oro-

rise

oro- (2) vb. "rise" (LT1:256; Tolkien's later Quenya has orta-, but cf. oro #1)

orta-

rise

orta- vb. "rise", also transitive "raise, lift up", pa.t. ortanë (Nam, RGEO:67, ORO; misreading "ortani" in Letters:426). According to PE17:63-64, this pa.t. form ortanë is only transitive ("raised"), whereas the intransitive pa.t. ("rose") is orontë. Cf. orya-.

orta/orya

verb. rise

orya-

rise

orya- vb. "rise" (intrasitive only, contrast orta-), pa.t. oronyë (PE17:64)

orontë

sunrise

orontë, oronto noun "Sunrise" (LT1:264). Notice that in Tolkiens later Quenya, orontë is also the intransitive pa.t. ("rose") of the verb orta- "rise/raise" (q.v.)

amuntë

sunrise

amuntë noun "sunrise" (LT2:335; Tolkien's later Quenya has anarórë)

anarórë

sunrise

anarórë noun "sunrise" (ORO)

orta-

verb. to rise

Derivations

• √RŌ/ORO “up(wards); rise (up), go high, mount, up(wards); rise (up), go high, mount; [ᴹ√] high, [ᴱ√] steepness, rising” ✧ PE17/063

Element in

• Q. Eldar oronter “the Elves arose” ✧ PE21/77

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√OR/ORO > órta-	[orta-]	✧ PE17/063

Variations

• orta ✧ PE17/052; PE22/164
• órta- ✧ PE17/064
• ortă ✧ PE22/157

orya-

verb. to rise

Derivations

• √RŌ/ORO “up(wards); rise (up), go high, mount, up(wards); rise (up), go high, mount; [ᴹ√] high, [ᴱ√] steepness, rising” ✧ PE17/063; PE22/156; PE22/163
• ✶orya- “to rise” ✧ PE22/157
  • √RŌ/ORO “up(wards); rise (up), go high, mount, up(wards); rise (up), go high, mount; [ᴹ√] high, [ᴱ√] steepness, rising” ✧ PE22/134

Element in

• ᴺQ. orina “risen”
• Q. ormo “riser”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√OR/ORO > óryă	[orja-]	✧ PE17/063
√OR > orya	[orja-]	✧ PE22/156
✶or-ṓryā̆ye > or-ṓryeı̯e > orórie	[orōrjaje] > [orōrjie] > [orōrie]	✧ PE22/157
√oro/ro > orya-	[orja-]	✧ PE22/163

Variations

• óryă ✧ PE17/064
• orya ✧ PE22/156; PE22/157
• orya- ✧ PE22/163

lós

flower

lós (þ?) noun "flower" (PE17:26). If this is to be the cognate of Sindarin loth, as the source suggests, the older Quenya form would be *lóþ.

lóte

noun. flower

lótë

flower

lótë noun "flower", mostly applied to larger single flowers (LOT(H), LT1:259, VT42:18). (The shorter form -lot occurs in compounds, e.g. fúmellot, q.v.) In the names Ninquelóte *"White-flower" (= Nimloth), Vingilótë "Foam-flower", the name of Eärendil's ship (SA:loth), also in Lótessë fifth month of the year, "May" (Appendix D). See also olótë, lotsë.

alba

noun. flower

alma

flower

alma (2) "flower" (PE17:153), said to be the "usual Quenya word" or "general Quenya word" (i.e. for flower), but its coexistence with #1 is problematic. Compare lós, lótë, lotsë, indil.

alma

noun. flower

A word for “flower” derived from primitive ✶galmā in notes on flowers in the same bundle containing Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 (PE17/153). Initially Tolkien said alma meant both “a blessed thing and a flower”, then said that Q. almë was “a blessed thing” and alba was “flower” (< √GAL-AB), before saying that alma was “flower”. Tolkien implied that alma was a usual or general word for “flower” in Quenya. These same notes also said the word alda < ✶galadā was used mainly of flowering trees. It seems in this instance Tolkien connected the root √GAL (normally just “grow, flourish”) specifically to flowers, giving it the gloss “bloom” along with other glosses like “grow, flourish, be vigorous”.

