Quenya 

norima

adjective. strong/swift at running, swiftly running a course

An adjective appearing as nórima within the sentence nése nórima rokko “he was a horse strong/swift at running” in notes from the late 1960s (VT49/29). In Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 it was nŏrima “running, swiftly a course” with a short ŏ (PE22/156). In these notes Tolkien indicated that the suffix -ima only had stems with a long vowel for adjectives of possibility (from transitive verbs), and when used with intransitive verbs the stem had a short vowel, and had “the sense possessing to a high degree (at all times & by nature) the property mention[ed]”. As such, I think norima is the best form for this adjective.

Quenya [PE22/156; VT49/29] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nórima

strong/swift at running

nórima adj. "strong/swift at running" (VT49:29); see nor-

nésë nórima rocco

he was a horse strong/swift at running

nor-

verb. run (or leap: of animals, men etc.)

nor- vb. "run (or leap: of animals, men etc.)", pa.t. nornë (PE17:58, 168); cf. nórima, nornoro-

rocco

horse

rocco ("k")noun "horse" (ROK, SA:roch; Letters:382; cf. 282 where the spelling really is rocco, not rokko_). _In Letters:382 the word is defined as "swift horse for riding". VT46:12 refers to an alternative form of the entry ROK that was inserted into the Etymologies; here rocco, which Tolkien revised from ronco ("k"), was similarly glossed "swift horse". Nésë nórima rocco ("k") "he was a horse strong/swift at running" (VT49:29)

rocco

noun. horse

The usual word for “horse” in Quenya, a derivative of ✶rokkō (Let/282, 382; WJ/407) and very well attested. There are indications that this word was more specifically a “swift horse” (Let/382; EtyAC/ROK), but in most cases Tolkien used it generically.

Conceptual Development: ᴹQ. rokko “horse” first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√ROK, already with the derivation given above (Ety/ROK). The relevant entry appeared twice; in one rokko was first written as rokka “wheel”, and in the other the form was first written ronko, but in both cases Tolkien revised the word to rokko “horse”.

Quenya [Let/178; Let/282; Let/382; PE17/168; PE21/78; PE22/166; SA/roch; VT49/29; WJ/407] Group: Eldamo. Published by

mairo

horse

mairo noun "horse" (GL:56; later sources have rocco, olombo)

olombo

horse

olombo noun "horse" (derived from a base LOB which Tolkien later changed to LOP; hence read *olompo for olombo?)

rocco

noun. horse

Quenya [PE 22:166] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

Noldorin 

lobor

noun. horse

Noldorin [VT/45:28] Group: SINDICT. Published by

lobor

noun. horse, [heavy riding] horse

A word for “horse” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, derived from the root ᴹ√LOP (EtyAC/LOP). It did not appear in The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road, but Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne reported it in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies (VT45/28).

Conceptual Development: The similar word G. lobros “steed, horse” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/54), clearly based on the early root ᴱ√LOPO that was the basis for “horse” words in the Qenya Lexicon (QL/56). In The Etymologies, Tolkien first gave the root as ᴹ√LOB and the Noldorin form as {lum >>} lhuv, perhaps from ✱lōbo, but these were deleted and replaced by ᴹ√LOP and lobor.

Neo-Sindarin: Since Tolkien sometimes described S. roch as a “swift horse”, I’d assume lobor was a heavy riding horse or war horse.

Noldorin [EtyAC/LOP] Group: Eldamo. Published by

roch

noun. horse, swift horse for riding

Noldorin [Ety/384, S/436, Letters/178, Letters/282, Letter] Group: SINDICT. Published by

Adûnaic

karab

noun. horse

A noun translated “horse”, given by Tolkien as an example of how common-nouns can be altered into masculine and feminine forms using the suffixes and : karbî “mare” and karbû “stallion” (SD/434).

Adûnaic [SD/434; SD/435] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Sindarin 

roch

noun. horse, swift horse for riding

Sindarin [Ety/384, S/436, Letters/178, Letters/282, Letter] Group: SINDICT. Published by

roch

noun. horse

The usual word for “horse” in Sindarin, a derivative of ✶rokkō (Let/282, 382) and very well attested. There are indications that this word was more specifically a “swift horse” (Let/382; EtyAC/ROK), but in most cases Tolkien used it generically.

