Quenya 

Hesin

winter

Hesin noun "winter" (LT1:255; LotR-style Quenya has hrívë instead)

Yelin

winter

Yelin noun "winter" (LT1:260; LotR-style Quenya has hrívë, and Yelin was probably obsoleted together with the adjective yelwa_ "cold", that appears with a different meaning in the Etymologies)._

hrívë

winter

hrívë noun "winter", in the calendar of Imladris a precisely defined period of 72 days, but also used without any exact definition (Appendix D). Yá hrívë tenë, ringa ná "when winter comes (arrives, is with us), it is cold" (VT49:23; Tolkien changed tenë to menë, p. 24). The word Hrívion, heading a section of the poem The Trees of Kortirion that has to do with the "fading time", would seem to be related (LT1:42)

hrívë

noun. winter

Quenya [LotR/1107; LotR/1111; PE22/167; PE22/168; VT49/14; VT49/23] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hríve

noun. winter

Quenya [PE 22:125; PE 22:167f] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

Hescin

winter one

Hescin ("k") noun "winter one" (???) (LT1:255)

metterrívë

noun. January, *(lit.) End-winter

yá hríve menë, ringa ná

when winter comes/arrives/is with us, it is cold

Quenya [VT49/23; VT49/24] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hrívë úva véna

winter is drawing near (to us)

Quenya [PE22/167; VT49/14] Group: Eldamo. Published by

quellë

noun. late autumn and early winter, (lit.) fading

Quenya [LotR/1107; LotR/1111] Group: Eldamo. Published by

umbë nin i hríve nauva urra (si loa)

I have a feeling that winter will be bad (this year)

amanar

`Ct56 noun. winter solstice

The winter solstice, after which the "Sun" starts going back "up" (having reached its lowest point in the sky). Most likely a compound of am "up" + anar "sun".

Quenya [Merry Christmas letter by Tolkien] Group: Subject of debate. Published by

ringa

cold

ringa adj. "cold" (Markirya); the Etymologies gives ringë (RINGI), but it seems that ringa is to be preferred (cf. Ringarë below). Yá hrívë tenë, ringa ná "when winter comes, it is cold" (VT49:23). According to VT46:11, Tolkien originally used the form ringa in Etym as well; later he would restore it. - In early "Qenya", ringa is glossed "damp, cold, chilly" (LT1:265)

when

(2) conj. "when" in the sentence yá hrívë tenë, ringa ná "when winter comes, it is cold" (VT49:23). Compare írë #2.

úva-

verb. impend, be imminent

úva- (2) vb. "impend, be imminent" "nearly always in a bad sense: threaten (to come) ", as in hrívë úva véna "winter is drawing near to us" (VT49:14)

ringa

adjective. cold, cold, [ᴱQ.] chilly; damp

Quenya [CPT/1298; MC/222; VT49/23] Group: Eldamo. Published by

conjunction. when

A relative conjunction “when” appearing in various phrases in Tolkien’s writings of the 1950s and 60s, a vowel-lengthened form of the relative pronoun ya.

Conceptual Development: Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 had ᴹQ. í glossed “(relative) at the time mentioned, at the same time”, a vowel-lengthened form of the relative pronoun ᴹQ. i (PE23/109). This was also given the gloss “when, whenever” in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from this same period (PE22/121). Earlier still, ᴹQ. íre was used as the relative conjunction “when” in Fíriel’s Song of the 1930s. In the Early Qenya Grammar it seems ᴱQ. yan “when” served this function (PE14/59).

Quenya [CPT/1298; VT43/34; VT49/23] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Hísimë

november

Hísimë (þ) noun, eleventh month of the year, "November" (Appendix D, SA:hîth). The Quenya word seems to mean "Misty One".