Neo-Quenya: Elsewhere alda was the general word for a “tree” and √GAL had no special connection to flowers. I think alma as a “flower” word was a transient idea. I would use lótë “flower” instead for purposes of Neo-Quenya, since it is much better established.

Changes

• alma → almë “a blessed thing and a flower” ✧ PE17/153
• alba → alma “flower” ✧ PE17/153

Cognates

• S. alf “flower” ✧ PE17/153

Derivations

• ✶galmā “flower” ✧ PE17/153
  • √GALAM “elm”
  • √GAL “grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, [ᴹ√] thrive” ✧ PE17/153
• √GALAB “flower” ✧ PE17/153
  • √GAL “grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, [ᴹ√] thrive” ✧ PE17/153

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶galmā > alma	[galmā] > [ɣalmā] > [almā] > [alma]	✧ PE17/153
√GAL-AB > alba	[galba] > [ɣalba] > [ɣalβa] > [alβa] > [alba]	✧ PE17/153

Variations

• alba ✧ PE17/153 (alba)

insil

noun. flower

TQ. flower, lily

merillë

noun. rose

A neologism for “rose” coined by Tamas Ferencz, inspired by S. meril of the same meaning.

Cognates

• S. meril “rose”

Derivations

• ᴹ√M(B)ER “*feast, festive”

tyulya-

verb. to rise

Derivations

• ᴹ√TYUL “stand up (straight), stand up (straight); [ᴱ√] tall”

meril

feminine name. Rose

A Sindarin translation of the name of Sam’s daughter “Rose”, presumably of the same meaning, appearing in Tolkien’s unpublished epilogue to The Lord of the Rings and in the King’s Letter (SD/126, 129). The etymology of the name is unclear.

Conceptual Development: In earlier versions of the epilogue the name appeared as N. Beril (SD/117).

Element in

• S. a Pherhael ar am Meril suilad uin aran o Minas Tirith nelchaenen ned Echuir “to Samwise and Rose the King’s greeting from Minas Tirith, the thirty-first day of Stirring” ✧ SD/129; SD/129
• S. ar Meril bess dîn, ar Elanor, Meril, Glorfinniel, ar Eirien sellath dîn “and Rose his wife; and Elanor, Rose, Goldilocks and Daisy his daughters” ✧ AotM/062; AotM/062; SD/129; SD/129

meril

noun. rose

A word for “rose” in the name Meril “Rose” of one of Samwise’s daughters (SD/126). The name was initially given as Beril (SD/117).

Cognates

• ᴺQ. merillë “rose”

Derivations

• ᴹ√M(B)ER “*feast, festive”

Element in

• S. Meril “Rose” ✧ SD/126

Variations

• Meril ✧ SD/126

meril

noun. rose (flower)

alf

noun. flower

Cognates

• Q. alma “flower” ✧ PE17/153

Derivations

• √GALAB “flower” ✧ PE17/153
  • √GAL “grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, [ᴹ√] thrive” ✧ PE17/153

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√GAL-AB > alf	[alba] > [alva] > [alv]	✧ PE17/153

loth

noun. flower

_n._flower, a single bloom. Q. lóte, lōs.

lotheg

noun. (single) flower

mallos

noun. a golden flower

niphredil

noun. a pale winter flower, snowdrop

ithil

noun. Moon

The usual name for the Moon in Sindarin, from an augmented form of the root √THIL (Let/425; Ety/THIL). This word is most likely the proper name of the Moon, analogous to English “Luna”: in The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien indicated Ithil was a “poetic name”. Compare this to S. Raun “Wanderer”, which is more descriptive of the nature of the body and hence closer to “Moon” (and “moon”).

