til

root. point, horn

The root √TIL was used for “pointy thing” for much of Tolkien’s life, most notably as the final element in the name Q. Taniquetil “High White (or Snow) Peak”. Its earliest appearance was as unglossed ᴱ√TILI⁽⁾ or ᴱ√T͡YILI (probably the true form) in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where it had derivatives like ᴱQ. til⁽⁾ “a hair”, ᴱQ. tilde “point”, and ᴱQ. tille “eyelash” (QL/92). It was constrasted ᴱ√TILI⁽⁾ which had derivatives like ᴱQ. tilu- “shine (blue)” and ᴱQ. Tilio “Sirius” (QL/92). There is no connection between √TIL and “shine” in Tolkien’s later writings, with roots like √SIL or √TIN being used for that purpose instead.

The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹ√TIL “point, horn” with derivatives like ᴹQ. tilde/N. till “spike, horn” and ᴹQ. neltil/N. nelthil (Ety/TIL). The root √TIL “point” was mentioned a couple times in notes from the late 1960s in connection to finger-names (VT47/26, 28).

til

point

n. point, ending. >> -il, niphredil

till

noun. point, spike, (sharp) horn, tine, ending

A word meaning “tine, spike, point” (PE17/36) or “spike, sharp horn” (RC/775) as an element in names like S. Celebdil “Silvertine”. In a discussion of the word niphredil, Tolkien said til or -il meant “point, ending” (PE17/55).

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. till “horn” as the cognate of ᴹQ. tilde “point, horn” under the root ᴹ√TIL “point, horn” (Ety/TIL).

till

point

till (i dill, o thill, construct til; also -dil, -thil at the end of compounds) (spike, tine, sharp horn, sharp-pointed peak), no distinct pl. form except with article (i thill). Archaic †tild. 5)

till

point

(i** dill, o thill, construct til; also -dil, -thil at the end of compounds) (spike, tine, sharp horn, sharp-pointed peak), no distinct pl. form except with article (i** thill). Archaic †tild. 5)

-il

point

suff. point, ending. >> niphredil, til

aeg

noun. point

The adjective oeg "sharp, pointed, piercing" from Ety/349 is perhaps rejected: Tolkien later decided that no cognate of Quenya aica "fell, terrible, dire" was used in Sindarin, "though aeg would have been its form if it had occurred" (PM/347). On the other hand, we have words such as aeglos and aeglir , so there must be a noun aeg "point"

aeg

point

1. aeg (peak, thorn). No distinct pl. form. Note: aeg is also used as adj. "sharp, pointed, piercing". 2) naith (spearhead, gore, wedge, promontory); no distinct pl. form. 3) nass (sharp end, angle, corner), construct nas, pl. nais. 4)

aeg

point

(peak, thorn). No distinct pl. form. Note: aeg is also used as adj. "sharp, pointed, piercing".

ecthel

spear point

(pl. ecthil), literally "thorn point”

ment

point

(at the end of a thing) ment (i vent), pl. mint (i mint), coll. pl. mennath.

ment

point

(i vent), pl. mint (i mint), coll. pl. mennath**. **

naith

point

(spearhead, gore, wedge, promontory); no distinct pl. form.

nass

point

(sharp end, angle, corner), construct nas, pl. nais.

nasta

point

(verb) nasta- (i nasta, in nastar) (prick, stick, thrust)

nasta

point

(i nasta, in nastar) (prick, stick, thrust)

rafn

extended point at the side

(wing, horn), pl. raifn (idh raifn).

thela

spear point

(-thel), pl. ?thili, 3) aith; no distinct pl. form.

tillë

noun. tip, point; [within compounds] finger, toe, tip, point; [within compounds] finger, toe; [ᴱQ.] eyelash

A word in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s meaning “tip, point”, also used to refer to fingers and toes, especially in compounds (VT47/10). It was derived from the root √TIL. Drafts of these document instead had tile and tilma, of which Tolkien said:

> The difference between tilma, tile and inga was that the former could point in any direction, but inga was only applied to shapes pointing upwards and meant “top”; and whereas til- was usually applied to ends notably thinner and sharper than the stem, inga referred primarily to position and could be used of tops relatively broad (VT47/28).

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. {tilme >> tilla >>} tille “eyelash” under the early root ᴱ√TILI (QL/92).

Neo-Quenya: Since tille referred to fingers and tilde to mountains, I would assume tille was more narrow and blunt, as opposed to tilde which was sharper and more angular. I would also use tille for “eyelash” as in Early Qenya, or less ambiguously ✱hentille.

tildë

noun. a fine sharp point, fine sharp point, [ᴹQ.] spike; (mountain) horn, [ᴱQ.] tip, peak

This word is most notable as the final element of the name Taniquetil “High White Peak”, a derivation Tolkien used for most of his life. In the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, Tolkien said tilde “is not a mountain peak, but a fine sharp point” (WJ/417). However, its primitive form tilde was glossed “peak” in notes from around 1965 (PE17/186), ᴹQ. tilde was glossed “spike, horn” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under from the root ᴹ√TIL “point, horn” (Ety/TIL; EtyAC/TIL), and ᴱQ. tilde “tip, peak” appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa of the 1910s (PME/92), though it was merely “point” in the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon under the early root ᴱ√TILI (QL/92).

Note that some of the above forms were presented incorrectly in their original publications. In The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road the gloss of tilde was given as “point, horn” identical to its root (LR/393), but Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne corrected this “spike, horn” in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies (VT46/19). The primitive form was given as tilte as originally published in Parma Eldalamberon #17 (PE17/186), but in a post to the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), Christopher Gilson corrected this to tilde: discord.com.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume tilde refers to a variety of pointy things of various sizes, including spikes, horns, and mountain peaks, especially if they are sharply pointed. In the case of mountains, I would further assume it refers to the tip or peak rather than the entire mountaion.

tilma

noun. point

cendë

point

cendë noun "point" (PE16:96)

cendë

noun. point

A word for “point” in the glossary for the 1950s version of the Nieninquë poem, an element in pirucendëa “on the point of her toes” (PE16/96).

Conceptual Development: The word pirucendëa is a reinterpretation of the word ᴱQ. pirukendea “tripping lightly, whirling lightly” = “pirouetting” from the version of Nieninqe from around 1930 (MC/215; QL/74). The derivation of 1950s cende “point” isn’t clear since in Tolkien’s later writings the root √KEN means “see”, but it might be a later iteration of the word ᴱQ. kent “a sharp point” from Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√KENYE “prick” (QL/46).

mentë

point, end

mentë noun "point, end" (MET)

ecthel

noun. point (of spear)

egnas

noun. sharp point

egnas

noun. peak

egthel

noun. point (of spear)

ment

noun. point

ment

noun. point

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “point” under the root ᴹ√MET “end” (Ety/MET).

nass

noun. point, (sharp) end

nass

noun. angle or corner

thela

noun. point (of spear)

snǣs

noun. spear-head, point, gore, triangle

Original form not entirely clear; the stem is SNAS/SNAT (LR:387), not defined but evidently to be understood as a strengthened form of NAS "point, sharp end" (LR:374). A primitive plural form natsai is mentioned under SNAS/SNAT; snǣs may derive from something like snatsâ via snats, *snas. The shift of original a to long ǣ (presumably the same vowel as in English cat, but longer) is found in this word only, but there are several examples of e from a, see spenna, scella. Perhaps a became ǣ in stressed monosyllables where there was no following consonant cluster (as in nand).