Narvinyë

january

Narvinyë noun first month of the year, "January". The word seems to mean "New Fire/Sun". (Appendix D)

Ringarë

december

Ringarë noun, the twelfth and last month of the year, "December" (Appendix D, SA:ring); the word seems to mean *"Cold-day".

alba

noun. flower

alma

flower

alma (2) "flower" (PE17:153), said to be the "usual Quenya word" or "general Quenya word" (i.e. for flower), but its coexistence with #1 is problematic. Compare lós, lótë, lotsë, indil.

alma

noun. flower

A word for “flower” derived from primitive ✶galmā in notes on flowers in the same bundle containing Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 (PE17/153). Initially Tolkien said alma meant both “a blessed thing and a flower”, then said that Q. almë was “a blessed thing” and alba was “flower” (< √GAL-AB), before saying that alma was “flower”. Tolkien implied that alma was a usual or general word for “flower” in Quenya. These same notes also said the word alda < ✶galadā was used mainly of flowering trees. It seems in this instance Tolkien connected the root √GAL (normally just “grow, flourish”) specifically to flowers, giving it the gloss “bloom” along with other glosses like “grow, flourish, be vigorous”.

Neo-Quenya: Elsewhere alda was the general word for a “tree” and √GAL had no special connection to flowers. I think alma as a “flower” word was a transient idea. I would use lótë “flower” instead for purposes of Neo-Quenya, since it is much better established.

avestalis

january

avestalis noun "January" (LT1:252; LotR-style Quenya has Narvinyë)

insil

noun. flower

TQ. flower, lily

Quenya [PE 19:99] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

lós

flower

lós (þ?) noun "flower" (PE17:26). If this is to be the cognate of Sindarin loth, as the source suggests, the older Quenya form would be *lóþ.

lóte

noun. flower

Quenya [PE 22:124] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

lótë

flower

lótë noun "flower", mostly applied to larger single flowers (LOT(H), LT1:259, VT42:18). (The shorter form -lot occurs in compounds, e.g. fúmellot, q.v.) In the names Ninquelóte *"White-flower" (= Nimloth), Vingilótë "Foam-flower", the name of Eärendil's ship (SA:loth), also in Lótessë fifth month of the year, "May" (Appendix D). See also olótë, lotsë.

niquë

noun. cold, cold; [ᴹQ.] snow

Quenya [PE17/168; WJ/417] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ringë

cold

ringë adj. "cold", also ringa (which form is to be preferred; cf. Ringarë in LotR). In the Etymologies as printed in LR, ringë is also given as a noun "cold pool or lake (in mountains)", but according to VT46:11 this noun should read ringwë. (RINGI)

yelwa

cold

yelwa (2) adj. "cold" (LT1:260 this "Qenya" word is apparently obsoleted by # 1 above. In LotR-style Quenya, the regular term for "cold" seems to be ringa.)

í(qua), illume, iquallume

conjunction. when, whenever

Quenya [PE 22:121] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

írë

when

írë (2) conj. "when" (subordinate conjunction, not question-word: írë Anarinya queluva, "when my sun faileth") (FS). Compare #2.

úva

verb. impend, be imminent, threaten (to come)

Quenya [PE 22:167f] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

hristonosta

proper name. Christmas

Quenya Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

malumë

adverb. when

Quenya Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

Noldorin 

rhíw

noun. winter

cathriw

noun. January, *After-winter

ephriw

noun. December, *First-winter

nifredil

noun. a pale winter flower, snowdrop

Noldorin [Ety/376, Ety/378, LotR/II:VI, Letters/402, X/PH] niphred+-il "little pallor". Group: SINDICT. Published by

helch

noun. bitter cold

Noldorin [Ety/364] Group: SINDICT. Published by

lhoth

noun. flower, inflorescence, a head of small flowers

The noun is collective, a single flower being lotheg

Noldorin [Ety/370, LB/354, VT/42:18, X/LH] Group: SINDICT. Published by

lhothod

noun. (single) flower

Noldorin [VT/45:29, X/LH] Group: SINDICT. Published by

lothod

noun. (single) flower

Noldorin [VT/45:29, X/LH] Group: SINDICT. Published by

nerwinien

noun. January

rhing

adjective. cold

Noldorin [Ety/383, S/436, VT/42:13, X/RH] Group: SINDICT. Published by

rhing

adjective. cold

Noldorin [Ety/RINGI; EtyAC/RINGI] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Sindarin 