Conceptual Development: The first precursor to this name seems to be G. Thilim “Moon” in an early list of names (PE14/13). This became G. {Thil >>} Sil “Rose of Silpion, Moon” (GL/67, 72) and G. {Thilmos >>} Silma in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/33, 67), both derivatives of the early root ᴱ√SILI as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Sil). The name Ithil first appeared in early versions of the tales of Númenor from the 1930s (LR/41).

Cognates

• Q. Isil “Moon, (lit.) Sheen” ✧ Let/425; LotR/1114; PE17/039; PE17/121; SA/sil

Derivations

• √THIL “shine silver; white light” ✧ Let/425; SA/sil

Element in

• S. ir Ithil ammen Eruchín “*when the Moon, for us, the Children of God” ✧ LB/354
• S. Ithilbor “*Moon-fist”
• S. ithildin “magical alloy that glows in moonlight, (lit.) moon-star” ✧ PE17/039; PE17/039
• S. Ithilien “Land of the Moon” ✧ SA/sil
• S. Minas Ithil “Tower of the (Rising) Moon” ✧ SA/sil
• S. Orithil “*Moon-day, Monday”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√THIL > Ithil	[itʰil] > [iθil]	✧ Let/425
√thil- > Ithil	[itʰil] > [iθil]	✧ SA/sil

loth

noun. flower, inflorescence, a head of small flowers

The noun is collective, a single flower being lotheg

raun

noun. Moon

A word for “moon”, equivalent of Q. Rána, attested in later writings only as the element -rawn in the archaic form S. †cýrawn “new-moon”, in modern speech cýron (VT48/7). Based on its use in this word, as well as in N. cúran “crescent moon” [ᴺS. cúron], it seems this is the ordinary word for “Moon” (or “moon”) as a celestial body, as opposed to S. Ithil which is the proper name of the moon, equivalent to English “Luna”. Raun is derived from primitive ✶rānā from the root √RAN “wander”, and hence originally meant something like “Wanderer”, though its Quenya equivalent is usually translated “Wayward”.

Conceptual Development: A very similar form G. Rân “the moon” appeared in Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/64), as well as ᴱN. rán “moon” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/152), though in this period its etymology is unclear. It appeared as N. Rhân “Moon” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, derived from the root ᴹ√RAN “wander, stray” (Ety/RAN), but in this period its Quenya equivalent was ᴹQ. Rana with short a. In later writings the Quenya form became Q. Rána, requiring a change to S. Raun since ancient ā became au in Sindarin.

Cognates

• Q. Rána “Moon, (lit.) Wayward”

Derivations

• ✶rānā “moon” ✧ VT48/07
  • √RAN “wander, stray, meander, go on an uncertain course, go aside from a course (commanded or self-chosen); err”

Element in

• ᴺS. cúron “crescent moon”
• S. cýron “new-moon” ✧ VT48/07

Variations

• rawn ✧ VT48/07 (rawn)

elloth

noun. (single) flower

elanor

noun. a flower, a kind of enlarged pimpernel bearing golden and silver flowers

ninglor

noun. golden water-flower, gladden

ar meril bess dîn, ar elanor, meril, glorfinniel, ar eirien sellath dîn

and Rose his wife; and Elanor, Rose, Goldilocks and Daisy his daughters

Element in

• S. King’s Letter

meril

rose

meril (i veril), no distinct pl. form except with article (i meril), coll. pl. ?merillath. The word is attested as the Sindarin equivalent of the name Rose (SD:128-31)

meril

rose

(i veril), no distinct pl. form except with article (i meril), coll. pl. ?merillath. The word is attested as the Sindarin equivalent of the name Rose (SD:128-31)

eria

rise

eria- (arise) (i eria, in eriar), pa.t. erias (VT46:7)

eria

rise

(arise) (i eria, in eriar), pa.t. **erias **(VT46:7)

amrûn

sunrise

amrûn (orient, east, uprising), pl. emrŷn

amrûn

sunrise

(orient, east, uprising), pl. emrŷn

edlothia

flower

(verb) #edlothia- (i edlothia, in edlothiar) (to blossom);

