sar (sard-, as in pl. sardi) noun "(small) stone" (SAR). In Elessar, q.v. Since Tolkien let this name have a stem in -sarn- (genitive Ele[s]sarno, VT49:28), he may seem to have changed the stem-form of sar from sard- to sarn-.
Quenya
sar
noun. stone (small)
sar
(small) stone
sarmo
masculine name. Sarmo
sarafinwë
masculine name. Sarafinwë
The father-name of Turgon in some notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings, appearing alongside his “title” Turukondo from which (in those notes) his Sindarin name was derived (PE17/113). The second element of this name is clearly his grandfather’s name Finwë, but the meaning of the initial element is unclear.
Conceptual Development: Turgon’s father name in later writings was given as Turucáno (PM/345).
sarnië
noun. shingle, pebble bank
A noun for a “shingle, pebble bank” in The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the late 1960s from primitive ✶sarniye, also the basis for the river name S. Serni (VT42/11). It is clearly an abstract noun formation based on Q. sar (sarn-) “(small) stone”. Here the gloss “shingle” is used in the sense of a mass of smell pebbles rather than as a roofing tile.
sarna
of stone
sarna adj. "of stone" (SAR)
sarnë
stony place
sarnë noun "stony place" _(SAR; in the _Etymologies as printed in LR, the gloss reads "strong place", but according to VT46:12 the proper reading is "stony place")
Sarquindi
cannibal-ogres
Sarquindi ("q")pl. noun "Cannibal-ogres" (LT2:347)
sara
stiff dry grass, bent
sara (3) (þ) noun "stiff dry grass, bent" (STAR). The word "bent" would here mean "open place covered with grass" (cf. LT1:274).
sarat
letter
sarat (pl. sarati given) noun "letter", any individual significant mark, used of the letters of Rúmil after the invention of Fëanor's tengwar (WJ:396). Cf. sarmë.
sarco
flesh
sarco ("k") noun "flesh" (LT2:347; Tolkien's later Quenya has hrávë)
sarcuva
corporeal, bodily
sarcuva ("k") adj. "corporeal, bodily" (LT2:347; hardly a valid word in Tolkien's later Quenya, since it connects with sarco above)
sarda
hard
sarda adj. "hard" (VT39:17); pl. sardë "hards" may be used in the same sense as sarda tengwi, q.v. (As an independent form we would rather expect a nominal pl. sardar.)
sarda tengwë
hard sound
#sarda tengwë noun "hard sound", a term for "consonant", but not used of semi-vowels (y, w) and continuants (l, r, m, noun). (Only pl. sarda tengwi [ñ] is attested; we would rather expect #sardë tengwi with the pl. form of the adjective.) Sarda tengwi are also simply called sardë "hards", see sarda. (VT39:17)
sarmë
writing
sarmë noun "writing" (VT39:8). Cf. sarat.
sarnië
shingle, pebble-bank
sarnië (sarniyë) noun "shingle, pebble-bank" (UT:463, VT42:11)
sarno
table
sarno noun "table" (QL:82)
sarqua
fleshy
sarqua ("q")adj. "fleshy" (LT2:347) Compare sarco, sarcuva.
sarta
steadfast, trusty, loyal
sarta adj. "steadfast, trusty, loyal" (PE17:183)
sarto
trusty follower, loyal companion (member of comitatus of a lord, or prince)
sarto noun "trusty follower, loyal companion (member of comitatus of a lord, or prince)", also satar (PE17:183)
sarat
noun. letter (of the Rúmilian alphabet)
sarda
adjective. hard (*as stone)
sarmë
noun. writing
sarta
adjective. steadfast, trusty, loyal
sarto
noun. trusty follower, loyal companion
satar
trusty follower, loyal companion (member of comitatus of a lord, or prince)
satar noun "trusty follower, loyal companion (member of comitatus of a lord, or prince)", often in form sarto (PE17:183)
satar
noun. trusty follower, loyal companion
sára
fiery
sára (2) adj. "fiery" (LT1:248; this "Qenya" word may have been obsoleted by # 1 above)
Elessar
elf-stone
Elessar masc. name "Elf-stone" (Elen + sar, actually "Star-stone", cf. Elendil concerning elen "star" being used to mean "Elf") (LotR3:V ch. 8). Genitive Elesarno _(VT49:28, read _Elessarno?) indicates that the stem is -sarn-. As a common noun, elessar or "elf-stone" may signify "beryl" (in the chapter Flight to the Ford in the LotR, Aragorn finds "a single pale-green jewel" and declares: "It is a beryl, an elf-stone"). Elessar as a name may also be seen as a pun or variant of Elesser "Elf-friend".
