timpinë

spray

timpinë noun "spray" (LT1:268)

rossë

noun. rain; foam, (fine) rain; [ᴹQ.] dew; *spray, [Q.] foam

An element meaning “foam” (or perhaps “✱spray”) in the name Q. Elerossë “Star Foam” cognate of S. Elros in notes from the late 1960s (PM/349), or “rain” in the name of the waterfall Q. Raurossë “Roaring-rain” cognate of S. Rauros in notes probably from the 1950s (PE19/99). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien gave ᴹQ. rosse “fine rain, dew” as a derivative of the root ᴹ√ROS “distil, drip” (Ety/ROS¹).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume this word means a light rain or a continuous spray of water, or the remnants of such water in the form of dew, in other words any persistent collection of small droplets of water either in the air or on the ground, for example from light rain, morning dew or falling mist off a waterfall. This seems to be in keeping with most of its attested glosses.

For more ordinary or heavier rain, I’d use ulo instead, or for a drizzle I’d use mistë, and would reserve rossë only for a light mist-like rain. For a floating mist or fog, I’d use hísë or (if thicker) hiswe. Thus of precipitation, I’d have ulo > mistë > rossë > hísë in decreasing ranks of density, where hísë “mist” is light and/or cold enough not to longer fall. But I think rossë can refer to “already fallen” droplets in the form of dew as well.

vingë

noun. foam, spindrift, spray, foam, spindrift, spray, [ᴹQ.] wave crest, [ᴱQ.] froth, scud; wave

A noun for “foam” or “spray”, described at one point as “properly a flying splume or spindrift blown off wavetops” (PM/392).

Possible Etymology: This word was derived from primitive ᴹ✶wingē (Ety/WIG) and had a Sindarin cognate S. gwing (PM/376). As such, the expected Quenya form would be vinge, since initial w became v fairly early in Quenya’s phonetic history, but as an independent word Tolkien fairly consistently wrote this word with an initial w-. Its most notable use is in the name of Earendil’s ship Q. Vingilótë or Wingelótë “Foam Flower”, which in one place Tolkien said “is in intention formed to resemble and ‘explain’ the name of Wade’s ship Guingelot” (PM/371), and this resemblance may explain Tolkien’s frequent use of initial w-. Alternately, it could be a hold over from Early Qenya where the primitive form began with gw- (see below).

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. ’winge “foam, spindrift, froth, scud” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a derivative of the root ᴱ√GWIŊI (QL/104). Its stem form was given as {wingi- >>} winge, and in connection to this change Tolkien wrote “winge is [primitive] uiŋē, also = wave”. In the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa Tolkien had winge with the gloss “froth, foam” and stem form wingi- (PME/104). In a glossary for drafts of the poem Earendel from around 1930 Tolkien had winge “blowing foam, spray” as the basis for ᴱQ. wingild- “foam-maiden” (PE16/100).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had ᴹQ. winge “foam, crest of wave, crest” derived from primitive ᴹ✶wingē (Ety/WIG). In The Etymologies it was the name of tengwa n (EtyAC/WIG), later named vilya. The same was true in notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s where Tolkien had ᴹQ. winge “foam” (PE22/22), and also in the version of this document from the 1940s except he wrote wiñge with an ñ (PE22/51); in The Lord of the Rings Appendix E this tengwa’s name was Q. vilya (†wilya) (LotR/1123). This tengwa is in the series for labialized velars and the téma for (ancient) voiced stops, and thus should represent an ancient gw, but that does not seem to be the case for either winge or wilya.

The word winge appeared regularly in Tolkien’s later writings as an independent word, always with an initial w-, even though Tolkien usually wrote Vingilótë in this period. In the Markirya poem, however, the form was winga “foam” (MC/222-223). At one point Tolkien considered making this a loan word from Beorian, but he abandoned this idea (PM/368-371).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would write this word as vingë in keeping with its modern pronunciation.

winga

foam, spray

winga noun "foam, spray" (Markirya). Also wingë.

wing(a)

noun. foam, spray

wingë

noun. foam, spindrift, spray

tuista

noun. twig, shoot, sprout, spray

vingilótë

proper name. Foam-flower

Name of the ship of Eärendil, translated “Foam-flower” (S/246). It is a compound of vingë (vingi-) “foam” and lótë “flower”, and often appeared in the shorter form Vingilot.

