am-
prefix. snake
lhûg
noun. snake, serpent
amlug
noun. dragon
amlug
noun. dragon
lhanc
noun. throat
lhanc
noun. throat
lhimlug
noun. fish-dragon, sea-serpent
lhûg
noun. dragon
lŷg
noun. snake
The best known Sindarin word for “snake”, appearing in Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings (LotR/1115). In 1964 notes on Dalath Dirnen (DD), Tolkien said it was derived from the root √LEWEK “worm” (PE17/160), likely from ✱leukā where the ancient eu became ȳ as was usual in Sindarin (LotR/1115).
leweg
noun. snake
_ n. _snake.
lýg
noun. snake
_ n. Zoo. _snake. Q. leuka.
lŷg
noun. snake
lhûg
noun. reptile, snake, serpent, worm, reptile, snake, serpent, worm, *lizard; [N.] dragon
A noun in Quenya Notes from 1957 (QN) derived from primitive ✶(s)lōkō “reptile, snake, worm” based on the root √LOK “bend, loop”, so presumably having a similar meaning (PE17/160). Christopher Tolkien also had lhûg in The Silmarillion appendix, but gave it the glosses “snake, serpent” (SA/lok).
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, Tolkien had G. ulug “dragon” (GL/74), and in the contemporaneous Official Name List for the Lost Tales and the Name-list to the Fall of Gondolin he had G. lug or lûg “snake” (PE13/105; PE15/28). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien had N. lhûg “dragon” under the root ᴹ√LOK “great serpent, dragon” (Ety/LOK), where initial l was unvoiced to lh as was usual in Nodorin. This was no longer true of Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s, so Sindarin lhûg required a primitive from ✶slōk- and a corresponding Quenya form of hlócë.
Neo-Sindarin: Given the breadth of its glosses, I would assume this word can apply to any sinuous reptilian creature with or without legs, including lizards, snakes and dragons.
lhûg
noun. snake, serpent
lŷg
snake
- lŷg (constuct lyg), no distinct pl. form. 2) lhûg (construct lhug, with article ?i thlûg or ?i lûg the lenition product of lh is uncertain) (dragon, serpent), pl. lhuig (?i luig). See SERPENT.
lhûg
dragon
lhûg (construct lhug; with article ?i thlûg or ?i lûg the lenition product of lh is uncertain) (snake, serpent), pl. lhuig (?i luig), also amlug (pl. emlyg).
lhûg
dragon
(construct lhug; with article ?i thlûg or ?i lûg – the lenition product of lh is uncertain) (snake, serpent), pl. lhuig (?i luig), also amlug (pl. emlyg).
lanc
noun. throat
limlug
noun. fish-dragon, sea-serpent
lanc
throat
lanc (neck), pl. lainc, coll. pl. langath. Note: homophones mean ”naked” and also ”sharp edge, sudden end, brink”.
lanc
throat
(neck), pl. lainc, coll. pl. langath. Note: homophones mean ”naked” and also ”sharp edge, sudden end, brink”.
limlug
fish-dragon
(sea serpent), pl. limlyg
leuca
noun. snake
The best known Quenya word for “snake”, appearing in Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings (LotR/1115). In 1964 notes on Dalath Dirnen (DD), Tolkien said it was derived from the root √LEWEK “worm” (PE17/160).
ango
snake
ango noun "snake"; stem angu- as in angulócë (q.v.); pl. angwi (ANGWA/ANGU)
leuca
snake
leuca (1) noun "snake" (Appendix E)
hlócë
noun. reptile, snake, serpent, worm, reptile, snake, serpent, worm, *lizard; [ᴹQ.] dragon
A noun in Quenya Notes from 1957 (QN) with variants hlóke and lóke based on primitive ✶(s)lōkō “reptile, snake, worm” from the root √LOK “bend, loop”, so presumably having a similar meaning (PE17/160). Christopher Tolkien also had (h)lóke in The Silmarillion appendix, but gave it the glosses “snake, serpent” (SA/lok). Its Sindarin cognate lhûg points towards a Quenya form hlócë.
Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. lóke (lóki-) “snake” appeared all the way back in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√LOKO “twine, twist, curl” (QL/55). It was also mentioned with the gloss “snake” in the Official Name List for the Lost Tales (PE13/105) and the Name-list to the Fall of Gondolin (PE15/28). It appeared in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon as related to G. ulug “dragon” (GL/74), and in The Lost Tales proper lóke was given as the “the Eldar name [of] the worms of Melko”, that is dragons (LT1/85).
