ulca adj. "evil, bad, wicked, wrong" (QL:97, VT43:23-24, VT48:32, VT49:14; compounded in henulca "evileyed", SD:68); variant olca, q.v. Compare noun ulco. The adj. ulca may also itself be used as a noun "evil", as in the ablative form ulcallo "from evil" (VT43:8, 10) and the sentence cé mo quetë ulca *"if one speaks evil" (VT49:19).
Quenya
olca
adjective. bad, wicked
Changes
ŏlca→ olca ✧ PE17/170Cognates
- S. ogol “bad, evil, wrong; gloom(y)” ✧ PE17/149; PE17/170; VT48/32
Derivations
Element in
- Q. násië “but deliver us from evil: Amen” ✧ VT43/23
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √OKO > olca [oklā] > [olkā] > [olka] ✧ PE17/149 ✶oklā > olca [oklā] > [olkā] > [olka] ✧ PE17/170 ✶oklā > olca [oklā] > [olkā] > [olka] ✧ VT43/24 √oko > olca [oklā] > [olkā] > [olka] ✧ VT48/32 Variations
- ŏlca ✧ PE17/170 (
ŏlca)
hrú(y)a
adjective. evil, wicked
Cognates
- S. rhû “evil, wicked” ✧ PE17/170
Derivations
- √SRUG “*evil, wicked” ✧ PE17/170
Element in
- Q. hru- “evil-” ✧ PE17/170
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √S-RŪGU > hrúa [srūga] > [r̥ūɣa] > [r̥ūga] > [r̥ūa] ✧ PE17/170 Variations
- hrúa ✧ PE17/170
- hrúya ✧ PE17/170
olca
evil, bad, wicked
ulca
evil, bad, wicked, wrong
urra
adjective. bad
Changes
unca→ urra “bad” ✧ PE22/168Derivations
- √UG “dislike”
Element in
- Q. umbë nin i hríve nauva urra (si loa) “I have a feeling that winter will be bad (this year)” ✧ PE22/168
Variations
- unca ✧ PE22/168 (
unca)
naxa
adjective. evil
naxa
noun/adjective. evil
Element in
- Q. carë mára quí tyarë naxa “doing good may cause evil” ✧ PE22/154
Variations
- naxa ✧ PE22/154
ulca
adjective. evil; dark, gloomy, sinister, evil; dark, gloomy, sinister; [ᴱQ.] bad, wicked, wrong
This is one of two later words Tolkien consider for “evil”; the other is Q. olca < √OKO. Of the two, ulca has the longer conceptual history, dating back to early Quenya (QL/97). Both words have the same Sindarin cognate, S. ogol.
Ulca has two attested late derivations. One is from the root √UK (PE17/149), listed as a possible replacement of √OKO, but Tolkien marked this derivation as uncertain. Another derivation is ✶ū “not” + KAL “light” = ✶uk’la “gloom, gloomy” (PE18/88), an example of abnormal vocalization. If this second derivation is accepted, ulca could have later developed the senses “sinister, evil” either due to the “bad” connotations of Q. ú- or perhaps by influence of Q. olca. If so, it may have even supplanted olca as the general word for “evil” as it appears to have done in Tolkien’s later writings.
Cognates
- S. ogol “bad, evil, wrong; gloom(y)” ✧ PE17/149; PE18/088
Derivations
Element in
- Q. cé mo quetë ulca “*if one speaks evil” ✧ VT49/19
- Q. epetai i hyarma ú ten ulca símaryassen “consequently the left hand was not to them evil in their imaginations” ✧ VT49/14
- ᴹQ. henulca “*evil-eyed”
- Q. násië “but deliver us from evil: Amen” ✧ VT43/23
- ᴺQ. ulcarindo “evil-doer”
- ᴺQ. ulquet- “to accuse”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶UKLA > ulca [ukla] > [ulka] ✧ PE17/149 ✶ū̆k’la > ulka [ukla] > [ulka] ✧ PE18/088 ✶ū̆k’lā > ulka [uklā] > [ulkā] > [ulka] ✧ VT43/24 ✶ukla > ulca [ukla] > [ulka] ✧ VT48/32 Variations
- ulka ✧ PE18/088; VT43/24
ulco
evil
ulco (stem #ulcu-) noun "evil", pl. *ulqui (VT43:23-24; the stem-form is attested in the ablative case: ulcullo "from evil", VT43:12)
ulco
noun. evil
Derivations
- √UK “nasty”
Element in
úmëa
evil
úmëa (2) adj. "evil" (UGU/UMU). Obsoleted by #1 above? Possibly connected to úmëai in Narqelion, if that is a "Qenya" plural form.
úro
evil
úro noun "evil" (VT43:24); Tolkien may have abandoned this form in favour of ulco, q.v.
úra
evil, nasty
úra (1) adj. "evil, nasty" (VT43:24, VT48:32)
ú-
prefix. bad, uneasy, hard
olca adj. "evil, bad, wicked" (VT43:23-24, VT48:32, VT49:14, PE17:149). The root meaning implies "wickedness as well as badness or lack of worth" (PE17:170). Variant of ulca.