talan

noun. platform, flat space, flet [Middle English = ‘floor’]

A noun Tolkien described as a “flet” (Middle English for “floor”) applied to the elevated wooden platforms the Elves of Lórien had in trees from The Lord of the Rings (LotR/342). In notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien said its proper meaning was a “flat space, platform” and it was derived from primitive ✶talam (PE17/52). It seems this word applies to an elevated platform without walls, as opposed to a floor within a building which would be [N.] panas (Ety/PAN). In theory the final n of talan would be lost, but it was likely restored by analogy with its plural form telain.

Conceptual Development: This word appeared as N. talan “flet” in Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s (TI/227).

talan

flat space

pl1. telain** **_ n. _flat space, platform. Q. talan or talma. >> tâl

tâl

flat space

_ n. _flat space, platform. Q. talan or talma. >> talan

talan

noun. flat space, platform, flat space, platform; [ᴹQ.] floor, ground

A word for a “flat space, platform” in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings, cognate to S. talan and derived from ✶talam (PE17/52). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. talan was glossed “floor, ground” under the root ᴹ√TALAM “floor, base, ground” (Ety/TALAM).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use talan as a general word for a constructed “floor” or “platform” both with and without walls and possibly above ground level as well, but for natural “ground” I would use [ᴹQ.] hún (QL/39).

talan

floor, base, ground

talan (talam-, e.g. pl. talami) noun "floor, base, ground" (TALAM)

talma

noun. flat space, platform

A variant of talan (talam-) “flat space, platform” in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (PE17/52).

Neo-Quenya: I would not use this word for this purpose in Neo-Quenya, since elsewhere talma was used for “basis, base, foundation, root” (PE21/80; Ety/TAL).

talantië

he is fallen

talantië vb. "he is fallen" (FS; see -ië #2 concerning the doubtful authority of this stative verb ending in LotR-style Quenya)

talante

verb. was slipping down

was slipping down

talat-

slipping, sliding, falling down

talat- vb. a stem used for "slipping, sliding, falling down" (Letters:347), cf. atalta-, talta- and talantië

talta-

slip, slide down, collapse, slope

talta- vb. "slip, slide down, collapse, slope" (TALÁT); reduplicated stem in the participle talta-taltala in Markirya, simply translated "falling" in MC:215. Strong intransitive conjugation: present talta, aorist talt- [derived from talati > talti, hence presumably *talti*- with endings and taltë without any], past talantë, perfect ataltië. Weak transitive conjugation: present taltëa, aorist talta, past taltanë**. This is said to be the conjugation type of a certain class of verbs, namely "√TALAT stems" (PE17:186).

talta-

verb. slip, fall

talta-

verb. to slip, slide down, collapse, fall, to slip, slide down, collapse, fall, [ᴹQ.] slip down, slope

A verb derived from the root √TALAT, with various glosses like “slip, slide down, collapse” (MC/223), “slope, slip, slide down” (Ety/TALÁT), or “slip, fall” (PE22/113). In the Markirya poem of the 1960s it was translated “fall(ing)” in the phrase elenillor pella talta-taltala “beyond the stars falling”, but this seems to be a loose translation since in the glossary of the poem talta- was translated “slip, slide down, collapse” (MC/222-223). However, in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) written in 1969, talta was simply glossed “fall” (PE22/164).

Tolkien used this verb as the primary example for the class of talat-stem verbs.

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had a similar but transitive verb ᴱQ. tilt- “make slope, incline (tr.), decline, shake at foundations, make totter, etc.” under the early root ᴱ√TḶTḶ (QL/80). Its past tense form talte is the result of differing phonetic developments for long ḹ vs. short ḷ in Early Qenya.

atalantë

noun. collapse, downfall

A noun for “collapse, downfall” mentioned in notes for the Markirya poem of the 1950s along with its adjectival form atalantëa (MC/223), likely derived from the root √TALAT. It is also used as one of the names of Númenor: Atalantë “Downfall(en)” (S/281; Let/347).

It seems Tolkien originally based this noun on the past tense of the verb [ᴹQ.] atalta- “collapse, fall in” (Ety/TALÁT); the past form atalante “down-fell” appears in various versions of the ᴹQ. Lament of Atalante from the 1930s and 40s (LR/47, 56; SD/247, 249, 310). This form was also mentioned as an (archaic?) “perfective” past tense atalante “slipped down, fell in ruin” [vs. ordinary past talante “slipped, slid”] of the talat-stem verb talta- in the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa from around 1950 (TQ2), though the notes where it appeared were rejected (PE18/88 note #83).

sandastan

shield-barrier

sandastan noun "shield-barrier", a battle-formation (UT:282; probably with stem sandastam_- since the final element is derived from a stem stama- "bar, exclude". Compare _talan with stem talam- from the root TALAM.)