psar-
verb. to rub
sarma
noun. saw
sarnincë
noun. pebble
A neologism for “pebble” coined by Paul Strack in 2018 specifically for Eldamo (updated from sardincë to sarnincë in 2021), a diminutive form of Q. sar (sarn-) “stone”. There are a number of Early Qenya words for “pebble” from the 1910s and 20s, but all have various issues for adapting them to Neo-Quenya.
sartë
noun. note, jot, scribbling, (lit.) a little writing
@@@ by Röandil in the “Neologism of the Day” series on the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS) on 2023-04-01 from pre-classical period with sar- meant “to write”; alternate later from tehtë, (tehti-) from √TEK
sarya-
verb. to stone
A neologism coined by Helge Fauskanger for his NQNT (NQNT), derived from the root ᴹ√SAR.
sarnunta
noun. diadem
A neologism coined by Helge Fauskanger for his NQNT (NQNT), its derivation is unclear but the initial element might be Q. sarn- “(small) stone”.
sardanar
noun. corundum, (lit.) hard sun
sar-
verb. to mark (i.e. by incision), notch, score; (by later extension) †to write [on]
saramor
noun. *writing-ink
sar-
verb. to cross
sara-
verb. to saw [wood]
@@@ perhaps originally meaning “to draw across”
sarassë
noun. hassock, footstool
A neologism for “hassock, footstool” created by Boris Shapiro in PPQ (PPQ) from the early 2000s, based to N. tharas of the same meaning.
sarnomo
noun. banker
@@@ etymology unclear
airen
noun. sea
airë
sea
airë (2) noun "sea" (the form airen is given, intended as a genitive singular when Tolkien wrote this; in LotR-style Quenya it would rather be a dative sg.) (AYAR/AIR; cf. airon)
airë
noun. sea
An archaic word for “sea” which fell out of use to due conflict with “holy” words like aira or airë; it was a noun form of primitive ✶gaı̯ră (PE17/27). The more common modern word for “sea” is ëar.
Conceptual Development: ᴹQ. aire “sea” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of ᴹ√AYAR (Ety/AY); it appeared beside a form ᴹQ. airen that might be a genitive form, or might be a longer form; see the entry on ᴹQ. airon for discussion.
cildë
saw
cildë _("k")_pa.t. vb.? "saw" (???) The phrase úri kilde hísen níe nienaite is translated "the Sun with wet eyes dropped tears of mist", literally perhaps something like "the Sun saw (through) misty tears tearfully"??? (MC:221; this is "Qenya"; cf. cildo)
váya
sea
váya noun "sea" (considered as "waters, motion"). The wording of the source indicates that Tolkien only tentatively considered such a word (PE17:33)
vëa
sea
vëa (3) noun "sea" (MC:213, 214, 216; possibly obsoleted by #1 and #2 above, though some argue that the initial element of the late names Vëantur and Vëandur [q.v.] could be vëa #3 rather than #2 (it can hardly be #1) . In any case, the normal word for "sea" in LotR-style Quenya seems to be ëar.) Inflected vëan "sea" (MC:220), vëar "in sea" (a "Qenya" locative in -r, MC:213), vëassë "on sea" (MC:220). Cf. also vëaciryo.
ëar
sea
ëar noun "sea" (AYAR/AIR [gives also dat. sg. ëaren],WJ:413; see Letters:386 for etymology). Not to be confused with the pl. form of the verb ëa "be, exist". Pl. ëari "seas" (FS, LR:47); Eär "the Great Sea" (cf. ëaron "ocean"), ablative Eärello "from the Great Sea", et Eärello "out of the Great Sea" (EO). Eärë noun "the open sea" (SD:305). Compound ëaruilë noun "seaweed" (UY). Found in proper names like Eärendil "Sea-friend", Eärendur masc. name, *"Sea-servant"; in effect a variant of Eärendil(Appendix A). Eärendur was also used ="(professional) mariner" (Letters:386).Fem. name Eärwen "Sea-maiden" (Silm); Eärrámë "Sea-wing", "Wings of the Sea", name of Tuor's ship (RAM, AYAR/AIR, SA)
culmírë
noun. sardius, carneol [carnelian], (lit.) orange-jewel
fanorcarnë
noun. sardonyx
A neologism for “sardonyx” coined by Helge Fauskanger for his NQNT (NQNT), its second element appears to be carnë “red” but it is not clear what the first element is intended to be.
