olor

noun. dream, vision

A word for a “dream” or “vision” with variant forms olor and olos, derived from the root √OLO-S “vision, phantasy” (UT/396).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where ᴱQ. olor or olōre “dream” appeared under the early root ᴱ√LORO or ᴱ√OLOR, both elaborations of ᴱ√OLO (QL/56, 69). Both noun forms were also mentioned in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/69). The Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s had ᴹQ. olar “dream” (PE21/33), but in The Etymologies written around 1937 this again became ᴹQ. olor “dream” from the root {ᴹ√OLOR >>} ᴹ√OLOS “dream” (Ety/LOS, ÓLOS; EtyAC/ÓLOS).

In one set of late notes in connection to Gandalf’s name Olórin, Tolkien modified its meaning:

> Olor is a word often translated “dream”, but that does not refer to (most) human “dreams”, certainly not the dreams of sleep. To the Eldar it included the vivid contents of their memory, as of their imagination: it referred in fact to clear vision, in the mind, of things not physically present at the body’s situation. But not only to an idea, but to a full clothing of this in particular form and detail (UT/396).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would mainly use the form olor (archaic †olos) with the basic meaning “dream” that this word had for much of Tolkien’s life. I would assume that its derivation from ✱olos was influenced by its plural form olori < olozi and also by the related root √(O)LOR. Given Tolkien’s late note above, however, I think this word can also apply to waking visions, as well as particularly vivid memories or imagined forms.

olor

dream

olor noun "dream" (LOS, ÓLOS, LT1:259 [the latter source also gives olórë]); perhaps changed by Tolkien to olos, q.v.

olos

dream, vision

olos (1) noun "dream, vision" (olor-, as in pl. olori from earlier olozi) _(UT:396). _Cf. olor and see lár #2.

olos

noun. dream, vision

olórëa

dreamy

olórëa adj. "dreamy" (LT1:259 replaced by olosta, UT:396?)

olorië

noun. theory

olorda

adjective. dreamy, drowsy; in dreams

olosta

adjective. dreamy, dreamy, *dreamlike

An adjective for “dreamy” appearing in notes from the 1960s as a derivative of the root √OLO-S (UT/396).

Conceptual Development: The word ᴱQ. olōrea appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with the gloss “dreamy” under the root ᴱ√LORO (QL/56) and the gloss “dreamlike” under the root ᴱ√OLOR (QL/69), in both cases an adjectival form of ᴱQ. olōre “dream”.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d use olosta for things that are dream-like, and ᴺQ. olorda for people in a dream-like state.

ambar

breast

ambar (3) noun ""breast" (chest), with stem in -s- or -r- (QL:30). The form ambar, translated "in bosom", occurs in MC:213 (this is "Qenya"). Note: if this word were to be adapted to LotR-style Quenya, we should probably have to read *ambas with stem ambar-; compare olos, olor- "dream" from a late source. However, the form ambos (q.v.) is less ambiguous and may be preferred.

cár

head

cár (cas-) ("k")noun "head" (KAS).The given stem-form appears doubtful within the phonological framework of LotR-style Quenya. Probably we should read cas with stem car- (PE14:69 indeed reads "kas head, pl. kari", and VT49:17 quotes the sg. "kas" from a post-LotR source). Compare other forms found in late sources: hlas "ear" with stem hlar- (PE17:62) and olos "dream", pl. olori (UT:396). In Tolkiens early "Qenya", post-vocalic -s became -r at the end of words but was preserved when another vowel followed. His later scheme either lets -r appear in both positions, or reverses the scenario altogether (hence olos, olor-). It would seem that the forms cár, cas- were distractedly carried over into the Etymologies from the Qenya Lexicon (kar, kas-, QL:45) even though they presuppose an earlier version of the phonology. An apparent variant form in late material, cára from earlier cáza ("k"), however fits the later phonology since intervocalic s would become z > r (PE17:188).

lár

ear

lár (2) noun "ear" (?). Tolkien's wording is not clear, but ¤lasū is given as an ancient dual form "(pair of) ears"; Quenya lár could represent the old singular las- (LAS2). In a post-LotR source, Tolkien derives hlas "ear" (dual hlaru) from a stem SLAS(PE17:62). Initial hl- rather than l- reflects the revised form of the stem (LAS becoming SLAS), and in the later version of the phonology, postvocalic -s does not become -r when final. Compare the noun "dream", given as olor in the Etymologies (LOS), but as olos pl. olori in a later source (UT:396)

lórë

noun. dream, [ᴹQ.] slumber, *sleep; [Q.] dream

A word for “dream” in Tolkien’s later writings, most notably as an element in Lórien “✱Dream Lands” (Let/308; PE17/80). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, however, ᴹQ. lóre was glossed “slumber” under the root {ᴹ√LOR >>} ᴹ√LOS “sleep” (Ety/LOS).

