELED)

námo

noun. judge

Derivations

• √NAM “judge”

Element in

• Q. Námo “Judge, Ordainer”
• ᴺQ. námondur “court-attendant, (lit.) judge-servants”

Variations

• Námo ✧ WJ/402

ham-

judge

#ham- (2) vb. "judge", attested in the aorist form hamil "you judge". (VT42:33; notice the pronominal ending -l "you". See nemë. The verb #ham- with the meaning "judge" may seem to be an ephemeral form in Tolkien's conception.)

ham-

verb. to judge

Changes

• hame → năvin “judge” ✧ PE22/154

Element in

• Q. lá carita i hamil mára alasaila ná “not to do (in this case) what you judge good (would be) unwise” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33

Variations

• hame ✧ PE22/154 (hame)

nav-

judge

#nav- vb. "judge" (cited in the form navë, apparently the 3rd person aorist). Also given with pronominal suffixes: navin *"I judge" (Tolkien's free translation: "I think"), navilwë "we judge" (VT42:33, 4, VT48:11)

nav-

verb. to judge

Derivations

• √NDAB “to judge” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/34

Element in

• Q. alasaila ná lá carë tai mo nave mára “it is unwise not to do what one judges good” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/34
• Q. lá caritas, navin, alasaila ná “not doing this would be (I think) unwise” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/34
• Q. la navin caritalyas mára “I do not advise you to do so, (lit.) I don’t judge your doing (it) good” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√NDAB > năvin	[ndabin] > [ndaβin] > [naβin] > [navin]	✧ PE22/154
√ndab > nave	[ndabi] > [ndabe] > [ndaβe] > [naβe] > [nave]	✧ VT42/34

séya-

verb. to seem

Derivations

• ᴹ√THĒ “look (see or seem)”

nev-

verb. to seem, appear

Cognates

• Q. nem- “*to seem, appear, [ᴹQ.] to seem, appear”

Derivations

• √NEM “seem, appear”

badhron

judge

badhron (i vadhron), pl. bedhryn (i medhryn); also badhor (i vadhor), analogical pl. bedhyr (i medhyr)

badhron

judge

(i vadhron), pl. bedhryn (i medhryn); also badhor (i vadhor), analogical pl. bedhyr (i medhyr)

ther-

verb. to sew

A neologism for “to sew” coined by Fiona Jallings based on the root √THER (FJNS/353).

Cognates

• Q. ser- “*to sew”

Derivations

• ᴺ✶. THER “sew, sew; [ᴱ√] twine, tie, bind”

dav-

verb. to judge

Derivations

• √NDAB “to judge”

ther

root. sew

The root √THER or √SER “saw” appears in a discussion of the name Q. Vairë “Weaver” probably from the late 1950s, with Tolkien preferring √THER because it could be a variant of √TER “pierce” (PE17/33). That section of the discussion was rejected (PE17/34), but given Tolkien’s later use of †Þerindë > Q. Serindë “Broideress” or “Needlewoman” as a sobriquet for Fëanor’s mother Q. Míriel (MR/185; PM/333), it seems √THER “sew” survived. This root could be a later iteration of ᴱ√SERE “twine, tie, bind” from Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. serma “string, cord” and ᴱQ. serta- “tie” (QL/83); its Gnomish derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. ther- “tie” and G. theres “ribbon” make it clear the actual early root was ✱ᴱ√ÞERE (GL/72).

Derivatives

• Q. ser- “*to sew”

Variations

• SER ✧ PE17/033 (SER)

ndab

root. to judge

Derivatives

• ᴺQ. undav- “to condemn, damn, convict”
• Q. Námo “Judge, Ordainer” ✧ PE22/154
• Q. nav- “to judge” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/34
• ᴺS. dav- “to judge”

Element in

• ᴺQ. hrundav- “to condemn”

Variations

• NDAB ✧ PE22/154
• ndab ✧ VT42/34

nam Reconstructed

root. judge

A root implied by various Quenya words having to do with “judgement” from the 1950s and 60s, most notably Q. Námo “Ordainer, Judge” as the true name of Q. Mandos (S/28), a name that began to appear in documents starting in the early 1950s (PE21/85). The root is evident in other words from this period, such as Q. namna “statute” (MR/258), Q. námië “a single judgment or desire” (VT41/13) and the verb Q. nam- “judge” in the phrase: Q. ore nin karitas nō namin alasaila “I feel moved to do so but judge it unwise” (VT41/13). ✱√NAM might also be the basis for the second element of the name Q. Rithil-Anamo “Doom-ring”, the circle of thrones where the Valar sat in council (WJ/401).

In notes from 1969 Tolkien seems to have changed his mind of the root for “judge”, writing Q. nemin >> Q. hamin >> Q. navin for “I judge”, and giving a new root √NDAB “to judge” in a marginal note along with a revised name Návo to replace Námo (PE22/154, notes #53 and #55). This new root conflicts with √NDAB “endeavor, try” from earlier in the same bundle of documents (PE22/151).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would ignore the late change of ✱√NAM >> √NDAB “judge”, since ✱√NAM has more attested derivatives and Námo appears in the published Silmarillion. Also, all of the derivatives of this root are Quenya, and its possible use in the name Rithil-Anamo (coined in Valinor) imply that it might be a root invented after the Elves arrived in Aman. Thus I think it is best to treat it as Quenya-only root, and used ᴹ√BAD “judge” as the basis for (Neo) Sindarin words for judgement by retaining Noldorin words with these meanings from the 1930s (Ety/BAD).

Derivatives

• Q. nam- “to judge”
• Q. náma “judgment or desire”
• Q. namna “statute, statute, *law”
• Q. námo “judge”

ther

root. sew, sew; [ᴱ√] twine, tie, bind

Derivatives

• ᴺQ. serma “string, cord”
• ᴺS. ther- “to sew”
• ᴺS. theres “ribbon, tie”

badhor

noun. judge

badhor

noun. judge

Derivations

• ᴹ✶bad- “to judge” ✧ Ety/BAD
  • ᴹ√(M)BAD “duress, prison, doom, hell; *judge” ✧ Ety/BAD
• ᴹ✶mbād- “judgement, sentence” ✧ EtyAC/MBAD
  • ᴹ√(M)BAD “duress, prison, doom, hell; *judge” ✧ EtyAC/MBAD

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶bad- > badhor	[badro] > [baðro] > [baðr] > [baðor]	✧ Ety/BAD

Variations

• Badhor ✧ EtyAC/MBAD (Badhor)

badhron

noun. judge

badhron

noun. judge

Elements

Word	Gloss
badh-	“to judge”
-(r)on	“agental suffix”

Variations

• baðron ✧ Ety/BAD; EtyAC/MBAD (baðron)

badh-

verb. to judge

Derivations

• ᴹ✶bad- “to judge” ✧ Ety/BAD
  • ᴹ√(M)BAD “duress, prison, doom, hell; *judge” ✧ Ety/BAD

Element in

• N. badhron “judge” ✧ Ety/BAD
• ᴺS. bedhril “judge (f.)”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶bad- > bað-	[bad-] > [bað-]	✧ Ety/BAD

Variations

• bað- ✧ Ety/BAD (bað-)