Curumo
cunning one
Curumo masc. name *"Cunning One", "Saruman" (UT:401)
hrávë
noun. flesh
A word for “flesh” appearing in documents from 1959, derived from primitive ✶srāwe based on the root √SRAW (MR/349-350).
Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, Tolkien had ᴱQ. hara or haranda “flesh-meat” (QL/39), also mentioned as hara(nda) “fleshmeat” in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/39). These early forms might have been a precursor to later hrávë. Another potential precursor is ᴱQ. sarko (sarku-) “flesh, living flesh, body” from the early root ᴱ√SṚKṚ “fat” (QL/86).
tengwë
indication, sign, token
tengwë (pl. tengwi attested) noun "indication, sign, token", in linguistics used for phonemes(VT39:7, WJ:394); hloníti tengwi "phonetic signs" (WJ:395). The term tengwë was particularly associated with consonants (VT39:16). In the Etymologies, stem TEK, tengwë is glossed "writing"; this gloss would seem to be obsolete (for this meaning the word sarmë occurs in Tolkien's later material).
torna
hard
#torna adj. "hard", as in tornanga (q.v.), seemingly -storna after prefixes ending in a vowel, as in the comparative forms aristorna, anastorna (PE17:56; the forms are untranslated and may not necessarily be the same adjective "hard".)
hröava
adjective. corporeal, bodily
anar
noun. Sun
The most common Quenya name for the Sun derived from primitive ✶Anār, an augmented form of the root √NAR “fire” (Let/425; PE17/38; Ety/ANÁR; SD/302, 306).
Conceptual Development: This term appeared in Silmarillion drafts of the 1930s with the gloss “Heart of Flame” (LR/240) and as ᴹQ. Anar “sun” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, already with the derivation given above (Ety/ANÁR, NAR¹).
arafinwë
masculine name. *Noble Finwë
amya-
verb. [unglossed]
arra
adjective. [unglossed]
cairë
?. [unglossed]
cemi
earth, soil, land
cemi noun "earth, soil, land"; Cémi ("k")"Mother Earth" (LT1:257; the "Qenya" word cemi would correspond to cemen in LotR-style Quenya)
conta-
verb. [unglossed]
cúma
noun. [unglossed]
felca
adjective. [unglossed]
felehta-
verb. [unglossed], *to excavate, tunnel, mine
An untranslated form appearing in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 derived from the root √PHELEG/PHELEK (PE17/118), possibly a verb derived from ✱phelektā- or ✱phelegtā-. The derivatives of this root had to do with mines and tunnels, so perhaps this verb meant “✱to excavate, tunnel, mine”.
finca
noun. [unglossed]
hendas
?. [unglossed]
hindo
noun. [unglossed]
hindë
noun. [unglossed]
holdë
noun. [unglossed]
hrávë
flesh
hrávë noun "flesh" (MR:349)
háro
?. [unglossed]
kemen
earth
kemen noun "earth"; see cemen.
lanya-
verb. to cross
lingi-
verb. [unglossed]
lára
grave
[lára (2) noun "grave" (VT45:8)]
maitya
?. [unglossed]
malsa
?. [unglossed]
mar
earth
mar (1) noun "earth" (world), also "home, dwelling, mansion". Stem mard- (VT46:13, PE17:64), also seen in the ablative Mardello "from earth" (FS); the word is used with a more limited sense in oromardi "high halls" (sg. oromar, PM17:64), referring to the dwellings of Manwë and Varda on Mt. Taniquetil (Nam, RGEO:66). The initial element of Mardorunando (q.v.) may be the genitive mardo (distinguish mardo "dweller"). May be more or less identical to már "home, house, dwelling" (of persons or peoples; in names like Val(i)mar, Vinyamar, Mar-nu-Falmar, Mardil) (SA:bar, VT45:33, VT47:6). Már is however unlikely to have the stem-form mard-; a "Qenya" genitive maren appears in the phrase hon-maren, q.v., suggesting that its stem is mar-. A possible convention could therefore be to use már (mar-) for "home, house" (also when = household, family as in Mardil, q.v.), whereas mar (mard-) is used for for "earth, world". Early "Qenya" has mar (mas-) "dwelling of men, the Earth, -land" (LT1:251); notice that in LotR-style Quenya, a word in -r cannot have a stem-form in -s-.
melya-
verb. [unglossed], *to be in love
naue
?. [unglossed]
on
stone
on, ondo noun "stone" (LT2:342, LT1:254 probably only ondo in LotR-style Quenya, see below). Various "Qenya" forms: ondoli "rocks" (MC:213; this would be a partitive plural in LotR-style Quenya), ondolin "rocks" (MC:220), ondoisen "upon rocks" (MC:221), ondolissen "rocks-on" (MC:214; the latter form, partitive plural locative, is still valid in LotR-style Quenya).