Neo-Quenya: I generally use √LOR for “sleep” and √OLOS for “dream” for purposes of Neo-Eldarin. As such, I would use lóre for both “slumber, ✱sleep” and “dream” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, likely a blending of primitive ✱lōre and ✱lōse. But I would use it more for a “(dreamful) sleep”, with olor as the proper word for “dream” or “vision”.

ambos

breast

ambos (ambost-) noun "breast" (chest). PE16:82

cas

head

cas ("k")"head" (VT49:17), cf. also deleted [cas] ("k")noun "top, summit" (VT45:19). This noun should evidently have the stem-form car-. See cár.

cas

noun. head, head, [ᴱQ.] top, summit

This is the Quenya word for “head”, with a stem form of car- because medial s generally became z and then r, but the s was preserved when final. This word can refer to the head of people and animals, as well as the metaphorical “head” (or top) of other things, in much the same way that Q. tál “foot” can refer to their base.

Conceptual Development: This word was established very early in Tolkien’s writing, being derived from the root ᴱ√KASA “head” all the way back in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/45), but its exact form varied as Tolkien changed his mind on the phonetic development of s in Quenya. Its form in the Qenya Lexicon was in fact ᴱQ. kar (kas-), since in Early Qenya period medial s survived and it was final s that became r (PE12/26). This kar (kas-) was the usual word for head in the 1910s and 20s, but in the typescript version of the Early Qenya Grammar Tolkien instead revised it to ᴱQ. kas (kast-) “head” (PE14/72 and note #5).

In noun declensions from the late 1920s and early 1930s, Tolkien instead had cas (car-), reflecting a conceptual shift in the phonologic development of s (PE13/112-113; PE21/22). However, for reasons unclear, the form ᴹQ. kár (kas-) was restored in The Etymologies written around 1937 under the root ᴹ√KAS “head” (Ety/KEM), despite s > z > r being the normal medial phonetic development in this period (PE19/33). This abnormal form slipped into The Lord of the Rings itself as part of the name Q. Eldacar “Elfhelm” (LotR/1038).

Tolkien generally used the form cas for “head” in his later writings (PE19/103; PE23/49; VT49/17), but in his notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien was forced to contrive another explanation for Eldacar:

> What is -kar in names. How could it stand for helm? E.g. as stem ✱kāsā (√KAS, head) would give kāra, but in compound forms -kāsă > -kas. Would not an ă be lost before voicing of s or at least before z > r (PE17/114).

In this note Tolkien considered having Q. carma “helm” < kas-mā, but discarded the idea since he felt karma “tool or weapon” < KAR “do, make” + mā was the more likely meaning. He then said “Eldă|kāzā in compounds to -kār(ă) > -kar” despite its phonological implausibility, and indeed kāza/kára appeared in a discussion of helms within 1964 notes on Dalath Dirnen (DD: PE17/188).

In Tolkien’s earlier writings the word kas was also frequently translated “top”, such as the glosses “head, top” in Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s (PE14/79), “top, summit” in the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s (PE15/78), and the early-1930s allative form kasta “up (to the top)” (PE21/22).

Neo-Quenya: I would assume this second meaning “top” survived in Tolkien’s later conception of the language, analogous to English “head of the stairs”. Unlike English, I would not assume cas could be used for “front”, as in “head of the line”.

cára

noun. head

hlas

ear

hlas noun "ear", stem hlar- as in the dual form hlaru (PE17:62). Compare lár #2.

hlas

noun. ear

The Quenya word for “ear” is derived from primitive √S-LAS, an elaboration of √LAS “listen” (PE17/62, 77). It had a stem form of hlar- because medial s generally became z and then r, but the s was preserved when final.