Conceptual Development: This name dates back to the earliest Lost Tales, always with essentially the same etymology and meaning. In the earliest stories it appeared as ᴱQ. Wingilot (LT1/21), and was ᴹQ. Wingelóte in The Etymologies from the 1930s (Ety/LOT(H), WIG).

Although Tolkien was consistent on the meaning of this name and its elements, he could never quite make up his mind on its exact form. The name appeared in a wide variety of forms, from his earliest to his latest writings. The variations were:

• The initial letter could be V- or W-.

• The middle vowel could be i, e or a.

• The final syllable be -lótë or -lot.

The first of these variation probably reflects Tolkien’s uncertainty on the development of the phoneme [w] in Quenya; in one place Tolkien said it “is in intention formed to resemble and ‘explain’ the name of Wade’s ship Guingelot” (PM/371). The second variation indicates different possible primitive forms of vingë “foam”. The third variation is simply the ordinary variation in the short and long forms of the name, also seen in names like Valinor/Valinórë and Silmaril/Silmarillë.

Vingilot/Vingilótë was the form adopted by Christopher Tolkien for the published Silmarillion, since it replaced earlier forms (sometimes but not always) in Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (WJ/246).

Vingelot

foam-flower

Vingelot, Vingilot, Vingilótë ship-name; "Foam-flower", name of Eärendil's ship (SA:wing, Silm)

Wingelot

foam-flower

Wingelot, Wingelótë ship-name, "foam-flower", name of Earendel's [sic] boat (WIG, LOT(H) )

falasta-

to foam

falasta- vb. "to foam", participle falastala "foaming, surging" in Markirya

fallë

foam

fallë noun "foam" (PHAL/PHÁLAS)

lúpe

noun. plume

rin

dew

rin noun "dew" (LT1:265; rather rossë in LotR-style Quenya)

tereva

fine, acute

tereva adj. "fine, acute" (TER/TERES), "piercing"_ (LT1:255; though glossed "fine, acute" in the Etymologies, the stem _TER is defined as "pierce")

ulo

noun. rain

ulo

noun. rain

A noun for “rain” in Late Notes on Verbs from 1969 given as {ulla >>} ulo in the phrase ulo úva “rain (unwelcome) is coming”, clearly related to the impersonal verb ul- “to rain” appearing in its future form on the same page: uluva “it will rain” (PE22/167).

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, the noun for “rain” was ᴱQ. úqil, likewise related to the contemporaneous verb ᴱQ. uqin “it rains” (QL/98).

wingë

foam, crest of wave, crest

wingë noun "foam, crest of wave, crest" (WIG); "foam, spindrift" (LT1:273). In the pre-classical Tengwar system presupposed in the Etymologies, wingë was also the name of tengwa #24, which letter Tolkien would later call wilya > vilya instead. - Also winga (so in Markirya).

ros

root. spindrift, spray, spindrift, spray; [ᴹ√] distil, drip

This root appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√ROS “distil, drip” with derivatives like ᴹQ. rosse “fine rain, dew” and N. rhoss “rain”, the latter an element in N. Celebros “Silver-rain” (Ety/ROS¹). In later versions of The Silmarillion, the name S. Celebros was translated “Foam-silver” (WJ/151), indicating a shift in meaning, though the element still meant “rain” in other later names like S. Silivros “Sparkling Rain” (MR/155) and S. Dimrost “Rainy Stair” (S/220).

Tolkien discussed this root at length in a 1968 essay labeled The Problem of Ros (PM/367-371). He indicated that by this point, the intended meaning of the root √ROS was “spindrift, spray”, but he felt this meaning was problematic due to its conflict in Sindarin with S. ross “red haired” and the similarity of the root to Latin “rōs” = “dew” (PM/368). He then launched into a lengthy discussion formulating a new theory whereby the element -ros was actually Beorian to explain its use in various Beleriandic names, only to remember at the last minute that he had also used this element in the Third Age place name S. Cair Andros “Ship of Long Foam”, rendering his alternate theories unviable (PM/371). Presumably at this point the original meaning of the root was restored.

rossē

noun. dew, spray (of fall or fountain)

ross

noun. rain; spindrift, spray, foam, rain; spray, spindrift, foam

The best known Sindarin word for “rain” (MR/155; Ety/ROS¹), also used for “spindrift, spray” (PM/368) and “foam” (PE17/121), derived from the root √ROS (PM/368).