edlothia

flower

(i edlothia, in edlothiar) (to blossom);

loth

flower

loth, pl. lyth (but loth is also glossed ”blossom” and may itself function as a collective term: all the flowers of a plant. For individual flowers cf. the following:)

loth

flower

pl. lyth (but loth is also glossed ”blossom” and may itself function as a collective term: all the flowers of a plant. For individual flowers cf. the following:)

lotheg

single flower

lothod (”singulars” derived from the more collective term loth; it is unclear whether lotheg, lothod can themselves have ”plural” forms. If so it would be lethig, lethyd, for archaic löthig, löthyd.) (VT42:18, VT45:29) Another word for a single flower is elloth (pl. ellyth) (VT42:18). An alternative to loth is loss (construct los; pl. lyss), but the form loth seems to be more common (and loss also means ”fallen snow” and ”wilderness”).

edlothiad

flowering

(blossoming), pl. edlothiaid if there is a pl.**

ithil

moon

(= ”the sheen”)

raun

moon

(pl. roen, idh roen), coll. pl. ronath. Cf. the ending -ron at the end of month-names. Raun is basically the adj. ”straying, wandering” used as a noun, hence identifying the Moon as ”the Wanderer”. – The ”Noldorin” form rhân presupposes a different primitive form and may not correspond to S ✱rân as would normally be supposed.

gwaloth

collection of flowers

(i ’waloth) (blossom), pl. gwelyth (in gwelyth). Also goloth (i ’oloth) (blossom), pl. gelyth (i ngelyth = i ñelyth). Archaic pl. gölyth. (VT42:18). Specific flowers, see

nîlu

noun. moon

A noun translated as “moon” and fully declined as an example of a Strong II noun (SD/431). It appears with both a short and long final -u, but Tolkien indicated that the form with long û is actually the personified form Nîlû “Man in the Moon” (SD/426), perhaps the Adûnaic name of Tilion. Tolkien also listed the “later forms Nil, Njūl” (SD/306), one of which may be the Westron word for “moon”, most likely Wes. nil. Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/NUL) that this noun may be related to nûlo/nûlu/nâlu, but given the evil connotations of these words (SD/306) and the different stem vowels, this seems unlikely to me.

Cognates

• ᴹQ. Isil “Moon, (lit.) Sheen” ✧ SD/241; SD/306

Derivatives

• Wes. nil “moon” ✧ SD/306

Element in

• Ad. Nîlû “(Man in the) Moon” ✧ SD/426
• Ad. Ûrinîluwat “Sun and Moon” ✧ SD/428
• Ad. ûriyat nîlô “sun and moon” ✧ SD/428

Variations

• Nīlū ✧ SD/241
• Nīlu ✧ SD/306
• nīlu ✧ SD/431
• Nil ✧ SDI2/Nîlû
• Njūl ✧ SDI2/Nîlû

lotse

noun. flower

Derivations

• √LOT(H) “flower” ✧ VT42/18

Derivatives

• Q. lotsë “small (single) flower” ✧ VT42/18
• S. loth “flower, single blossom; inflorescence, head of small flowers” ✧ VT42/18

orya-

verb. to rise

Derivations

• √RŌ/ORO “up(wards); rise (up), go high, mount, up(wards); rise (up), go high, mount; [ᴹ√] high, [ᴱ√] steepness, rising” ✧ PE22/134

Derivatives

• Q. orya- “to rise” ✧ PE22/157

Variations

• or-ja ✧ PE22/134
• orj-a ✧ PE22/135

galab

root. flower

Derivations

• √GAL “grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, [ᴹ√] thrive” ✧ PE17/153

Derivatives

• Q. alalmë “inflorescence” ✧ PE17/153
• Q. alma “flower” ✧ PE17/153
• S. alf “flower” ✧ PE17/153

Variations

• GAL-AB ✧ PE17/153 (GAL-AB)

galmā

noun. flower

Derivations

• √GALAM “elm”
• √GAL “grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, [ᴹ√] thrive” ✧ PE17/153

