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)-.

Derivatives

• ✶rondō “vaulted roof or chamber; cave; †heavens” ✧ WJ/414
  • Q. rondo “vaulted or arched roof, vaulted hall, vaulted or arched roof, vaulted hall; [ᴹQ.] cavern, cave” ✧ WJ/414
  • S. rond “(vaulted or arched) roof; vaulted chamber or cavern; heavens [as a roof of the world]” ✧ WJ/414
• Q. rondo “vaulted or arched roof, vaulted hall, vaulted or arched roof, vaulted hall; [ᴹQ.] cavern, cave” ✧ VT39/09

Variations

• ron ✧ VT39/09
• rono ✧ WJ/414; WJ/415