In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien glossed ᴹQ. lóke as “dragon” under the root ᴹ√LOK “great serpent, dragon” along with Noldorin cognate N. lhûg (Ety/LOK). It was followed by an -ī in parenthesis, indicating a primitive form of ✱lōkī and a stem form of lóki-. Tolkien’s vacillation on its 1957 form was probably out of a desire to retain lhûg as the Sindarin form. In Noldorin of the 1930s an initial l was unvoiced to lh, but this was no longer true of Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s, so Sindarin lhûg required a corresponding Quenya form of hlócë.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I recommend sticking with hlócë. Furthermore, since this Quenya word cannot be derived directly from ✶(s)lōkō, I would assume a primitive form slōkĭ and a stem form hlóci- compatible with its earlier appearances. Given the breadth of its glosses, I would assume the word can apply to any sinuous reptilian creature with or without legs, including lizards, snakes and dragons. A more exact term for just “a snake” would be leuca.
hlócë
snake, serpent
hlócë ("k")noun "snake, serpent", later lócë ("k")(SA:lok-)
lócë
dragon, snake, serpent, drake
lócë ("k")noun "dragon, snake, serpent, drake", older hlócë _("k")(SA:lok-, LT2:340, LOK; in the Etymologies the word is followed by "-ī", whatever that is supposed to mean)_
lócë
noun. snake, serpent
lango
throat
[lango (3) noun "throat"] (Tolkien also listed the plural form langwi_; in the _Etymologies as printed in LR, Christopher Tolkien improperly prefixed an asterisk as if it were an primitive or wrong form; see VT45:26. This indicates that lango has the stem-form *langu-. Compare ango "snake", stem #angu-, pl. angwi. But whatever the case, lango was changed to lanco.) (LANG, see LANK)
ango
noun. dragon
angulócë
dragon
angulócë noun("k") "dragon" (LOK)
fenumë
dragon
fenumë noun "dragon" (LT2:341 but lócë is the normal word in LotR-style Quenya)
lanco
throat, swallow
lanco ("k")noun "throat, swallow" _(LAK1 , LANK). _Since this was changed by Tolkien from lango with stem *langu- and pl. langwi, it may be that lanco* should similarly have the stem lancu**- and pl. *lanqui.
langon
throat
langon noun "throat" (MC:216; this is "Qenya", possibly an inflected form of lango #2 above but Tolkien changed it to lanco)
(s)lōkō
noun. reptile, snake, worm
phawalōkō
noun. dragon
Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!
lin
noun. snake
A word for “snake” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with a stem form of {linge- >>} ling- (QL/54).
lingo
noun. snake
oqi
noun. snake
lingwe
noun. snake, worm
A noun in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “snake” with variants lingwe and lingo, an elaboration of ᴱQ. lin (ling-) of the same meaning (QL/54). Lingwe “snake” also appeared in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/54), but in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s it was glossed “worm” (PE16/145). In later writings, lingwë was “fish” (NM/336; Ety/LIW).
fenume
noun. dragon
kondo
noun. dragon
qelqa
noun. throat
The word ᴱQ. qerka appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s as the cognate of G. cwerc “throat” (GL/28). ᴱQ. qerka “throat” appeared again in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/136), but in a list of body parts from this same period it was ᴱQ. qelqa “throat” (PE14/117). There are no signs of these words in Tolkien’s later writings.
qerka
noun. throat
angwa
root. snake
The root √ANGWA “snake” with variant √ANGU appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as the basis for the words ᴹQ. ango “snake” (Ety/ANGWA) and angulóke “dragon” (Ety/LOK). The Noldorin equivalent am- seems to have survived only as a prefix (Ety/ANGWA), and is a good example of how [[on|[ŋgw] > [mb]]] in that language. There are a variety of other words for “snake” in Tolkien’s later writings, so whether this root remained valid is unclear.
fent
noun. snake
lingos
noun. snake
lûg
noun. snake
fenlug
noun. snake
ling
noun. small snake
sithaling
noun. fly snake, dragonfly
ulug
noun. dragon
cwerc
noun. throat
lingwir
noun. dragon
lamthanc
noun. snake, *(lit.) forked tongue
cunn
noun. dragon
gara
noun. throat
The word ᴱN. gara “throat” (archaic †garg) appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists derived from primitive ᴱ✶go, where the long syllable ṝ became ar (PE13/144). Compare this to ᴱN. griw “alimentary canal” from primitive ᴱ✶grgu-, where with short syllabic ṛ the result was gri-.
Conceptual Development: G. cwerc “throat” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s might be a conceptual precursor (GL/28), perhaps from primitive qṛk-, though elsewhere in the Gnomish Lexicon, qṛ- > cur-, as in ᴱ√qṛđ > G. curdhu (GL/28).
gunn
noun. dragon
liŋi Reconstructed
root. snake
gṝgo
noun. throat
angulóke
noun. dragon
lango
noun. throat
lanko
noun. throat
lungu
noun. dragon
lóke
noun. dragon
A prefix for “snake” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√ANGWA of the same meaning, most notably an element in N. amlug “dragon” (Ety/ANGWA).