rhîw

noun. winter

Sindarin [LotR/1107] Group: Eldamo. Published by

niphredil

noun. a pale winter flower, snowdrop

Sindarin [Ety/376, Ety/378, LotR/II:VI, Letters/402, X/PH] niphred+-il "little pallor". Group: SINDICT. Published by

rhîw

noun. winter season

Sindarin [LotR/D] Group: SINDICT. Published by

rhîw

winter

rhîw (?i thrîw or ?i rîw the lenition product of rh- is uncertain); no distinct pl. form except with article (?idh rîw)

rhîw

winter

(?i thrîw or ?i rîw – *the lenition product of rh- is uncertain*); no distinct pl. form except with article (?idh rîw)

alf

noun. flower

Sindarin [PE17/153] Group: Eldamo. Published by

elanor

noun. a flower, a kind of enlarged pimpernel bearing golden and silver flowers

Sindarin [LotR/VI:IX, UT/432, Letters/402] êl+anor "star-sun". Group: SINDICT. Published by

elloth

noun. (single) flower

Sindarin [VT/42:18] er- + loth. Group: SINDICT. Published by

girithron

noun. december (month)

Sindarin [LotR/D] Group: SINDICT. Published by

ir

conjunction. (?) when

This word is not translated. It could be related to Quenya íre "when". Some scholars also consider that it could be the form taken by the article i before a vowel, on a pattern similar to ah . To this respect, it might be interesting to note the ir was the allative/dative form of the article in the old Gnomish lexicon, PE/11:9

Sindarin [LB/354] Group: SINDICT. Published by

loth

noun. flower, inflorescence, a head of small flowers

The noun is collective, a single flower being lotheg

Sindarin [Ety/370, LB/354, VT/42:18, X/LH] Group: SINDICT. Published by

loth

noun. flower

_n._flower, a single bloom. Q. lóte, lōs.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:26] < _lotho/a_. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

lotheg

noun. (single) flower

Sindarin [VT/42:18] loth + -eg. Group: SINDICT. Published by

mallos

noun. a golden flower

Sindarin [UT/451, Letters/248] malt+los "flower of gold". Group: SINDICT. Published by

ninglor

noun. golden water-flower, gladden

Sindarin [UT/280-81, UT/450] nîn+glaur "water gold". Group: SINDICT. Published by

ring

adjective. cold

Sindarin [Ety/383, S/436, VT/42:13, X/RH] Group: SINDICT. Published by

edlothia

flower

(verb) #edlothia- (i edlothia, in edlothiar) (to blossom);

edlothia

flower

(i edlothia, in edlothiar) (to blossom);

edlothiad

flowering

(blossoming), pl. edlothiaid if there is a pl.**

girithron

december

Girithron (na **Irithron**)

girithron

december

(na ’Irithron)

gwaloth

collection of flowers

(i ’waloth) (blossom), pl. gwelyth (in gwelyth). Also goloth (i ’oloth) (blossom), pl. gelyth (i ngelyth = i ñelyth). Archaic pl. gölyth. (VT42:18). Specific flowers, see

helch

bitterly cold

(lenited chelch; pl. hilch);

hithui

november

Hithui

hithui

november

io

conjunction. when

A neologism coined by Röandil as io “when” posted on 2024-03-19 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), the Sindarin equivalent of Q. “when”. In stressed positions, this conjunction might remain iaw. Both of these forms conflict with existing Noldorin words: [N.] io “ago” and [N.] iau “corn”, but that doesn’t preclude their use.

Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

ir

when

?ir (not used in questions but to indicate time, as in ”when I saw you, I was glad”). This is one of several possible interpretations of the word, which occurs in a Sindarin poem untranslated by Tolkien (ir Isil ammen Eruchín…síla, ?”when the Moon shines for us Children of Eru…”, The Lays of Beleriand p. 354). By another interpretation, ir is simply a variant of the definite article.(relative pronoun), see THAT

ir

when

(not used in questions but to indicate time, as in ”when

ir

i

is simply a variant of the definite article.

