ron

root. arch over, roof in

This root first appeared as ᴹ√ROD “roof, cave” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like N. rosta- “to hollow out, excavate” and ᴹQ. rondo/N. rhonn “cave”, having instead the sense “domed roof” in Ilk. rond which served as the basis for (at the time Ilkorin) name Ilk. Elrond = “vault of heaven” (Ety/ROD; EtyAC/ROD). In the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, Tolkien instead had the second element of this name as S. rond “a vaulted or arched roof as seen from below (and usually not visible from outside); a (large) hall or chamber so roofed” as a derivative of ✱rono “arch over, roof in” (WJ/414).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is best to assume this root was √ROD, because some of its early forms (rosta-) can be derived from this root but not later RON(D)-.

ron

root. solid, tangible, firm

A root in Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 glossed “solid, tangible, firm” with derivative Q. ronda “solid, firm” (PE17/183). It had a couple variants: √GRON > S. grond “solid, tangible, firm”, also the name of Melkor’s hammer, as well as √SRON > Q. hrón/S. rhû “matter” and Q. hrondo/S. rhond “body”. The root √SRON appeared again with the gloss “flesh, substance, matter” in etymological notes associated with the essay Of Death and the Severance of Fëa and Hrondo from the late 1950s, along with both Q. hrón “matter” and Q. hrondo “physical body” (MR/231 note #26). However, in the title of this essay hrondo was revised to Q. hröa (MR/217), elsewhere derived from primitive ✶srawā (MR/350); see the entry on √SRAW for further discussion (MR/330).

Regarding S. grond: in The Etymologies of the 1930s this word was derived instead from the unglossed root ᴹ√RUD, which had derivatives ᴹQ. runda “rough piece of wood” and ON. runda > N. grond “club” (Ety/RUD); it also had strengthened variant ᴹ√G-RUD (EtyAC/G-RUD).

Neo-Eldarin: Despite the change of Q. hrondo >> Q. hröa, I think √SRON might be retained in the more limited sense “matter” rather than “flesh”, along with related root √(G)RON “solid” from 1957. As for ᴹ√RUD, it might also be retained, with S. grond [N. grond] “weighty; club” being a blending of ᴹ√RUD and √(G)RON.

gron

root. GRON

lepethron

noun. lepethron

sron

root. flesh, substance, matter, substance, matter, flesh

run

root. rub, grind, smooth, polish, rub, grind, smooth, polish; [ᴹ√] flat of hand or sole of foot

A root appearing in an undated note from around 1968 as part of an explanation for the tree-name S. lebethron, given as {√RON >>} √RUN “rub, grind, smooth, polish”, with a derivatives Q. runda “smooth, polished” and [deleted] ron “smoothed by polishing”, probably Sindarin (PE17/89).

The Etymologies of the 1930s instead had the root ᴹ√RUN “flat of hand or sole of foot” with derivatives like ᴹQ. runya/N. rhein “footprint”, and also as the basis for the final element of ᴹQ. tallune/N. tellen “sole of foot” (Ety/RUN). It’s conceivable the two iterations of the root are related based on the “smoothness” of the hand or foot.

ron

verb. smooth by polishing

v. smooth by polishing. Q. runda smooth, polish. RUN << RON.. This gloss was rejected.

ron

adjective. smoothed by polishing

gaearon

noun. ocean, (lit.) great sea

A word for “ocean” (PE17/27), “great sea” (PM/363) or “great ocean” (RGEO/64) variously attested as gae(a)ron (PE17/027; PE17/149; PM/363) or aearon (RGEO/65), and a combination of gaear or aear “sea” with the augmentative suffix -on (PE17/27, RGEO/65). Since I prefer gaear for sea; I also prefer gaearon or gaeron for “ocean”. Of these, I think gaeron is the ordinary form, and gaearon is more archaic or poetic.

rong

adverb. soon

-(r)on

suffix. agental suffix

A (masculine) agental suffix appearing as either -on or -ron. The -on variant is derived from ancient ✶-on(do), as seen in [N.] callon “hero” &lt; ᴹ✶kalrondō (Ety/KAL). The -ron variant arose from the addition of ✶-on(do) to the ancient agental suffix ✶-ro after vowel losses made that suffix indistinct. This can be seen most clearly in [N.] thavron “carpenter” &lt; [ON.] sthabro(ndo) &lt; ᴹ✶stabrō (Ety/STAB). Other times the reduced -r became syllabic -or, as in [N.] tavor “woodpecker, [lit.] knocker” &lt; tafr [tavr] &lt; ᴹ✶tamrō (Ety/TAM).

Sometimes the suffix -(r)on was specifically masculine, as in Ellon vs. Elleth “Elf (m./f.)” and [N.] odhron vs. odhril “parent (m./f.)” (WJ/363; Ety/ONO). Other times it seems to be more neutral in meaning, as in pethron “speaker” or mellon “friend” (PE18/100). As a suffix in names, -on is only masculine.

Conceptual Development: The suffix G. -(r)on dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, but in Early Noldorin Word lists of the 1920s, it usually appeared as ᴱN. -ion.

rû²

adverb. soon, anon

ron(go)

adverb. soon

ron (rongo)

adverb. soon

rato

soon

rato adv. "soon" (Arct)

-(r)on

suffix. agental suffix