Derivatives

• Q. alma “flower” ✧ PE17/153

lot(h)

root. flower

This root and ones like it were connected to flowers for all of Tolkien’s life. The earliest manifestation of this root was ᴱ√LOHO or ᴱ√LO’O from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s; the entry for ᴱ√LOHO appears immediately below ᴱ√LO’O, and Tolkien indicates they are related roots, both extended from ᴱ√OLO “tip” (QL/55). These roots include derivatives like ᴱQ. lōte “flower”, ᴱQ. lotōrea “flourishing” and ᴱQ. lokta- “sprout, bud, put forth leaves or flowers”. There are also derivatives of these roots in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon: G. lost “blossom, bloom”, G. lothli “floret”, G. luitha- “to bloom” (GL/54-55), though G. lôs “flower” was said to be unrelated, connected to G. lass “leaf” instead (GL/55). ᴱQ. losse “rose” probably had a similar derivation (QL/56).

This confusion of √LOT(H) and √LOS carried forward into Tolkien’s later writings. In The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹ√LOT(H) was given as the root for “flower” (Ety/LOT(H)), but this entry originally included a variant ᴹ√LOS (EtyAC/LOT(H)). Tolkien then said ᴹQ. losse “blossom” (< ᴹ√LOT(H)) was “usually, owing to association with olosse snow, only used of white blossom” (Ety/LOT(H)), where ᴹQ. olosse was derived from ᴹ√GOLOS “✱snow, white” (Ety/GOLÓS). This intermingling carried forward into etymological notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s, where Tolkien said (PE17/26):

> The stems √LŎS, √LOTH, √LOT are much entangled both for formal reasons, and because of actual associations of meaning (probably from beginning of Primitive Quendian and explaining the approach of the forms). Quenya word for “flower, a single bloom” is lóte, but S loth (< lotho/a), but Quenya also has lōs. Q. for snow is losse (S los).

These associations were also mentioned in etymological notes on roots for flowers from this same period, where Tolkien clarified that √LOT, √LOTH were the roots for “flower” and √LOS for “snow” (PE17/160-161). These roots were mentioned again in notes associated with The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the late 1960s (VT42/18):

> S. loss is a derivative of (G)LOS “white”; but loth is from LOT. Sindarin used loss as a noun, but the strengthened form gloss as an adjective “(dazzling) white”. loth was the only derivative of LOT that it retained, probably because other forms of the stem assumed a phonetic shape that seemed inappropriate, or were confusible with other stems (such as LUT “float”), e.g. ✱lod, ✱lûd. loth is from a diminutive lotse and probably also from derivative lotta-.

In this last note, Tolkien seems to have abandoned √LOTH, explaining S. loth “flower” as derived from √LOT via ✱lotse. In any case, starting in the 1930s Tolkien was consistent that the roots for “flower” and “snow” were distinct but often confused, and that snow-words were derived from roots like √(G)LOS and flower words from roots like √LOT(H), though he waffled a bit on the exact details.

Derivatives

• ✶loth “inflorescence” ✧ PE17/160
  • Q. lós “inflorescence, mass of flowers” ✧ PE17/160
  • S. lûth “blossom, inflorescence, blossom, inflorescence [on a single plant]” ✧ PE17/160
• ✶lotho/a “flower” ✧ PE17/026
  • S. loth “flower, single blossom; inflorescence, head of small flowers” ✧ PE17/026
• ✶lotse “flower” ✧ VT42/18
  • Q. lotsë “small (single) flower” ✧ VT42/18
  • S. loth “flower, single blossom; inflorescence, head of small flowers” ✧ VT42/18
• ✶lotta- “bloom” ✧ VT42/18
  • Q. losta- “to bloom, to bloom, *blossom” ✧ VT42/18
  • S. loth “flower, single blossom; inflorescence, head of small flowers” ✧ VT42/18
• Q. lótë “flower, single blossom, flower, single blossom; [ᴱQ.] bloom” ✧ PE17/026; PE17/160; VT42/18
• Q. lotsë “small (single) flower” ✧ PE17/160
• Q. lós “inflorescence, mass of flowers” ✧ PE17/026
• ᴺS. losta- “to bloom, blossom”
• S. loth “flower, single blossom; inflorescence, head of small flowers” ✧ PE17/160