loth

flower

loth, pl. lyth (but loth is also glossed ”blossom” and may itself function as a collective term: all the flowers of a plant. For individual flowers cf. the following:)

loth

flower

pl. lyth (but loth is also glossed ”blossom” and may itself function as a collective term: all the flowers of a plant. For individual flowers cf. the following:)

lotheg

single flower

lothod (”singulars” derived from the more collective term loth; it is unclear whether lotheg, lothod can themselves have ”plural” forms. If so it would be lethig, lethyd, for archaic löthig, löthyd.) (VT42:18, VT45:29) Another word for a single flower is elloth (pl. ellyth) (VT42:18). An alternative to loth is loss (construct los; pl. lyss), but the form loth seems to be more common (and loss also means ”fallen snow” and ”wilderness”).

narwain

january

Narwain

narwain

january

rhistonnad

proper name. Christmas

Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

rim

cold pool/lake

; no distinct pl. form except with article (idh rim), coll. pl. rimmath. Note: a homophone means ”crowd, great number, host”.

ring

cold

(adj.) ring (no distinct pl. form),

ring

cold

(no distinct pl. form)

Primitive elvish

galab

root. flower

Primitive elvish [PE17/153] Group: Eldamo. Published by

galmā

noun. flower

Primitive elvish [PE17/153] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lot(h)

root. flower

This root and ones like it were connected to flowers for all of Tolkien’s life. The earliest manifestation of this root was ᴱ√LOHO or ᴱ√LO’O from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s; the entry for ᴱ√LOHO appears immediately below ᴱ√LO’O, and Tolkien indicates they are related roots, both extended from ᴱ√OLO “tip” (QL/55). These roots include derivatives like ᴱQ. lōte “flower”, ᴱQ. lotōrea “flourishing” and ᴱQ. lokta- “sprout, bud, put forth leaves or flowers”. There are also derivatives of these roots in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon: G. lost “blossom, bloom”, G. lothli “floret”, G. luitha- “to bloom” (GL/54-55), though G. lôs “flower” was said to be unrelated, connected to G. lass “leaf” instead (GL/55). ᴱQ. losse “rose” probably had a similar derivation (QL/56).

This confusion of √LOT(H) and √LOS carried forward into Tolkien’s later writings. In The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹ√LOT(H) was given as the root for “flower” (Ety/LOT(H)), but this entry originally included a variant ᴹ√LOS (EtyAC/LOT(H)). Tolkien then said ᴹQ. losse “blossom” (< ᴹ√LOT(H)) was “usually, owing to association with olosse snow, only used of white blossom” (Ety/LOT(H)), where ᴹQ. olosse was derived from ᴹ√GOLOS “✱snow, white” (Ety/GOLÓS). This intermingling carried forward into etymological notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s, where Tolkien said (PE17/26):

> The stems √LŎS, √LOTH, √LOT are much entangled both for formal reasons, and because of actual associations of meaning (probably from beginning of Primitive Quendian and explaining the approach of the forms). Quenya word for “flower, a single bloom” is lóte, but S loth (< lotho/a), but Quenya also has lōs. Q. for snow is losse (S los).

These associations were also mentioned in etymological notes on roots for flowers from this same period, where Tolkien clarified that √LOT, √LOTH were the roots for “flower” and √LOS for “snow” (PE17/160-161). These roots were mentioned again in notes associated with The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from 1967-69 (VT42/18):

> S. loss is a derivative of (G)LOS “white”; but loth is from LOT. Sindarin used loss as a noun, but the strengthened form gloss as an adjective “(dazzling) white”. loth was the only derivative of LOT that it retained, probably because other forms of the stem assumed a phonetic shape that seemed inappropriate, or were confusible with other stems (such as LUT “float”), e.g. ✱lod, ✱lûd. loth is from a diminutive lotse and probably also from derivative lotta-.

In this last note, Tolkien seems to have abandoned √LOTH, explaining S. loth “flower” as derived from √LOT via ✱lotse. In any case, starting in the 1930s Tolkien was consistent that the roots for “flower” and “snow” were distinct but often confused, and that snow-words were derived from roots like √(G)LOS and flower words from roots like √LOT(H), though he waffled a bit on the exact details.