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s the word for “ear” was derived directly from ᴹ√LAS “listen”, and had the form lár (Ety/LAS²). This seems to be a brief reversion to Early Qenya phonology of the 1910s, where medial s survived and it was final s that became r (PE12/26); compare to ᴹQ. kár (kas-) “head”, also from The Etymologies (Ety/KAS). In that document, the Noldorin word for “ear” was N. lhewig, a singular form based on the fossilized dual lhaw (Ety/LAS²). The voiceless lh- in this word was the result of the Noldorin sound-change of the 1930s whereby ancient initial r-, l- were unvoiced.

This Noldorin word made it into Lord of the Rings drafts as part of Amon Lhaw “Hill of Hearing, (lit.) Hill of Ears” (TI/364), a form that Tolkien retained in the published version (LotR/393). Since the unvoicing of initial l was no longer a feature of Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s, Tolkien needed to contrive a new derivation from primitive √S-LAS, which also necessitated a change in the Quenya cognate to voiceless initial hl-.

Early Qenya words for “ear” from the 1910s had a completely different basis. They include ᴱQ. ankar (ankas-) “ear (of men)”, ᴱQ. qan (qand-) “ear”, and ᴱQ. unk (unq-) “ear (of animals)” from the Qenya Lexicon, all based on the root ᴱ√ṆQṆ (QL/31, 76, 98). The last of these reappeared as unko “ear” in the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s and contemporaneous word lists (PE14/52, 76, 117; PE15/71), but seems to have been abandoned by the 1930s.

lorda

drowsy, slumbrous

lorda adj. "drowsy, slumbrous" (LT1:259)

maur

dream, vision

maur noun "dream, vision" (LT1:261)

olosta

dreamy

olosta adj. "dreamy" (UT:396)

(o)lor

root. dream, vision, [ᴹ√] sleep, [ᴱ√] doze, slumber; [√] dream, vision

Tolkien used similar roots for “dream” and “sleep” throughout his life, but the exact details varied. In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s he gave the root ᴱ√OLO as the basis for the names ᴱQ. Eriol “a dreamer” and ᴱQ. Olofantor who had to do with sleep (QL/69). It had an extended form ᴱ√OLOR with derivatives like ᴱQ. olóre “dream”, but Tolkien indicated these form more properly belonged to the root ᴱ√LORO (QL/69). The entry for ᴱ√LORO had glosses “doze, slumber”, along with derivatives like ᴱQ. lor- “slumber”, ᴱQ. lorda “slumbrous, drowsy”, and ᴱQ. Lôrien “King of Dreams” (QL/56). Various derivatives also appeared in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. lor- “sleep deep, dream (tr.)”, G. lorc “drowsy, dreamy, lazy”, and G. lûr “slumber” (GL/54, 55), along with G. olma- “dream” and G. oloth “dream, apparition, vision”, probably from ᴱ√OLO³ (GL/62).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien first gave the root ᴹ√LOS, revised it to ᴹ√LOR, and then back to ᴹ√LOS (EtyAC/LOS). Tolkien also gave an augmented variant ᴹ√OLOR, which was likewise altered to ᴹ√OLOS (EtyAC/ÓLOS). The unaugmented root was glossed “sleep”, and the augmented root “dream”. The unaugmented root had derivatives like ᴹQ. lóre “slumber” and ᴹQ. lorna “sleep” (Ety/LOS), with Noldorin cognates N. lhûr “slumber” and N. lhorn “asleep” rejected after ᴹ√LOR >> ᴹ√LOS (EtyAC/LOS). The augmented root had derivatives ᴹQ. olor “dream”, N. ôl “dream”, and N. oltha- “to dream” (Ety/ÓLOS). The Quenya form ᴹQ. olor may reflect Tolkien indecision in this period on the development of final -s: compare ᴹQ. kár (kas-) “head” (Ety/KAS). Ultimately he would decide that final -s survived, and intervocalic -s- > -r-, making the derivation of ᴹQ. olor from ᴹ√OLOS somewhat dubious.