-ië

suffix. is

-ië (3) "is", -ier "are", stative verb suffix occurring in Fíriel's Song: númessier "they are in the west", meldielto "they are...beloved", talantië "he is fallen", márië "it is good" (< *númessë "in the west", melda "beloved", *talanta "fallen"); future tense -iéva in hostainiéva "will be gathered" (< *hostaina "gathered"). Compare ye "is", yéva "will be", verbs that also occur in Fíriel's Song. This suffix is probably not valid in LotR-style Quenya: -ië is an infinitival or gerundial ending in CO, for ye "is" Namárië has ná, and the phrase "lost is" is vanwa ná, not *vanwië.

atalta-

collapse, fall in

atalta- vb. "collapse, fall in" (TALÁT), weak pa.t. ataltanë "down-fell, fell down" in LR:47 and SD:247, but strong past tense atalantë "down-fell" in LR:56

cólo

burden

cólo ("k")noun "burden" (VT39:10)

ná

is

ná (1) vb. "is" (am). (Nam, RGEO:67). This is the copula used to join adjectives, nouns or pronouns "in statements (or wishes) asserting (or desiring) a thing to have certain quality, or to be the same as another" (VT49:28). Also in impersonal constructions: ringa ná "it is cold" (VT49:23). The copula may however be omitted "where the meaning is clear" without it (VT49:9). Ná is also used as an interjection "yes" or "it is so" (VT49:28). Short na in airë [] na, "[] is holy" (VT43:14; some subject can evidently be inserted in the place of [].) Short na also functions as imperative: alcar mi tarmenel na Erun "glory in high heaven be to God" (VT44:32/34), also na airë "be holy" (VT43:14); also cf. nai "be it that" (see nai #1). The imperative participle á may be prefixed (á na, PE17:58). However, VT49:28 cites ná as the imperative form. Pl. nar or nár "are" (PE15:36, VT49:27, 9, 30); dual nát (VT49:30). With pronominal endings: nányë/nanyë "I am", nalyë or natyë "you (sg.) are" (polite and familiar, respectively), nás "it is", násë "(s)he is", nalmë "we are" (VT49:27, 30). Some forms listed in VT49:27 are perhaps to be taken as representing the aorist: nain, naityë, nailyë (1st person sg, and 2nd person familiar/polite, respectively); does a following na represent the aorist with no pronominal ending? However, the forms nanyë, nalyë, ná, nassë, nalme, nar (changed from nár) are elsewhere said to be "aorist", without the extra vowel i (e.g. nalyë rather than nailyë); also notice that *"(s)he is" is here nassë rather than násë (VT49:30).Pa.t. nánë or né "was", pl. náner/nér and dual nét "were" (VT49:6, 9, 10, 27, 28, 30, 36). According to VT49:31, né "was" cannot receive pronominal endings (though nésë "he was" is attested elsewhere, VT49:28-29), and such endings are rather added to the form ane-, e.g. anen "I was", anel "you were", anes "(s)he/it was" (VT49:28-29). Future tense nauva "will be" (VT42:34, VT49:19, 27; another version however gives the future tense as uva, VT49:30). Nauva with a pronominal ending occurs in tanomë nauvan "I will be there" (VT49:19), this example indicating that forms of the verb ná may also be used to indicate position. Perfect anaië "has been" (VT49:27, first written as anáyë). Infinitive (or gerund) návë "being", PE17:68. See also nai #1.

talaitë

footed

talaitë adj. "footed" (VT49:42); cf. attalaitë

ye

is

ye (2) copula "is" (FS, VT46:22); both earlier and later sources rather point to ná (q.v.) as the copula "is", so ye may have been an experiment Tolkien later abandoned. Future tense yéva, q.v.

úyë

is

úyë vb., a form occurring in Fíriel's Song (cf. VT46:22), apparently ye "is" with the negative prefix ú-, hence "is not" (úyë sérë indo-ninya símen, translated "my hearth resteth not here", literally evidently *"[there] is not rest [for] my heart here")

ataltare

noun. collapse

cólo

noun. burden

sandastan

noun. shield-barrier

tál

noun. foot, foot; [ᴹQ.] bottom, [ᴱQ.] lowest part

The Quenya word for “foot” derived from the root √TAL of similar meaning (PE19/103; VT49/17; Ety/TAL). Given its Sindarin cognate S. tâl (not ✱✱taul) its ancient stem form must have had a short vowel, with the long vowel in the uninflected form the result of the subjective noun case which lengthened the base vowel of monosyllables (PE21/76). Q. tál could also refer to the bottom of things (PE21/21, 76) analogous to English “foot of the mountain” and similar phrases.

Conceptual Development: The earliest iteration of this word was ᴱQ. tala “foot” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√TALA “support” (QL/88), a form also appearing in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/88). In the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s it became ᴱQ. tál with plural tăli indicating an ancient short vowel (PE14/43, 76). In the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, ᴹQ. tāl had inflected forms with tal-, again indicating a short vowel in the stem (PE21/21), and likewise with the (1930s-style) genitive form talen in The Etymologies written around 1937 (Ety/TAL). Most of its later appearances also imply a short vowel in the stem, the main exception being the plural form táli in the 1950s version of the Nieninquë “poem”.

colonda

adjective. burdened, weighed down, sad

lunguntë

noun. scales

talaitë

adjective. footed

talan

noun. flet

panas

noun. floor

A noun for “floor” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, an elaboration of N. pân “plank” under the root ᴹ√PAN (Ety/PAN). As such, it likely refers to a constructed floor made of wood or other materials.

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. blath “a floor” (GL/23), probably derived from the early root ᴱ√PALA having to do with flat things as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Palúrien).

talam

root. flat space, flat space, [ᴹ√] floor, ground; base, root, foundation

tāl

noun. foot

talat-

verb. slip (down), collapse, fall in ruin