ondo
stone
ondo noun "stone" as a material, also "rock" (UT:459, GOND). Pl. ondor in an earlier variant of Markirya; partitive pl. locative ondolissë "on rocks" in the final version. Compounded in ondomaitar "sculptor in stone" (PE17:163), Ondoher masc.name, *"Stone-lord" (ondo alluding to Ondonórë = Sindarin Gondor, "stone-land") (Appendix A), #ondolunca ("k") "stonewain", possessive form in the place-name Nand Ondoluncava "Stonewain Valley" (PE17:28, also Ondoluncanan(do) as a compound). Ondolindë place-name "Gondolin" (SA:gond, J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator p. 193); see Ondo. Earlier "Qenya" has Ondolinda _(changed from Ondolin) "singing stone, Gondolin" (LT1:254)_
sal-
verb. [unglossed]
solor
surf
solor noun "surf" (SOL); solor, solossë noun "surf, surge" (LT1:266)
solossë
surf, surge
solossë noun "surf, surge" (LT1:266); also solor
sorna
steadfast
sorna (þ) adj. "steadfast" (PE17:113)
sorna
adjective. steadfast
sélo
?. [unglossed]
sóla
?. [unglossed]
tengwa
letter
tengwa (pl. tengwar is attested) (1) noun "letter" Tengwa (ñ) is defined as "any one visible sign representing (theoretically) any one audible teñgwe" (phoneme) (VT39:17). In non-technical usage tengwa was equivalent to "consonant", since only the consonants were full signs (WJ:396, TEK). In the Etymologies, tengwa was apparently emended from tengwë (VT46:17).
thar-
verb. [unglossed]
tomba
noun. [unglossed]
tompë
noun. [unglossed], *pulse, beat
@@@ Neo-meaning “✱pulse, beat” suggested by Röandil on 2023-04-20
torna
adjective. hard
um(ba)-
prefix. [unglossed]
umbacarin
noun. [unglossed]
urda
hard, difficult, arduous
urda adj. "hard, difficult, arduous" (PE17:154)
uruitë
fiery
uruitë adj. "fiery" (UR; thisstem was struck out in Etym, but several words that must be derived from it occur in LotR, so it seems that Tolkien restored it.)
uruvoitë
fiery
uruvoitë adj. "fiery" (LT1:271)
éna
?. [unglossed]
úpa-
verb. [unglossed]
úr(in)
proper name. Sun
A late remnant of earlier names for the Sun: ᴱQ. Ûr and ᴹQ. Úrin. In Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s, this name was changed from Úrin >> Naira >> Vása (MR/198), but the form Úr(in) occasionally appeared in some later writings (PE17/148, MR/377). This name was a derivative of the root √UR “heat, be hot” (PE17/148).
Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this name was ᴱQ. Ûr, Ur or Úri “Sun”, but literally meaning “Fire” (LT1/187, QL/98). The name became ᴹQ. Úrin in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (LR/240). It was rejected in The Etymologies along with the root form ᴹ√UR, but reappeared sometimes in later writing as noted above.
úruva
fiery
úruva adj. "fiery" (from UR; this stem was struck out in Etym, but several words that must be derived from it occur in LotR, so it seems that Tolkien restored it. The word úruva also occurred in early "Qenya"; in LT1:271 it is glossed "like fire".)
þúna
?. [unglossed]
ʼondō
noun. stone
PQ. stone
amyára
noun. elder
paluhta
noun. table
A word for “stone”, most notably in the name Q. Elessar “Elfstone” (LotR/375). The genitive for that name was given as Elesarno (PE22/158; VT49/28), so the stem for this word is probably sarn-, especially given its better-attested Sindarin cognate S. sarn. It is a derivative of the root ᴹ√SAR, and referred to a small (individual) stone (Ety/SAR), as opposed to Q. ondo which is stone as a material or large rocks or bodies of stone.
Conceptual Development: The earliest hint of this word was ᴱQ. sar “earth, soil” in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s, but this was marked with an “X” and ᴱQ. kemen (of similar meaning) was written next to it as an alternative (PE16/139). ᴹQ. sar “(small) stone” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√SAR, but there it had a plural sardi and hence a stem form of sard- (Ety/KEM). In that document, N. sarn was “stone as material” and hence not directly related. But later S. sarn was used for individual stones, and thus was probably a direct cognate of Q. sar (sarn-), as discussed above.