In both the 1910s and 1930s, lor- forms were more closely associated with “sleep” and ol- forms with “dreams”. In writings from the 1950s and 60s, the only attested associations for these roots were with “dreams” and “visions”. Tolkien gave √OLOR “vision (of mind)” (PE17/88), olo-s “vision, fantasy” (UT/396) and √OLOS/R “dream” (PM/341). This last mention of the root was from The Shibboleth of Fëanor from the late 1960s, which indicated the root was an extension √OL, but Tolkien continued to use Q. lórë for “dream” in this period (PE17/80; Let/308), and the unaugmented root √LOR was mentioned in passing (without gloss) in a discussion of the root √DOR (PE17/181).

In later writings, Tolkien also used √OLOR or √OLOS as the basis for the true name of Gandalf: Q. Olórin (PE17/88; UT/396). In connection to that name Tolkien wrote:

> olo-s: vision, “phantasy”: Common Elvish name for “construction of the mind” not actually (pre)existing in Eä apart from the construction, but by the Eldar capable of being by Art (Karmë) made visible and sensible. Olos is usually applied to fair constructions having solely an artistic object, i.e. not having the object of deception, or of acquiring power (UT/396).

And also:

> Olor is a word often translated “dream”, but that does not refer to (most) human “dreams”, certainly not the dreams of sleep. To the Eldar it included the vivid contents of their memory, as of their imagination: it referred in fact to clear vision, in the mind, of things not physically present at the body’s situation. But not only to an idea, but to a full clothing of this in particular form and detail (UT/396).

Thus in Tolkien’s later conception, perhaps the most accurate translation of the root would be “(mental) vision”, not properly connected to “sleep” or “(sleeping) dreams” at all. However, the translation of the root as “vision of the mind” seems to have been intertwined with Galdalf’s Quenya name, and remnants of early ideas continued to appear, most especially the long-lived name Q. Lórien “✱Dream Lands” (S/28) as well as S. Lothlórien “Dream Flower” (LotR/467).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, using this root only for “vision of the mind” is problematic, in that it leaves us no good words for “sleep” or “(ordinary) dream”, nor any good explanation for the name (Loth)lórien. I think it is better to hearken back to earlier notions, and assume two distinct roots that influenced each other: √LOR “sleep” and √OLOS “dream, vision”. In Sindarin their derivatives would remain distinct, but in Quenya the two produce similar results, so that Q. lórë came to meaning “dreaming sleep”, usable for either dreams or sleep or both, where Q. olos properly meant “vision of the mind”, but sometimes took the form olor under the influence of √LOR.

kas

root. head

The root for “head” was established very early in Tolkien’s Elvish languages, appearing in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as ᴱ√KASA “head” (QL/45), though in this period its Qenya derivative was ᴱQ. kar (kas-) because [[eq|final [s] became [r]]] in Early Quenya (PE12/26). It had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. cas “head, skull” (GL/25), a word that reappeared in Early Noldorin word lists of the 1920s as ᴱN. cas “skull” (PE13/140).

The root ᴹ√KAS “head” reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, still with the form ᴹQ. kár (kas-) “head” (Ety/KAS), but Tolkien eventually abandoned the Early Qenya phonology and the Quenya form became Q. kas after some vacillation (PE19/103). The root √KAS “head” continued to appear frequently in Tolkien’s later writing (PE17/114; PE21/70; VT42/12).

kas

noun. head

slas

root. ear

slas

noun. ear

ôl

noun. dream

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “dream” derived from the root ᴹ√OLOS of the same meaning (Ety/LOS, ÓLOS). It replaced a deleted form oll (EtyAC/LOS). It had an abnormal plural form elei “dreams”, derived from primitive olosī, where the intervocalic s was lost resulting in a diphthong. Following Sindarin plural patterns, the result is more likely to be ely “dreams”; see thely < ✱tholosī the (archaic) plural of S. thôl (PE17/188).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had some similar words: G. oloth or olor “a dream, apparition, vision” and G. olm “a dream” (GL/62), all based on the early root ᴱ√OLO (QL/69).

dôl

noun. head

dôl

noun. hill or mountain

lhaw

noun. ears (referring to one person's pair of ears only)

lhewig

noun. ear

lhewig

noun. ear

oltha-

verb. to dream

ôl

noun. dream

huzun

noun. ear

A noun translated as “ear” and fully declined as an example of a Strong I noun (SD/430).