Conceptual Development: The earliest precursor to this word may be G. {nôs >>} G. noss or noth “rain” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/60), likely derived from the early root ᴱ√NOSO or ᴱ√NOTO which had Qenya derivatives of similar meaning (QL/67). The Etymologies of the 1930s instead had N. rhoss “rain” derived from the root ᴹ√ROS “distil, drip” (Ety/ROS¹), as seen in names from this period such as N. Celebros “Silver-rain” (Ety/ROS¹; LR/140), N. Silivros “Glimmering Rain” (Ety/ROS¹; LR/210), and N. Rauros “Rush-rain, Roar-rain” (TI/285).

In later writings Tolkien began to translate S. ross as “foam”, in names like S. Cair Andros “Ship of Long Foam” (LotR/1115; PM/371), S. Elros “Star-foam” (PM/349; Let/448) and S. Celebros “Foam-silver” (WJ/151). This word and its root gave Tolkien considerable difficulty, and in a 1968 essay labeled The Problem of Ros (PM/367-371), Tolkien first gave their meaning as “spray, spindrift”, but then explored the possibility that they were instead loan words from Bëorian. However, he was forced to abandon this line of reasoning when he remembered that S. Andros “Long-foam” has appeared in The Lord of the Rings appendices as a Sindarin word.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would use the noun ross mainly with the sense “rain”. I would use gwing for “foam, spindrift”. However, to preserve words like Cair Andros, I would also allow the use of ross for any more or less continuous “spray of water”, such as with waterfalls as indicated by the name Rauros “Roaring Spray” (RC/327).

gwing

noun. spindrift, flying spray

gwing

spray

1) (blown off wave-tops) gwing (i **wing) (foam, spindrift, spume), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gwing); 2) (of fall or fountain) ross (construct ros) (foam, rain, dew), pl. ryss (idh ryss**). (Letters:282) Note: homophones mean ”reddish, russet, copper-coloured, red-haired” and also ”polished metal, glitter”.

gwing

spray

(i ’wing) (foam, spindrift, spume), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gwing)

ross

spray

(construct ros) (foam, rain, dew), pl. ryss (idh ryss). (Letters:282) Note: homophones mean ”reddish, russet, copper-coloured, red-haired” and also ”polished metal, glitter”.

gwing

foam

(i ’wing) (spindrift, spume, spray blown off wave-tops), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gwing)

gwing

foam

1) gwing (i **wing) (spindrift, spume, spray blown off wave-tops), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gwing), 2) ross (construct ros) (rain, dew, spray [of fall or fountain]), pl. ryss (idh ryss) (Letters:282). Note: homophones mean ”reddish, russet, copper-coloured, red-haired” and also ”polished metal, glitter”, 3) falf (breaker), pl. felf, coll. pl. falvath**

gwing

spindrift

gwing (i **wing) (foam, spume, spray blown off wave-tops), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gwing**)

gwing

spindrift

(i ’wing) (foam, spume, spray blown off wave-tops), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gwing)

mîdh

dew

1) mîdh (i vîdh, construct midh), no distinct form in pl. except with article (i mîdh), 2) ross (construct ros) (foam, rain, spray [of fall or fountain]), pl. ryss (idh ryss). (Letters:282) Note: homophones mean ”reddish, russet, copper-coloured, red-haired” and also ”polished metal, glitter”.

ross

foam

(construct ros) (rain, dew, spray [of fall or fountain]), pl. ryss (idh ryss) (Letters:282). Note: homophones mean ”reddish, russet, copper-coloured, red-haired” and also ”polished metal, glitter”

ross

rain

ross (construct ros) (foam, dew, spray [of fall or fountain]), pl. ryss (idh ryss). (Letters:282) Note: homophones mean ”reddish, russet, copper-coloured, red-haired” and also ”polished metal, glitter”.

ross

rain

(construct ros) (foam, dew, spray [of fall or fountain]), pl. ryss (idh ryss). (Letters:282) Note: homophones mean ”reddish, russet, copper-coloured, red-haired” and also ”polished metal, glitter”.

ross

dew

(construct ros) (foam, rain, spray [of fall or fountain]), pl. ryss (idh ryss). (Letters:282) Note: homophones mean ”reddish, russet, copper-coloured, red-haired” and also ”polished metal, glitter”.

gwingloth

proper name. Foam-flower

Sindarin name of Q. Vingilótë (PM/370), a combination of gwing “foam” and loth “flower” (Ety/LOT(H), WIG).