Primitive elvish [PE17/026; PE17/160; PE17/161; VT42/18] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lotho/a

noun. flower

Primitive elvish [PE17/026] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lotse

noun. flower

Primitive elvish [VT42/18] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ringi

root. cold

Tolkien used very similar forms for Elvish words for “cold” for all of his life. The earliest iteration of this root was unglossed ᴱ√RIŊI in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. rin (ring-) “dew” and ᴱQ. ringa “damp, cold, chilly” (QL/80). The root had similar derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. “coolness, cool” and G. ring “cool, cold” (GL/65). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root {ᴹ√RINGĀ >>} ᴹ√RINGI “cold” with derivatives like ᴹQ. ringe/N. rhing “cold” (Ety/RINGI; EtyAC/RINGI). Primitive forms ✶riñgi “chill” and ✶riñgā appeared in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from the early 1950s (PE21/80), and Christopher Tolkien mentioned √ring as the basis for cold words in the Silmarillion Appendix (SA/ring).

Primitive elvish [SA/ring] Group: Eldamo. Published by

uba-

verb. impend,be imminent,approach,draw near

Primitive elvish [PE 22:167] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

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!

Gnomish

gilim

noun. winter

Gnomish [GG/08; GL/35; GL/38; LBI/Gilim; LT1A/Melko; LT2/068; LT2I/Gilim] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hess

noun. winter

Gnomish [GL/49; LT1A/Heskil] Group: Eldamo. Published by

folorin

noun. winter

dos

adverb. when

lôs

noun. flower

Gnomish [GL/40; GL/52; GL/55; LT1A/Gar Lossion; LT1A/Minethlos; LT2A/Duilin; LT2A/Lôs; PE13/104; PE15/28] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

hesin

noun. winter

Early Quenya [LT1A/Heskil; QL/040] Group: Eldamo. Published by

yelin

noun. winter

Early Quenya [LT1A/Melko; PME/106; QL/106] Group: Eldamo. Published by

heskil

feminine name. Winter One

Another name for Fui Nienna appearing in the Qenya and Gnomish Lexicons from the 1910s (GL/18, QL/40), a derivative of the root ᴱ√HESE “wither” from which the word hesin “winter” was also derived (QL/40).

Early Quenya [GL/18; LT1A/Heskil; LT1I/Heskil; PE14/014; QL/040] Group: Eldamo. Published by

avestalis

noun. January

Early Quenya [QL/029; QL/036] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lunde niq(il)issea

proper name. January

A name for the month of January in the Qenya Lexicon from the 1910s (QL/56), a combination of lunde “month” and niqissea “snowy”.

Early Quenya [QL/056] Group: Eldamo. Published by

meril

noun. flower

A word for a “flower(s)” in the name ᴱQ. Meril-i-Turinqi “Queen of Flowers” (LT1/16; GL/46).

Conceptual Development: In Tolkien’s later writing, S./N. {Beril >>} Meril was used for the name “Rose”.

Early Quenya [GL/45; GL/46; LT1A/Meril-i-Turinqi; LT2I/Meril-i-Turinqi] Group: Eldamo. Published by

yan

conjunction. when

Early Quenya [PE14/059] Group: Eldamo. Published by

yelwa

adjective. cold

Early Quenya [LT1A/Melko; QL/106] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Qenya 

hríve

noun. winter

Qenya [PE22/125; PM/134] Group: Eldamo. Published by

fírien

noun. Winter

erríve

noun. November, *First-winter

meterríve

noun. January, *(lit.) End-winter

norríve

noun. December, *After-winter

man(an)

adverb. when

The correlatives manan or man “when” appeared in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 (PE23/109), a combination of interrogative ᴹQ. ma and ᴹQ. -n(an) “time”.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I would stick to ᴹQ. mallume, since I think -n(an) was abandoned.

Qenya [PE23/109; PE23/110] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ringe

noun. cold, cold, *chill

Qenya [Ety/RINGI; EtyAC/RINGI] Group: Eldamo. Published by

íre

conjunction. when

Old Noldorin 

ringe

adjective. cold

Old Noldorin [Ety/RINGI; EtyAC/RINGI] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

lot(h)

root. flower

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/GOLÓS; Ety/LOT(H); Ety/WIG; EtyAC/LOT(H)] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ringi

root. cold

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/MITH; Ety/RINGI; EtyAC/RINGI] Group: Eldamo. Published by