bund

noun. head

-dhol

head

_ suff. _head (often applied to hills or mountains that had _not _a sharp apex). >> Fanuidhol

dol

noun. head

dol

noun. hill or mountain

dol

head

_ n. _head (often applied to hills or mountains that had _not _a sharp apex). >> -dhol, doll, Dol-fanui, Fanuidhol

doll

head

_ n. _head (often applied to hills or mountains that had _not _a sharp apex). >> -dhol, dol, Dol-fanui, Fanuidhol

lhaw

noun. ears (referring to one person's pair of ears only)

lheweg

noun. ear

The Sindarin word for “ear” was derived from primitive √S-LAS, an elaboration of √LAS “listen” (PE17/62). Its singular form lheweg is somewhat unusual. Based on its Quenya cognate Q. hlas (< ✶slas), its historical singular should probably be ✱lhâ. However, the modern Sindarin form was actually based on the (fossilized) dual lhaw < ✶slasū, from which a singular form lheweg “ear” was derived using the singular suffix -eg < -ikā (PE23/136), though it isn’t clear why the base vowel also changed from a to e since a-affection normally precedes (and prevents) i-affection.

The typical word for “ears” is the fossilized dual lhaw, but that can only be used to refer to the pair of ears on a single person, and this lhaw is treated as singular noun for purposes of verb and adjective agreement. When referring to multiple ears more generally, the plural lhewig is used (PE23/136).

Conceptual Development: Tolkien described a similar scenario in The Etymologies of the 1930s, except the singular was N. {lhaweg >>} lhewig and it was derived directly from ᴹ√LAS “listen” (Ety/LAS²; EtyAC/LAS²). The voiceless lh- in this word was the result of the Noldorin sound-change of the 1930s whereby ancient initial r-, l- were unvoiced. This Noldorin dual lhaw made it into Lord of the Rings drafts as part of Amon Lhaw “Hill of Hearing, (lit.) of Ears” (TI/364), a form that Tolkien retained in the published version (LotR/393). Since the unvoicing of initial l was no longer a feature of Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s, Tolkien needed to contrive a new derivation from primitive √S-LAS.

The Gnomish word for “ear” from the 1910s had a completely different basis: it was G. unc “ear, handle (of a jar)” (GL/75), cognate to ᴱQ. unk derived from the root ᴱ√ṆQṆ (QL/98).

dôl

head

dôl (i dhôl, construct dol) (hill), pl. dŷl (i nŷl). Note: In the Etymologies, this word was derived from a root with initial nd- (NDOL), which would make the mutations different (i nôl, pl. i ndŷl). However, the later name Fanuidhol "Cloudyhead" apparently indicates that the lenited form of this d was later to be dh (whereas it would be n if the former derivation had been maintained).

dôl

head

(i dhôl, construct dol) (hill), pl. dŷl (i nŷl). Note: In the Etymologies, this word was derived from a root with initial nd- (NDOL), which would make the mutations different (i nôl, pl. i ndŷl). However, the later name Fanuidhol "Cloudyhead" apparently indicates that the lenited form of this d was later to be dh (whereas it would be n if the former derivation had been maintained).****

lhaw

ears

(?i thlaw or ?i law).

lhewig

ear

lhewig (?i thlewig or ?i lewig the lenition product of lh is uncertain). This ia a singular formed from the collective

lhewig

ear

(?i thlewig or ?i lewig – the lenition product of lh is uncertain). This ia a singular formed from the collective

oltha

dream

(verb) oltha- (i oltha, in olthar)

oltha

dream

(i oltha, in olthar)

olui

な^hJ adjective. dreamy

Ol (dream) + -ui (full, having that quality)

olui

adjective. dreamy

A neologism for “dreamy” coined by Fiona Jallings, an adjectival form of [N.] ôl “dream”.

ôl

dream

(noun) ôl (in compounds olo-; pl. ely for archaic öly). The pl. ely is the suggested Sindarin equivalent of ”Noldorin” elei (LR:379 s.v. OLOS)

ôl

dream

(in compounds olo-; pl. ely for archaic öly). – The pl. ely is the suggested Sindarin equivalent of ”Noldorin” elei (LR:379 s.v. OLOS)