núro

servant

núro noun "servant" (NDŪ; in Etym as published in LR, the gloss is misread as "sunset"; see VT45:38)

-(n)dur

suffix. servant; to serve

Derivations

• ✶-ndūr “attend, tend”
  • √(N)DUR “love, feeling of special concern with, care for, or interest in things, to show special interest in things; [ᴹ√] bow down, bend (low), obey, serve; grow/be dark”
• √(N)DUR “love, feeling of special concern with, care for, or interest in things, to show special interest in things; [ᴹ√] bow down, bend (low), obey, serve; grow/be dark” ✧ PE17/152

Element in

• Q. arandur “minister, steward, (lit.) king’s servant” ✧ Let/386
• Q. Aulendur “Servant of Aulë”
• Q. Cemendur “*Servant of the Earth”
• ᴺQ. cemendur “farmer”
• Q. Vëandur
• Q. Eärendur “Mariner, *(lit.) Servant of the Sea” ✧ PE17/152; SA/(n)dur
• Q. ëarendur “(professional) mariner, *(lit.) servant of the sea” ✧ Let/386
• Q. Eärnur “*Servant of the Sea” ✧ PE17/152; SA/(n)dur
• Q. Elendur “*Star-servant”
• ᴺQ. Hristondur “Christian, (lit.) Servant of Christ”
• Q. Isildur “*Servant of the Moon”
• Q. Meneldur “*Servant of the Heavens”
• ᴺQ. námondur “court-attendant, (lit.) judge-servants”
• Q. ornendur “tree-keep, forester, woodsman”
• Q. Pelendur “?Servant of the Border”
• ᴺQ. tarwandur “gardener”
• Q. Valandur “*Servant of the Vala”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√DUR > ndur	[-ndur]	✧ PE17/152

Variations

• -nur ✧ PE17/152
• ndur ✧ PE17/152
• dur ✧ PE17/152

mól

noun. slave, slave, [ᴹQ.] thrall

A noun meaning “slave” or “thrall”, from primitive ✶mōl derived from the root √MŌ having to do with “labour” (VT43/31; Ety/MŌ).

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon from the 1910s the word for “slave” or “servant” was ᴱQ. virt or vartyo, derived from the root ᴱ√VṚTYṚ “serve” (QL/102). In the two variants, either the [[eq|short syllabic [ṛ] became [ir] before palatalized [tʲ]]], or [[eq|long syllabic [ṝ] became [ar]]]. This word appeared as an element in the name ᴱQ. Virtinoldor “Thrall-Noldoli” for those Noldor enslaved by Melko(r) in the early tales (PE14/9).

In the Gnomish Lexicon from the same period, another Qenya word for “slave” or “servant” was given as ᴱQ. norka derived from primitive ᴱ✶norokā́ (GL/31), though its relationship to other roots is unclear.

The form ᴹQ. mól first appeared in The Etymologies from the 1930s, already having the derivation given above (Ety/MŌ). This word also appeared in Tolkien’s later writings from the 1950s (VT43/31). A later term for "Slave Noldorin” was ᴹQ. Mólanoldorin (Ety/MŌ; LR/177), a strong indication that mól replaced Early Qenya virt.

Cognates

• N. mûl “slave, thrall”

Derivations

• ✶mōl “slave, slave, [ᴹ✶] thrall” ✧ VT43/31
  • √MŌ “labour, be afflicted” ✧ VT43/31

Element in

• ᴺQ. mólië “slavery, thralldom”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶mō-l > mōl	[mōl]	✧ VT43/31

Variations

• mōl ✧ VT43/31

mól

slave, thrall

mól noun "slave, thrall" (MŌ, VT43:31)

mûl

slave

mûl (i vûl, construct mul) (thrall), pl. muil (i muil)

mûl

slave

(i vûl, construct mul) (thrall), pl. muil (i muil)

byr

vassal

). No distinct pl. form except with article (i mŷr), coll. pl. býrath. Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” bior, beor.

bŷr

vassal

*bŷr (follower) (i vŷr, construct byr). No distinct pl. form except with article (i mŷr), coll. pl. býrath. Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” bior, beor.

snaga

masculine name. slave

snaga

noun. slave

Variations

• Snaga ✧ WJI/Snaga

bên Reconstructed

noun. servant, ?person

A noun attested only in its plural form bênî “servants” as an element in the term Êru-bênî “Servants of God” (SD/341, 357). This noun resembles the Sindarin word pen “person”, especially in the Sindarin lenited form -ben. The Adûnaic noun may be related, having undergone phonetic development similar to that discussed for Ad. bêth “word”, so that bên is ultimately derived from Primitive Elvish ✶kwēn “person”, which could be its archaic meaning. Andreas Moehn instead suggested (EotAL/BIN) that it is derived from a root ✱BIN, possibly related to Ed. Bëor “Vassal, Servant”.

Derivations

• ✶kwēn “person, one, (some)body”
  • √KWEN “speak with rational words” ✧ WJ/360; WJ/392
  • √KWE “vocal speech” ✧ WJ/392

Element in

• Ad. Êru-bênî “Servants of God” ✧ SD/341; SD/357

mōl

noun. slave, slave, [ᴹ✶] thrall

Derivations

• √MŌ “labour, be afflicted” ✧ VT43/31

Derivatives

• Q. mól “slave, slave, [ᴹQ.] thrall” ✧ VT43/31

Variations

• mō-l ✧ PE21/71; VT43/31
• mólu ✧ PE22/148 (mólu)

mûl

noun. slave, thrall

bôr

noun. steadfast, trusty man, faithful vassal