Conceptual Development: The first precursor to this word seems to be G. brog “horse” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/24), though at the time it had no Qenya cognates. ᴱN. brog “horse” reappeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/139), but by The Etymologies of the 1930s it had become N. roch “horse”, already with the derivation given above (Ety/ROK; EtyAC/ROK). Tolkien seems to have mainly stuck with this form thereafter.

Sindarin [Let/178; Let/282; Let/382; PE17/097; RC/241; SA/roch; UT/318] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lobor

horse

lobor, analogical pl. lebyr (VT45:28)

lobor

horse

analogical pl. **lebyr **(VT45:28)

roch

horse

(swift horse for riding) roch, pl. rych (idh rych) (Letters:282)

roch

horse

pl. rych (idh rych) (Letters:282)


Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Gnomish

brog

noun. horse

Gnomish [GG/09; GL/24; GL/64] Group: Eldamo. Published by

mair

noun. horse

An (archaic) word for “horse” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s given as {mairog >>} mair, cognate to ᴱQ. mairo (GL/56), which appeared as ᴱQ. mairu in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√MAẎA (QL/60).

Early Noldorin

brog

noun. horse

Early Noldorin [PE13/139; PE13/156] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Qenya 

olombo

noun. horse

A word for horse in The Etymologies of the 1930s, derived from the root ᴹ√LOP (EtyAC/LOP). This root did not appear in The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road, but Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne reported it in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies (VT45/28). Tolkien first gave the root as ᴹ√LOB, and it seems the form olombo was derived from this earlier form, and was not updated after {ᴹ√LOB >>} ᴹ√LOP, as pointed out by Hostetter and Wynne.

Conceptual Development: The word ᴱQ. lópa “steed, horse” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√LOPO that was the basis for “horse” words in the Qenya Lexicon (QL/56).

Neo-Quenya: Given the dubious derivation of olombo, I recommend limiting yourself to better attested Q. rocco “horse” for purposes of Neo-Quenya. If you do use it, it should probably be revised to ✱olompo.

Middle Primitive Elvish

lop

root. horse, [ᴱ√] *run (of animals), gallop, lope; [ᴹ√] horse

This root was the basis for horse words starting with the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where it appeared unglossed as ᴱ√LOPO (QL/56). It was compared to the root ᴱ√LOQO, and these roots include the verbs ᴱQ. lopo- “gallop, run (of animals)” and ᴱQ. loqo- “run (of human beings)”, and I think it likely that those were also the meanings of the roots (QL/56). In the Qenya Lexicon, ᴱ√LOPO had the derivatives ᴱQ. lōpa “horse or mare” and ᴱQ. lopsi “mare” (QL/56), but elsewhere in that document there was the word ᴱQ. lapatte “rabbit” < ᴱ✶lopatte, so I think that word is related as well, though Tolkien did mark the primitive form with a “?” (QL/51). The probably-related word ᴹQ. lopo “rabbit” appeared in a discussion of nouns from the early 1930s (PE21/31).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root ᴹ√LOP was glossed “horse”, and its derivatives ᴹQ. olombo and N. lobor had only that sense (EtyAC/LOP), but horse words were usually derived from ᴹ√ROK from the 1930s and later. The word Q. lopoldi “rabbits” appeared in some 1965 notes on Númenor, so it seems likely √LOP remained valid in some form. Another possibly related late word is S. ✱laba- “hop” as in S. Labadal “Hopafoot” (UT/60).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is worth retaining ᴹ√LOP with a verbal sense “✱run (of animals), gallop, lope”. In this way, it can remain the basis for rabbit words based on their loping run. The horse words from this root might be specialized for heavier loping horses like destriers, since ᴹQ. rokko was more specifically referred to a “swift horse” (EtyAC/ROK).

Middle Primitive Elvish [EtyAC/LOP] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Westron

loho

noun. horse