Conceptual Development: In Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, the elements of this name were inverted as Lothwing(a) “Foam Flower” (GL/46, 55) and also appeared as Gwingalos (GL/46). In The Etymologies from the 1930s, it became N. Gwingloth, and this is the source of the derivation given above (Ety/LOT(H), WIG; EtyAC/LOT(H)).

gwing

noun. foam (properly a flying spume or spindrift blown off wavetops)

hross

noun. foam

n. foam. >> ross

lhind

adjective. fine, slender

mîdh

noun. dew

dew

mîdh

noun. dew, dew, *moisture, damp(ness); [ᴱN.] mist, drizzle

A Sindarin word for “dew” given as míð in the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the 1950s as a derivative of ✶mizdē “drizzle” (PE19/101), illustrating how [[os|[z] vanished before [d] lengthening preceding vowel]] in (Old) Sindarin.

Conceptual Development: N. mîdh “dew” also appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, already with the same derivation as given above (Ety/MIZD), though Tolkien first wrote its gloss as “fine rain” (EtyAC/MIZD). This deleted gloss seems to be a remnant of ᴱN. midh “mist, drizzle” from Early Noldorin Word-lists, but there its primitive form was ᴱ✶míye (PE13/150).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would extend the meaning of this word to include “✱moisture, damp(ness)” in general, especially as the result of a previous rain.

ross

noun. foam

n. foam. >> hross

ross

noun. rain

brand

fine

1) brand (high, lofty, noble), lenited vrand, pl. braind, 2) trîw (lenited drîw; no distinct pl. form) (slender) , 3) *lhind (slender), lenited ?thlind or ?lind (the lenition product of lh is uncertain); no distinct pl. form. Sugggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” thlind.

brand

fine

(high, lofty, noble), lenited vrand, pl. braind

eilia

rain

(vb.) eilia-, impersonal 3rd singular uil "it rains". (In ”Noldorin”, the impersonal form was "oeil" = öil, later eil.)

eilia

rain

impersonal 3rd singular uil "it rains". (In ”Noldorin”, the impersonal form was "oeil" = öil, later eil.)

falf

foam

(breaker), pl. felf, coll. pl. falvath

faltha

foam

(i faltha, i falthar)

faltha

foam

(verb) faltha- (i faltha, i falthar)

lhind

fine

(slender), lenited ?thlind or ?lind (the lenition product of lh is uncertain); no distinct pl. form. Sugggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” thlind.

lhê

fine thread

(?i thlê or ?i lê – the lenition product of lh is uncertain) (spider filament), pl. lhî (?i lî). Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” thlê.

mîdh

dew

(i vîdh, construct midh), no distinct form in pl. except with article (i mîdh)

tess

fine pierced hole

(i dess, construct tes), pl. tiss (i thiss). Older ters (VT46:18).

trîw

fine

(lenited drîw; no distinct pl. form) (slender)

gwing

noun. spindrift, flying spray

gwingloth

proper name. Foam-flower

falf

noun. foam, breaker

faltha-

verb. to foam

gwing

noun. foam (properly a flying spume or spindrift blown off wavetops)

mîdh

noun. dew

mîdh

noun. dew

rhoss

noun. rain

rhoss

noun. rain

thlind

adjective. fine, slender

thlinn

adjective. fine, slender

trîw

adjective. fine, slender

rothinzil

proper name. Foam-flower

The Adûnaic name of Eärendil’s ship Vingilótë “Foam-flower”, of the same meaning (S/249). This name appears in earlier writings as Rôthinzil with a long ô (SD/360). Its later form is a violation of the phonetic rules laid out by Tolkien in Lowdham’s Report, which said that the vowels [ē] and [ō] could only be long in Adûnaic (SD/423). The later form could be an Anglicanized or a Westronized form (where a short [o] could appear), or it could indicate that Tolkien changed his mind about Adûnaic phonetic rules. Some linguistic notes from the 1930s suggest Tolkien at one point considered making the name Quenya (P19/49).