Element in

• ✶ñwa-lōth “inflorescence, mass of flowers (on one plant)” ✧ PE17/160

Variations

• LOTH ✧ PE17/026; PE17/160; PE17/160; PE17/161
• LOT ✧ PE17/026; PE17/160; PE17/160; PE17/161; VT42/18

lotho/a

noun. flower

Derivations

• √LOT(H) “flower” ✧ PE17/026

Derivatives

• S. loth “flower, single blossom; inflorescence, head of small flowers” ✧ PE17/026

rānā

noun. moon

Derivations

• √RAN “wander, stray, meander, go on an uncertain course, go aside from a course (commanded or self-chosen); err”

Derivatives

• Q. Rána “Moon, (lit.) Wayward”
• S. Raun “Moon” ✧ VT48/07

Element in

• ✶keu̯rānā “new-moon” ✧ VT48/07

beril

feminine name. Rose

Changes

• Beril → Meril “Rose” ✧ SD/121
• Beril → Meril “Rose” ✧ SDI1/Beril
• Beril → Meril “Rose” ✧ SDI1/Meril

beril

noun. rose

Derivations

• ᴹ√M(B)ER “*feast, festive”

Element in

• N. Beril “Rose” ✧ SD/117

Variations

• Beril ✧ SD/117

eria-

verb. to rise

eria-

verb. to rise

Changes

• oria → erio ✧ Ety/ORO

Cognates

• ᴹQ. orta- “to rise” ✧ Ety/ORO

Derivations

• On. or- “to rise” ✧ Ety/ORO
  • ᴹ√RŌ/ORO “rise, up, high” ✧ Ety/ORO

Element in

• ᴺS. eriad “rising”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
On. orie > erio	[oria-] > [œria-] > [eria-]	✧ Ety/ORO

Variations

• oria ✧ EtyAC/ORO (oria)

nifredil

noun. a pale winter flower, snowdrop

ithil

noun. Moon

Cognates

• ᴹQ. Isil “Moon, (lit.) Sheen” ✧ Ety/I²; Ety/SIL; Ety/THIL; LR/041; SD/302; SD/306

Derivations

• ᴹ✶Ithil “moon” ✧ Ety/I²; SD/306
• ᴹ√THIL ✧ Ety/SIL; Ety/THIL

Element in

• N. ithildin “*moon-star”
• N. Ithilien “*Moon Lands”
• N. Minas Ithil “Tower of the Moon”
• N. Ithilduin
• N. Arithil “*Moon-day”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶ITHIL > Ithil	[itʰil] > [iθil]	✧ Ety/I²
ᴹ√THIL > Ithil	[itʰil] > [iθil]	✧ Ety/SIL
ᴹ√THIL > Ithil	[itʰil] > [iθil]	✧ Ety/THIL
ᴹ✶Ithīl > Ithil	[itʰīl] > [iθīl] > [iθil]	✧ SD/306

rhân

noun. Moon

Cognates

• ᴹQ. Rana “Moon, (lit.) Wayward” ✧ Ety/RAN

Derivations

• ᴹ√RAN “wander, stray” ✧ Ety/KUƷ
• ᴹ✶Ranā “Moon” ✧ Ety/RAN
  • ᴹ√RAN “wander, stray” ✧ Ety/RAN

Element in

• N. cúran “crescent moon” ✧ Ety/KUƷ

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶Ranā > Rhân	[ranā] > [rana] > [ran] > [r̥an] > [r̥ān]	✧ Ety/RAN

lhoth

noun. flower, inflorescence, a head of small flowers

The noun is collective, a single flower being lotheg

lhothod

noun. (single) flower

lothod

noun. (single) flower